In 2023, Topps very publicly announced that it was discontinuing some products. There was an outcry in response, though few people noticed once the lines were gone.
In 2024, several products have also been discontinued, or at least their production has been paused. However, perhaps trying to avoid a similar outcry, Topps has avoided announcing this widely.
Nonetheless, they admitted to some of these moves at the Fanatics Fest event in New York City earlier this month. Other projects are not on the schedule and have not appeared for a few years. In some cases, this is just retooling for new similar products to emerge in preparation for the arrival of basketball and football rights.
In others, these are products that have outlived their usefulness. But some seem to be motivated by less acceptable reasons. Read more about how Topps is rumored to discontinue several products.
According to reports from several sources, company executives discussed discontinuing the Platinum Chrome Anniversary release at Fanatics Fest. That has come as a surprise because the product was quite successful. The boxes had one guaranteed autograph, an X-Factor, and six other refractors. But many people reported pulling two autographs out of these boxes.
Often excellent ones. The evidence is pretty anecdotal, but if you watch breaks of 2023 Topps Chrome Platinum Anniversary Baseball, you will see that the boxes tend to be pretty loaded. The blasters were even better.
Some card influencers have, therefore, touted the advantages of this release. Especially Grip n Rip Sports Cards.
Other products are rumored to be on the chopping block as well. They include Allen & Ginter Chrome as well as Stadium Club Chrome. They seem to have stopped to produce them.
It is part of Topps’s realization that they have too many products coming out. That leads to two separate problems. First, it lowers the overall value of cards. When too many products are on the shelves, people lose interest in all but a few outstanding ones.
The other issue is that Fanatics, which tends to be better at this than the different companies, has been struggling to keep up their release schedules. As more releases are joining the cue, including a growing number of basketball and football ones, it has become more difficult for the company to keep up.
For Panini, it is common for products for 2023 to come out in 2024. It’s just how they roll. However, Topps is not usually that far behind on these matters. However, the 2023 Topps Chrome Platinum Anniversary Baseball dropped on May 22, 2024. That is well over a month after March 28, 2024, Opening Day for the 2024 MLB season.
We have seen this problem worsen for our friend at Fanatics. One release that has been particularly plagued by these issues is
Fans were upset to see that Topps billed 2024 Topps Pro Debut Baseball as the sole minor league release of 2024. One Blowout Forums user complained, “I guess Heritage Minors is dead for good per the info on this “Minor League Baseball’s only set of the year,” and another commented, “I want heritage minors back. Come on.”
People disagree on which product is better, though Heritage is always the best for me because of the beautiful on-card autos. I am also a big fan of the retro designs.
But Pro Debut has excellent chrome and parallels. Either way, you would think there is enough room for two minor-league releases in the hobby. Especially considering the massive number of pro ones.
However, if that is not enough, the product keeps getting postponed. First, it was delayed until the 23rd of August and then to the 30th of the month. Now, we have just heard that it was postponed until September 6. Rumors abound that we won’t see it then either, and further postponements will occur.
It was not the only delay reported either. The 2024 Topps Pristine Baseball boxes also faced repeated delays. They are currently slated for an August 30, 2024 release, which will likely be the actual date. We hope.
We have not heard anything about Heritage High Numbers being canceled. However, that seems natural and should be removed, perhaps with an expanded regular Heritage release.
Another product we are concerned about is Topps Triple Threads. It did not appear in the schedule for 2023 or 2024. While there has been no announcement on its future, we have not seen any news, and it is probably gone from our lives.
That likely means that Topps is planning a big new high-end release to launch for all of its sports. It is perhaps thought that the release, though very popular with breakers, has not carved out enough of a niche. They will be looking to replace Flawless and National Treasures with something bigger and flashier that can translate nicely to all the sports they own.
Recently, some serious quality control issues with the product may have led to this decision. One Blowout Forums user noted, “Triple Threads used to be nice when most of their autos were on the card. Last year’s seemed like a sticker dump (even more so than in the past few years), and the product seemed hastily & lazily put together as many stickers were put on crooked, and many relics didn’t even fill out the relic windows. I won’t be surprised at all if it’s been axed.”
Topps successfully got on top of their release dates in 2023 after some problems due to the supply chain crisis. However, this year, things have taken a turn for the worse.
One of the main reasons for that is an increased focus on producing basketball and football cards. That is true; they do not yet have NBA and NFL licenses. However, they are already producing unlicensed cards for these sports, most notably the long-awaited return of Topps Chrome Basketball.
That has been accompanied by the successful use of the Bowman brand for basketball and football through the Bowman University products.
But we know that this is just the beginning. When Topps snaps up the NFL and NBA rights in 2026, they will likely greatly expand the offerings in those two sports. The WWE is also heading to Fanatics, and they must allocate some resources. Each deal with a league will involve a minimum number of releases involving those sports.
We don’t know exactly what to expect from the Topps releases in these sports. But it is safe to assume that it will include at least the following:
WWE will probably have fewer. In other words, the company will be kept incredibly busy over the next few years. That will almost certainly mean Topps saying goodbye to other beloved baseball releases.
Since taking over Topps in January 2022, they have streamlined the company in a variety of ways. One of the main ways they have done so was by canceling several products. Most of them had never really taken off. However, a couple were beloved. Here is the list of products discontinued in 2023:
Of those, Opening Day had the most extended history and the most essential standing in the hobby. Nonetheless, we must admit that, in retrospect, no one is mourning these releases—or at least no one I am aware of.
Overall, this is not a bad thing. Not altogether, anyway. Yes, you might find that your favorite product has been discontinued and that sucks. We feel you. However, the existence of these many products tends to water down the overall value of the cards and lead to delays. That is not a good thing.
However, we cannot call this a positive development either. People were pleased with the 2023 Topps Chrome Platinum Anniversary Baseball, especially the blasters of goodness. Finding a rewarding product has been increasingly complex, and when there finally is one that reliably provides the hits, they are planning to remove it.
It would be less of a big deal if this weren’t part of a broader trend. However, that is not the case. As we reported earlier this month, there is a general trend from Topps to decrease the value they offer customers.
We have seen this manifest in several ways. New boxes are costing more money. Even the unlicensed new Basketball Chrome release is going for $750 right now. Meanwhile, the notoriously inexpensive Topps Pro Debut is preselling for $100 when we could get a box last year for $65.
But that isn’t the only thing we noticed. In addition, the number of autos Topps is producing has been plummeting over the years. For example, Topps Chrome Boxes offered three autographs per hobby box in 2020. But now, you are only guaranteed one per box in 2024. That is not an isolated case either.
The problem in retail is, in many ways, even worse. The 2024 Topps Chrome release is a case in point. I looked at the odds for blasters compared to previous years, and it wasn’t good.
As I said, “You will have difficulty landing any parallels or autos in blasters or monster boxes. The rates are abysmal and far worse than we are used to. When you consider that, along with the much higher prices, the reduction in value is considerable. Fanatics appear to be making their basters intentionally weaker than in previous years. We have to wonder why.”
If it is happening, the scrapping of Topps Chrome Platinum Anniversary Baseball seems part of this phenomenon. We are discussing a product that stood out for its bountiful retail formats. It does appear that Topps is cracking down on that. In 2024 Topps Chrome, the good odds are in releases intended for breakers.
Therefore, it is quite concerning that Topps is removing a product that gives higher value to consumers. We hope it is just a coincidence, but is it? It eliminates a product that offers higher value to consumers. That is why we find this so disturbing.
There is no question that Topps is peddling too many baseball products. It is hard to keep up with all the releases, and there is a general sense that we are overwhelmed by the many products on the shelves.
Not only does this ultimately undercut the value of the cards, but it also causes delays that harm the most important products and the also-rans. Therefore, the idea of streamlining the release schedule by eliminating the less-needed releases is solid. Fanatics made a good move in removing some of these in 2023; further actions like that are also desirable.
However, there is concern with the specific target for this treatment. The 2023 Topps Chrome Platinum Anniversary Baseball release was notable for the great hits it provided, especially in its blasters.
However, Topps seems to be working intentionally to reduce the availability of worthwhile retail products, as we saw with the 2024 Topps Chrome Baseball release, which substantially watered down the retail odds.
Hopefully, Fanatics will realize the folly of this approach. Retail boxes are one of the hobby’s cornerstones and a big way that younger collectors get involved.
The possibility of picking up a box at Target while buying detergent and landing a massive hit is one of the things that keeps collecting cards so much fun. Please don’t take it away from us.
You can give the breakers excellent products and put worthwhile blasters on the shelves. There is no inherent contradiction.
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