Topps Knows Sports Card Marketing

Hi! My 10,000 Subscribers Livestream Celebration is set for Sunday evening, 7pm ET. I hope to see you there!

I noticed this in my “Promotions” folder of my Gmail:

Note that it doesn’t say “Collect the Paul Skenes Topps NOW card!” Topps knows they make way more money marketing the “chase” card — the autograph — rather than marketing to collectors.

And like I always say: this isn’t criticism of Topps, nor is it criticism of those who choose to chase. It’s just the reality of where we are now.

It’s not for me, but it’s definitely for a lot of other people, and that’s okay too.

And every time a major Topps NOW card sells for a huge dollar amount — like the Curry/LeBron/Durant 1/1 Gold (non-autograph) did for almost $54,000 over the weekend — the more they’ll sell, and the more they’ll push the chase.

Their products feel more and more about the chase, and now they’re releasing a Shohei Ohtani 50/50 set, where all of the cards are Shohei.

So, tell me:

Vermont Collection PSA-Graded Cards

Here are the links to the Vermont Collection cards PSA graded and is selling on eBay:

Ken Griffey Jr. 1989 Topps PSA 9

PELE 1991 SOCCER SHOTS PROMO-ENGLISH PSA 7

1980 TOPPS #580 NOLAN RYAN PSA 7

1992 UD TOM SELLECK/FRANK THOMAS #SP4 MR. BASEBALL PSA 9

1987 FLEER GLOSSY #416 TONY GWYNN PSA 9

1993 FINEST REFRACTOR #74 MIKE DEVEREAUX PSA 7

2006 UD TUFF STUFF #8 ICHIRO PSA 8

1992 CLASSIC BEST PROMO #PR1 NOLAN RYAN PSA 10 

1994 STADIUM CLUB #285 FRANK THOMAS PSA 9

2006 UD TUFF STUFF #13 TOM BRADY PSA 8

1995 COLLECTOR'S CHOICE SILVER SIG #15 DEREK JETER PSA 8

2022 BOWMAN UNIVERSITY INCEPTION #BM BRANDON MILLER ROOKIE RC PSA 9 AUTO (yes, I am trying to get them to add a front image)

2001 FLEER PLATINUM WINNING COMBINATIONS #15 ICHIRO/K.SASAKI 495/500 PSA 9 (numbered Ichiro rookie, anyone?)

Go and get yourself some cheap slabs.

I'm A Collector of Electric Guitars?

I saw this ad on Facebook:

Either I’m confused or they are.

Fun, relevant story: Pennzoni reached out to me a year or more ago, asking to sponsor my channel. I receive a lot of emails like this that are not legitimate, but theirs actually used my name and told me what their favorite videos of mine were. I told them I’d be interested in hearing their pitch, and we agreed to a short Zoom call to discuss. They never showed up and never responded to my follow-up emails. Ghosted, as my kids call it, by a potential sponsor.