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Last Updated On: May 23rd, 2024
Most sports card releases can take several months to roll out. Take for example the highly coveted 2023-24 Prizm basketball — it wasn’t released until February 2024, with over 60% of the season already in the books!
Topps Now is designed to capture in-season sports moments as they happen and turn them around to customers quickly instead. It’s a bold experiment in trading cards.
But are Topps Now cards worth it?
In this post, we’ll break down Topps Now – what it is, how much the cards cost, and the brand’s future outlook. We’ll also break down some reasons why (spoiler alert) we aren’t particularly high on the product.
Let’s discuss!
Table of Contents
Overview: What is Topps Now?
Topps Now is a brand of sports cards that differentiates itself in three key ways. First, Topps Now releases new cards featuring important in-season moments as they happen. Second, there are no print run limitations. Third, each card is only available for purchase in a set window (between 24-72 hours).
Here’s Topps’ official description of the brand:
TOPPS NOW® celebrates the pivotal moments in Sports and Entertainment as they happen! TOPPS NOW® trading cards are available for a limited time only at Topps.com and include Free Shipping. Print runs of every card are announced on Topps.com so you know exactly how rare your cards are. Enjoy the thrill of collecting your favorite heroes, teams, and moments every step of the way with TOPPS NOW®!
It’s a fascinating concept. For starters, Topps Now cards are posted, purchased, and shipped to you within 25 days. Additionally, we can’t discount the cool factor of owning “pivotal moments” as they happen. For instance, I’m a big Phillies fan and could purchase a keepsake of Ranger Suarez’s monster start to the season right now.
Here’s another fun kicker: while the base print run is entirely in the hands of the buyers, Topps Now also sets aside numbered parallels for some of its cards. In most cases, there are six parallels: /99 Black, /49 Blue, /25 Purple, /10 Red, /5 Orange, /1 Gold. In addition to these base parallels, there are autographed parallels that follow a similar pattern.
Most run-of-the-mill Topps Now cards are priced at $8.99 per card (with a maximum purchase of 20 at a time). More valuable cards come in in the upper teens, usually around $18/$19.
Additionally, Topps is owned by Fanatics. And as it stands, Fanatics possesses a license to print MLB cards. But since Panini still has the NBA license, Topps Now cannot print officially licensed NBA cards.
That said, the lack of a license has not stopped Topps Now from printing unlicensed cards.
Popular Topps Now Cards
Rather than individual cards, it’s helpful to think about Topps Now in terms of the players themselves. And since the print run is in the hands of the buyers, the more popular players will naturally see higher print runs.
Victor Wembanyama
Thus far, Topps Now has printed six Victor Wembanyama cards (numbered VW-1 through VW-6). On top of those six is his draft night card (D-1) and a Wemby-David Robinson dual auto (numbered /49, #WR-1), bringing the total up to eight. The most recent, VW-6, was printed in honor of Wemby receiving Rookie of the Year honors earlier in May.
The VW-6 set a new record for Topps Now print run, with nearly 114,000 VW-6 cards purchased and printed. Those cards went for $18.
It’s a decent enough card. For my money, however, the VW-4 is pretty slick (and a clear nod to Panini’s Downtown series).
Shohei Ohtani
Before Wemby’s VW-6 claimed the mantle for most Topps Now purchases, the crown belonged to 2023 AL MVP Shohei Ohtani, who had over 107,000 of the OS-21 cards purchased in 2023. It was a momentous occasion indeed: MLB’s biggest name was joining one of its most popular clubs. The card came with five numbered parallels, starting at /49.
Ultimately, we have to ask ourselves: are 100,000+ print runs something to brag about? After all, those numbers reek of the disease that crippled sports cards in the early ‘90s.
But don’t worry: Topps puts your fears to rest by assuring buyers that its value rises “…with each hit and strikeout“. Does it though? Or did the value of the card plummet with every “add to cart” and “checkout with Apple Pay” click? We feel pretty strongly that it’s the latter.
And, by the way, everyone is focused on the wrong Ohtani print. How did the “Most Valuable Puppy” card not shatter even Wemby’s record?
How Much Does Topps Make Hustling Buyers?
We mentioned that the Wembanyama VW-6 Rookie of the Year card sold for $18/card. With nearly 114,000 sold, Topps grossed $2.05 million in revenues for the VW-6 card alone.
For comparison’s sake, $18/card is about the same price paid for a 2012 Panini Prizm Jimmy Butler base RC. For those curious, this Butler card has a graded pop count of 2,195. While we can’t know for sure the total print run of Butler bases, we can probably feel confident that the print run is less than 114,000. And the Butler RC is a licensed NBA basketball card.
As far as the Ohtani OS-21 Dodgers Topps Now card, Topps made just under $970,000 in revenues selling them at $8.99 a pop.
Avoid the Hype: Prices Invariably Fall
It’s crunch time, where we deliver our verdict on Topps Now cards. By now you should be aware we’re not big fans. Here’s why:
Overproduction
There’s simply no way to get around the obscene print run numbers. Once upon a time, collectors were left to speculate as to how much junk wax was flooding the market thanks to rampant and irresponsible printing by brands.
With Topps Now, we know precisely how ghastly these print runs are.
The counterpoint to the overproduction argument is twofold. First: the numbered parallels are secure enough in their rarity to be worth something. This is absolutely true; however, there were 189 numbered parallels of the VW-6 card. This means the chances of hitting one of those parallels was around 0.17%.
A second argument against overproduction is that not every print run is in the hundreds of thousands. But think about why the print run is so severe: because of the players depicted on the card. The print run for my beloved Ranger Suarez card mentioned earlier might not eclipse 1,000, but then again, the card is only valuable to me as a Phillies fan.
With these unlimited print runs, Topps Now finds itself in a pickle:
The cards that should be the most valuable actually become quite worthless precisely for the reason they should be valuable in the first place – their popularity.
Case in point: Topps Now values in the secondary market for the VW-6 base card go for less than $15. While it’s too soon to know the graded value of the VW-6 card, Wembanyama’s D-1 Draft Night card (print run of 72,171) goes for less than $35 in Gem Mint condition. At that point, you’re likely not even covering the cost of grading.
This is why strict print runs are so important; if anyone could own a LeBron Triple Logoman, everyone would.
NBA Unlicensed (No Team Names or Logos)
In addition to the overprinting issue, Topps Now NBA cards are unlicensed. This is a big problem; unlicensed and collegiate cards tend to be worth much less than licensed professional cards. Further, they struggle to have the same staying power over a sustained period of time.
The value discrepancy between licensed and unlicensed cards may not present itself right away; there may be an initial surge for a player’s card, even if it’s unlicensed. But as licensed cards enter the market, those initial, unlicensed cards take a backseat.
Let’s go back to Wemby. His Rookie of the Year Topps Now doesn’t hold a candle to his Prizm cards. The VW-6 base cards can be found for less than $15; his Prizm base has been going for $45-$50 lately.
Topps Now can hang its hat on MLB cards. This would be fine if it was 2004; unfortunately, baseball cards’ popularity lags behind that of football and basketball. Even Card Ladder’s baseball card index shows it trails basketball by 2,000 points and football by 6,000.
Some Caveats
It’s not all glass half empty. There are two main “saving graces” for Topps Now.
First are the numbered parallels, which we discussed above. Ultimately, the hunt for those parallels could be the driving force behind the lavish print runs. This effect isn’t all that surprising given the popularity of sports card breaks which is often compared to gambling.
In fairness, those parallels can pay off. A blue parallel numbered to /49 of Wembanyama’s VW-4 (the Downtown knock-off) sold for $290 ungraded (but still encased) in May 2024. In this way, the typical rules of low-pop parallels apply: the fewer, the more valuable.
The second caveat is that maybe we’re looking at this all wrong. From the perspective of a seasoned collector-turned-investor, there’s not much love to be found in Topps Now. But what about a fan? Topps Now is ideally suited for collectors who love individual players or teams.
My dad, for instance, owns a version of just about every Mike Schmidt card ever printed. He’s not in it to hunt for rookie cards or diamonds in the rough; he collects because it brings him closer to the game and players he grew up idolizing.
Topps Now offers collectors like my dad a chance to get even closer to the action. To that end, it’s hard to put a price on the cards. But for those looking to flip or invest, Topps Now isn’t for you.
Summary: Topps Now is a Hard Pass
As far as paying sticker price goes, Topps Now is a hard pass. That’s not to say all Topps Now product deserves an embargo. Like we just mentioned, perhaps you’re a fan of an individual player or team; targeting those cards may well be worth it for you.
But in regards to extremely popular cards and players, let the hype die down. If you really want a base card, purchase it on the secondary market for less than it initially retailed. And if you’re in it for a parallel, it also makes sense to wait out the storm and find it on eBay.
Frankly, this advice also applies to just about every other hot release in the hobby. Hobby Boxes always sell for more right after a release simply because consumer demand for them is so high. Same for the cards coming out of those boxes — they are commonly found on the hottest basketball and football lists thanks to peak demand.
Finally, keep in mind that even if you miss a Topps Now release for a given player, it likely won’t be the last time they’re featured on Topps Now, especially in the case of premier talents. Wembanyama, for instance, has only played one season of NBA basketball and yet has eight cards to his name.
Always monitor the secondary markets to get a good sense of how much your target card goes for. Additionally, stay plugged into sites like Card Ladder that map recent sales for a given player writ large. That way, you can always get a sense of where a Topps Now card stacks up against, say, their Prizm or Bowman equivalent.