So Long eTopps

Once again Topps has shown their true feelings towards collectors. Last month Topps announced a significant increase in shipping to take delivery of an eTopps card to $12.75 (It was $4.25 and .70 cents for each additional card) for the first card and $1.75 for each additional card to a max of 3 cards per order. Now this week they announced that eTopps will no longer be offering new cards. The announcement was first made through the “Important Announcements” link on the eTopps home page; it was later verified on their Twitter page. Topps has stated that they will continue to maintain trading, selling and shipping services (for now).

I can understand there are business reasons for ending the program, probably a decline in sales and delivery would be my guess, but I think most collectors who have made eTopps purchases are probably more upset about the way it was completed with a serious price rise for shipping and an announcement made on Twitter.

In 2000 I took part of the early beta testing, purchasing a 2000 eTopps Emmitt Smith (that I later sold for $200 when he broke Payton’s rushing record in 2002) so I could report on my experiences. For taking part in the program I was awarded 5 Rookie/Future Prospects Baseball eTopps cards for free; Bobby Bradley, Eric Munson, Josh Hamilton, Luis Montanez and Sean Burroughs. I later bought a Mike Cameron 4 HR Event card in 2002 and nothing since, though I did try but kept missing out. Currently I own 6 cards and besides the Hamilton card none are worth more than .50 cents, the Hamilton card is sitting at $2.75 right now. If the shipping cost was still $4.25 I would take delivery on the Hamilton but no way am I spending $12.75 on any card unless it held some type of value.

eTopps... Time for a Change?

Now in to its 9th year is eTopps loosing the novelty that made it a splash in the first place? When Topps announced in 2000 that they would be releasing a series of digital cards I jumped on the opportunity to enroll in the beta testing. The Internet was still in its infancy in regards to collecting and I am a computer geek so this joined two of my favorite hobbies in one place.

The first release was the 2000 Football Set; a 12 card set that included some of the most popular players at the time including Peyton Manning, Randy Moss and Emmitt Smith. Almost all of the cards were limited to less then 1,000 and I was just lucky enough to purchase an Emmitt Smith card before everything was sold out.

Now 7 years later and it seems that eTopps may be loosing steam. With well over 1,000 releases many of the cards are selling for well below their initial release prices. There is only a small percentage that tops $10 and besides the Mickey Mantle Set none even top $100. Is this a sign of the future for the product or can it remain purely as a novelty with the occasional hit to draw in the collectors?

I understand that people are still purchasing digital cards from eTopps; I have even attempted to buy some myself over the years with little luck. I am just wondering if Topps should possibly limit their releases to just special occasions and limited sets and cut out the annual releases all together.