The exodus of Panini America’s trading card team who have now signed on to work for Fanatics continues.
Among those who have acknowledged their moves to Fanatics Collectibles include Vice President of Product Development Nick Matijevich, Senior Brand Manager Keith Hower, Director of Product Development Tim Trout, Director of Football Product Development Rob Springs, Senior Director of Print Production Carlos Torrez and brand managers David Sharp, Tim Yoder and Adam Johnson. Several others are believed to have left the company in recent days as well, including those who work in Acquisitions.
The former Panini employees are taking on the same or very similar roles with Fanatics, which continues to post job openings across a variety of fields in trading card development, production and other areas.
Panini America’s exclusive trading card licenses for both the NBA and NFL currently have additional years to run. Fanatics assumed the Topps MLB license after purchasing the company in January of 2022 but the personnel departures at Panini would certainly seem to indicate that Fanatics is continuing its efforts to get an early jump on the rest of its eventual takeover of the sports trading landscape.
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Some product release date updates from Panini and Upper Deck:
2022 Playbook Football and Donruss Soccer (April 14)
2022 Clearly Donruss Football (Apr 21)
2023 USA Stars & Stripes Baseball (Apr 26)
2022 Contenders Optic Football (Apr 26)
2022 Panini One NFL (May 5)
2022 Donruss Optic Football (May 10)
2022 Select Football (June 1)
2022 National Treasures Football (June 3).
2022-23 Upper Deck Series 2 Hockey – Tins, Retail and Fat Packs 4/12
2021-22 Upper Deck SP Authentic Hockey 4/19
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Topps Archives Signature Series returns later this month.
Each box contains a single hand-signed card from earlier in the player’s career. All are serially numbered, gold-foil stamped card housed in a Topps Authenticated case.
Some will carry dual autographs.
Mike Trout and Aaron Judge will be among those who have signed cards in the product.
Boxes should arrive April 21. A checklist should be out shortly.
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Topps also releases its first product devoted to Australia’s pro basketball league next month.
There’s a 100-card base set featuring some of the top talent in the league including leading scorer Bryce Cotton out of Providence, who is in his third year with the Perth Wildcats.
Autographs aren’t guaranteed in the lower cost product but they will exist.
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Here’s a fun dive deep into the 1953 Topps Baseball set and the fabulous artwork used to produce the set.
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Bidding continues in the MINT Collective Auction on eBay, with a signed 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle, 1925 Lou Gehrig Exhibit rookie, Patrick Mahomes rookie numbered to 5 and other attractions set to close Saturday.
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MeiGray has launched its largest ever auction of goal pucks, with over 100 of them being offered in an online auction.
The authenticated pucks were used in games earlier this season and include those that were put in the net by dozens of players including Jack Hughes, David Pastrnak, Patrice Bergeron, Justin Schultz and Jason Robertson.
Bidding starts at $50 for each lot and is set to run through April 18.