David Leiner, global general manager of sports and entertainment for Topps, says baseball card collecting is “probably the strongest we’ve seen the business in at least 20 years.”
Part of a big Topps Company contingent on hand for the “Million Card Rip Party” for Series 1 last week, Leiner talked with Jeff Wilson of the Ft. Worth Star-Telegram about the state of the hobby.
He highlighted strong growth in sales at many of the brick-and-mortar hobby shops, his company’s online sales, 20-30% growth in sales through retail outlets like Target and Walmart.
“A few years ago we really made a push on the dot.com side, and our hobby stores were concerned. ‘Oh, is this going to take from our sales?’ What we’ve seen is new collectors are coming into the hobby. Whether through Topps.com or they come in through Wal-Mart or Target or a hobby store, once you get them in and they find a way to collect, they’re going to find a hobby store. It’s all about getting people into the hobby.”
You can read the entire chat here.
Gary Vaynerchuk remains upbeat about the hobby as well–although more from a flipping and investment standpoint. He talked about what he’s buying and why on the Jim Rome Show last week. The card talk starts at the 13:50 mark.
Fanatics has a site-wide sale going on and it includes sports cards. 2020 Topps Series 1 blaster boxes are $14.99 with discounts also available on 24-ct boxes.
There’s free shipping, too, if you order $39 or more. Check it out here.
Topps has printed some special cards for St. Louis Cardinals infielder Paul DeJong. It’s part of an educational and community outreach he’s involved in. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch wrote about it.
One of the first big shows of 2020 is in the books. TriStar’s Houston event returned to NRG Arena Friday-Sunday.
A rare appearance by Keith Hernandez was part of the autograph action.
@TRISTAR1 Thank you for bringing @keithhernandez to Texas! Well worth the trip from Arlington to see an all-time favorite! #becausebaseball pic.twitter.com/DSlF13LEP1
— ⚾️Rangers⚾️NapFan⚾️ (@Tx_Baseball_Fan) February 9, 2020
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Legendary Hall of Fame third baseman Brooks Robinson is signing autographs now at the #TRISTARShow.
Behind the scenes @TRISTAR1 in Houston this weekend – Joe Montana signing items fans have come in
Cool combo chiefs ball with Mahomes
“Joe Cool” signs for the public at noon pic.twitter.com/Pnp2p4TWtw
— Patrick Ryan (@PRyanTexas) February 8, 2020
Related Stories:
TriStar Show Brings Big Names, New Names
TRISTAR Acquires 12,000 Autographed Baseballs from Keating Collection
Million Card Rip Party Brings Alonso, Breakers, Topps to Dallas for Series 1 Breaks
Autograph Guests Announced for NSCC
English Soccer Team’s Exec Leaving to Oversee Topps’ Business Outside N.A., Japan
Houston Show Returns with Plenty of Autographs
Notes: 1/1 Ruth Card Carries Wrong Autograph; Rolen’s Rookies; McGriff Signs with TriStar
