Topps continues to pile up big numbers when it offers a lottery style prize for big names and big moments featured via on its NOW platform.
The 50-50 club card of Shohei Ohtani offered late last week sold 653,737 copies, a record print run in the eight-year history of the program.
While the milestone would have likely resulted in much larger than normal sales numbers, the chance to win a redemption card for one of six autographs, including an inscribed 1/1 for the $11.99 price certainly pushed sales higher. Random buyers might also find one of numerous short printed versions or photo variations that are also being produced. The autographed card is likely worth a six-figure price.
The Ohtani card broke a record that lasted barely a month and offered another much publicized prize. The LeBron James/Kevin Durant/Steph Curry gold medal winning card from the Paris Olympics sold 588,030 copies after Topps promised one buyer would get a different card signed by all three superstars. The ordering period for that one was 72 hours but surprisingly, the Ohtani card sold 65,707 more cards despite being available for only 24 hours. Dealers have offered mid-six-figure bounties to the person who receives the triple signed card.
The $11.99 per card price for potential autographs is $3 more than a typical Topps NOW offering.
Topps took in over $7.8 million on the Ohtani card and just over $7 million on the basketball card. It’s not all pure profit, of course, thanks to printing and shipping costs, not to mention the fees it’s paying for licensing and autographs, but it’s still quite a revenue windfall attained in a very short period of time.
For collectors who missed the ordering window or just want to buy the base card cheap, eBay sellers who bought in bulk at lower prices, are offering the Ohtani card for well under the cost of ordering through Topps.
So far this year, Topps has created 32 base cards of Ohtani through the NOW program in addition to some with game-used relic pieces. The card Topps made last month to commemorate Ohtani reaching the 40/40 club sold 156,658 copies and also included the chance for an autographed version.
Another card made last March after he collected his first hit and RBI with the Dodgers during a series in Korea netted the third highest sales of Ohtani NOW cards at 44,476.
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