Topps Says MVP Buyback Promotion to Continue, Promises More Outreach

Topps will continue its MVP buyback program in 2023 and beyond. That was just one of the announcements at the company’s industry conference in Phoenix Monday.

 

A collaboration between Topps, hobby shops and major online retailers, the buyback program offers sizeable in-store credit for collectors who turned in certain cards of 2022 MVPs Aaron Judge and Paul Goldschmidt from 2022 Topps Chrome. There’s no word yet on what Topps plans to do with all of the cards that were collected.

 

 

Speaking to an audience of a few hundred at Chase Field, home of the Arizona Diamondbacks, Topps executives Mike Mahan and David Leiner also indicated the company would be aggressively promoting the hobby to a wider audience, something Fanatics CEO Michael Rubin has been promising. The goal, they say, is to increase the number of those who call themselves collectors, by ten times.

 

Toward that end, Topps says it will soon be announcing a promotion with Little League Baseball featuring free packs for kids who sign up and bigger prizes for those who reach certain goals. It will also include a tie-in with local hobby shops. Topps announced a partnership with Little League ahead of the 2021 Little League World Series in Williamsport, PA.

 

Topps also says it will continue to promote its flagship line through initiatives similar to the “JRod Show” video series and pledged to work more closely with hobby shops regarding new releases, including video conferences and increased information about the product.

 

Once again, Topps also promised to work with players to sign autographs in a timely manner to reduce the number of redemption cards that have to be placed in packs. They also promised a major product announcement sometime in March and plans for “RetroFractor” cards featuring past players.

 

You can also expect to see more retail exclusive products being made available through card stores.

 

A few hundred hobby shop owners and others in the orbit of the modern baseball card business paid $400-$450 to attend the gathering, which wraps up on Tuesday.