Topps Chrome Is Dead-How The Biggest Brand In Baseball Cards Fell

Topps Chrome is arguably the most important brand of baseball cards that we have had in the past 40 years. Unfortunately, Topps Chrome how we used to know it is dead. In this video I break down why Topps Chrome is not as great as it used to be, how the ROI of Topps Chrome became so abysmal, and share my opinion on the future of the product.

[@justltn]

Topps itself died the moment Fantatics bought topps and they decided to release all the extra sets to grab as much profit as it could.

[@charleswolph5316]

Just how many sets of the same players do you need.. I agree..big money grab.. two or three sets max

[@simondaughtry4619]

greed kills the golden goose.... every time....@@charleswolph5316

[@mobetterbreaks]

Are they really profiting though?? With the amount of money they are spending on production there's no way they are in the green from selling all this new crap that no one wants to buy.

[@canu8028]

they started doing this before fanatics tbh

[@user-dv6dg5gu6d]

💯 percent agree I went from spending $5k a year on cards prior to fanatics buying them to $500 a year now that they are fanatics owned. Fanatics has no pulse on the hobby evidenced by the skyrocket pricing on wax in comparison to the crashing value of cards. I am more then willing to sit out a few years if that means Fanatics either goes bankrupt or spins off its card division

[@SPHobby]

You make a lot of great points here. I feel collectability has gone out the window. New sets are introduced at a brisk pace all year and sets are "Fire" until next month when the "New Fire" is released with just as much hype as last month's set. You never get caught up and usually are scrambling to even find the overpriced product because everyone else is looking for the same thing. FOMO and dealing with a budget just makes things harder. OK, I'm done. Thanks again for the valuable information. Enjoy your content.

[@ryansutter4291]

💯 that scrambling your talking about is literally why I haven't been buying any sports cards over the past few months. It burnt me out. I literally started collecting Pokemon cards for the first time in my life because it's just more fun and accessible to collect right now...

[@87KNOTSaka100MPH]

My kids and I got into collecting cards this year. Overall I feel it’s just SO EXPENSIVE!!! We started a channel and opened our first Hobby box Topps 23 series 2. It was fun but at the same time we paid $100 for what is now $75. So we stick with the blaster boxes (on sale) at $20 a pop. The prices are out of control, print runs are insane! Are we in another junk era like the 90’s?

[@B4IrustB4Idecompose]

Definitely another junk era. Collect what you like at this point!

[@bryankahtava3174]

Yep….with out a doubt! The clearance shelves will be full for years.

[@CDubRealTalk]

If you cant afford to rip, save up and buy singles. Retail is THE biggest waste of $

[@mikea5205]

@@bryankahtava3174 nah. Thieves will get'em.

[@avrivah1101]

Started targeting vintage for this reason. Retail sports cards are just legalized gambling at this point. It's great for the printers, but there's no way it's sustainable. When the bottom falls out again, as it must, people are going to find there's little interest in their Mango Aqua Chili Cheesedog Foil Parallel 0/499.

[@ryanra44]

And this is why I collect 1st bowman chrome cards. They are only in two sets. Whatever one of the 3 bowman releases they are first in and the sapphire version of that product. That’s it

[@geoffgelectric]

Spot on Scott! I’ve been boycotting buying wax since the parallels explosion and fanatics take over. I hope the hobby can bounce back from the gluttonous vultures who have terrorized the hobby for the last 5 yrs

[@kenosabi]

It won't. Because enough breakers buy massive stock and resell it to dummies. They aren't noticing anyone's boycot. They don't care. Because enough people will still buy whatever trash they put out.

[@patrickbaklava7297]

You are on a card investors youtube channel wondering when the hobby will come back to normal lmao The irony

[@JC37618]

It's not just Topps Chrome. This is why modern cards in general are going to freefall over the next 20 years. There is a seemingly never ending run of "numbered" cards of a player per year. Well, add all those together - not so limited.

[@jonathanwaldrop730]

Rookies will be the only thing worth anything

[@ryansutter4291]

​@@jonathanwaldrop730not even those...

[@AKsugarsled]

I respect everyone's opinions here, truly. But I'm having so much fun with Topps Chrome. I love all the crazy parallels and the higher chances of seeing something other than a base card. And I know that a lot of us make our living from buying and selling and that this dilutes value, etc. But as a guy who just collects for fun, I'm enjoying all the color and craziness. Sounds like I'm in the minority, though.

[@JChriStiaN648]

You could say that every modern card is dead if you’re only considering # of parallels.. that’s why we as collectors have to draw a line in the sand and say for example, the only parallels that matter are the gold, orange, red, and superfractor. It’s on us now. We have to speak with our wallets. Same for flagship topps. The black parallel matters. We have to set the standard because Topps isn’t going to do it.

[@iLightSoundGeometry]

its like this in hockey and the community settles on the young guns and young guns parallels ..and its still watered down but at least there is really only one type of card to invest in or chase ..for example mvp does not have yg so the prices on the boxes are cheap as they cant sell but do have some cool cards in them .. same with opc

[@Aut0KAD]

sports card collecting is in a lot of trouble. We collect cards because we collected as a kid. very few people enter the hoby as an adult (that had never bought cards before). Today, the boxes are so expensive, no kid can buy cards. when today's kids grow up, they aren't going to start buying cards, and the current collectors will start dying - dumping their cards onto the market.

[@nicklazzaro5055]

kinda disagree with this as kids we bought packs.... packs still are able to be bought. Theyre more expensive than before but very much able to be afforded. Plus these kids have the internet and youtube to see whats out there when maybe theyre old enough to get a job of their own.

[@Paul-uo1vw]

@@nicklazzaro5055 as kids-packs, boxes, etc. were more affordable because it was a competitive market. Now it's pretty much a monopoly and prices can be set at whatever they want.

[@AtomicZombieAndroid]

I don't know what kind of privilege you had growing up but I NEVER bought boxes as a kid. The hobby is fine with kids. If you've been to a card show in the last year you would know that.

[@johnnygullett3134]

I agree with all the points you are making, BUT the hobby has grown so much since the days youre comparing to (2004ish) that if there were the same number of parallels now as there were then, it would be very difficult for the average person to have more than just a base topps chrome corbin carroll. Now i can get his base, sepia, pink, refractor, xfractor and prism all for 60ish dollars and have a neat little rainbow. Also i think you said there are like 10,000 total numbered corbin chrome parallels? Im sure theres at least 10,000 people nowadays that would love to have even one of them. So factor in maybe 25 people making near rainbows thats gonna be about 2500 of them off the market. I say all that to give more to think about on this subject, not to undermine the points you made

[@ToughpullsTim]

I 100% agree with this side of the argument

[@GlassGuy1]

Thank you Scottie for talking about this! So many KZbinrs just rip and rip without addressing the issues in this industry. Predatory corporations feeding off of people's passion for this hobby, disgusting!

[@MasterShake300]

Welcome to the Everything is Special Era. When everything is a "hit" and "rare" then nothing is.

[@jonathonsantamont8527]

Yep, same thing with people. Everyone is special, so nothing is special. U r spot on…

[@vintagesanctuary]

Well said!

[@skmdc]

So you're saying getting a decent pull has the same lousy odds as they always have, but we now get some decent consolation prizes with watered down parallels :-) Great breakdown, it's rough out there.

[@SopranoPizzaJMFNJ]

This is out of hand and I can't keep up. I usually just buy the new Archives set and then stick to collecting vintage singles.

[@mrathburn]

100 percent right. The box prices vs singles prices gap is so huge right now that you can't even make anything on breaking at retail.

[@MagnusMarcusful]

Man, I've been bouncing around this thought for a while now....thank you for giving such detailed reasoning of what and why this is happening

[@louisszemesi9345]

This is why I stopped collecting in the year 2000. I used to like putting together a set, but it became impossible with all the inserts and different card companies. There is no sense of completion.

[@AtomicZombieAndroid]

90s are the best decade for baseball cards. So many fun innovative sets you can spend a lifetime collecting in that decade and still not have scratched the surface.

[@williamskinner4833]

So I grew up in the junk wax era. Meaning all of my “good” cards are worthless. I got back into the hobby last year, and now I find out that all of the stuff I’m buying is going to be worthless again. What the Hell man

[@arrowheadhead9558]

Exactly. Collect silver,gold and ammo!

[@evangraham532]

Vintage are the cards worth collecting.

[@ThinkSnow]

I like many people got back into the hobby during the covid years. It was nostalgic and super fun. Experiencing more and more and learning lessons along the way, this last year has really put a soar taste in my mouth for the modern hobby. The culture that is being pushed, not to mention prices, is simply disgusting.

[@atomicdesignshop]

Well said and good analysis of cost breakdown. I am just getting back into sports cards this year and is a bit dizzying trying to wrap your head around all the different parallels and refractors out there. Interesting to see what the next few years will bring to the hobby

[@rsuriyop]

Just makes me wish that I could somehow teleport back to 2005 which had the perfect number of parallels - something like 4 or 5 different variants; today it’s just complete overload. And we could certainly do without all of the “upgraded” Topps Chrome sister products that have since come out like Sapphire, Gilded, Ben Baller, and Logofractor.

[@Blabbin_Bout_Slabbin]

The autograph $ numbers are mind-numbing! Awesome video, so much good stuff.

[@nicklazzaro5055]

IMO this is the 80s and 90s part 2. Instead of overprinting individual cards theyre spreading the cards thin and creating more sets/parallels. Its going to have the same effect as the overprinting.

[@jonathonsantamont8527]

This is why Scotty B says 2011 and 2014 Trout and Betts are great. Really short printed compared to other eras, and the players only have a handful of true rookie cards (not 100’s).

[@AtomicZombieAndroid]

At least the cards look better than cards from the 80s

[@Sweeney-Kubach]

I have the entire 2019-2020 tops chrome full sets, with special inserts! I like putting sets together. I like the mosaic and have the first year football, basketball, and baseball. Great job on the video my friend.

[@SportsCardCollectorChronicles]

As always, well done sir!!! Even without the extra parrallels, when they went from 2 autos to 1 per box my gut was like ...oh great double print run at least. haha

[@markinnes4264]

A lot of these new products will die out soon enough. Most of them are worse than setting your money on fire. I still like the Chrome variants in Stadium Club, Heritage and Pro Debut. Boxes became too expensive for me in 2020 and I've mostly been buying singles and I've never had the urge to piss away my money on new sealed product.

[@bcarr1752]

you nailed it with this video. very nicely done and explained

[@drpearlmantv6357]

One of the most important videos of modern day sports card collecting . Thank you Scotty

[@rookiedog1]

You did an excellent job of explaining to America why I quit collecting Topps after 2021. I enjoy collecting sets and Topps has completely killed that!

[@918_Collectibles]

Really good video and analytics. I'm starting to look at Bowman 1st cards, specifically numbered ones. Any other sets you'd recommend?

[@rickbuckman3621]

Thanks for the research and I agree with your assessment. The only way to really get collecting back down to earth is unfortunately for collectors to stop buying into this madness or at least take a break. It comes down to Fanatic's making decisions based on selling instead of listening to our opinions on the product. As long as they make money they will keep doing it.

[@KevinFuller]

I absolutely agree. Way too many chrome offerings. I think topps and fanatics are more focused on chrome than other products. I think They are more focused on making money than making way too many products I have only purchased a few singles of chrome this year. I just can't justify purchasing it when you only get four cards per pack at such a high price point.

[@erikletendre7512]

Agreed. It's my first year of collecting and I clearly jumped in at the wrong time, but for all the right reasons haha. It's been tons of fun ripping most of the sets, and I ended up pulling the 1/1 Titans insert Gunnar from update this week. But then I think about it all more and you might as well number it to however many 1 of 1's exist at this point for this year's rookies.

[@Forthefunofthehobby]

I appreciate this video. 2003 topps chrome is my favorite set. Simple and it’s why I continue to buy that instead of these products. It really is a shame what they’ve done to the product.

[@thewiscolife6532]

This video brings up things I have been thinking about. With so many different sets being released each year and so many parallels in each set, how is today that different from the junk wax era in terms of # of cards being released?

[@walkingnerfwithjack1881]

Hi Scottie, Also the problem is the printing standards have dropped - most Topps chrome cards are off center and if they aren't off center they probably have a printer scratch on them. I'm finally going to listen to my dad and just collect vintage cards and just buy the Topps regular packs for fun.

[@befrank64]

And I wonder if the printing issues are on purpose so not every card is a PSA 10. You would think they would have the technology down to print a perfect card each and every time! :(

[@liper13]

Huh? Have you seen the cards from the 60s? 70s? 80s? They were terrible as well.

[@vintagesanctuary]

@@liper13 True, vintage cards came out of the packs with more condition issues, but they didn't have the precision technology that we have today.

[@liper13]

⁠@@vintagesanctuary Such a good point. You are sure right. So, with all these issues being brought up about the excess parallels and autos, what WILL hold value?

[@vintagesanctuary]

@@liper13 Great question! I don't have a clue because I am a vintage collector who occasionally watches a video about modern cards out of curiosity, but I truly have very little knowledge of modern cards. If I were going to collect modern cards, my approach would be to buy any cool looking (to me) parallels numbered relatively low (like maybe 99 or less) that I could get without spending very much on each one. I would focus on players that I like that are likely to make the HOF, like Aaron Judge. However, every time I think about starting to collect some modern cards, I literally become overwhelmed by all of the options and just end up sticking with vintage! 😂

[@CDGSports]

Love this analysis! Agree with pretty much everything here. Won’t stop me from buying those traditional parallels though haha (Blue, Gold, Orange, Red, Black). I really do think that those values are getting crushed rn (like you said the parallels are competing against one another) and is a great time to buy. They’ve stood the test of time for a reason and I think they will continue to do so!

[@garygordon3075]

What test of time have they stood. The color parallels are crap unless they're numbered.

[@CDGSports]

@@garygordon3075 are you thinking Topps flagship parallels? I’m talking about Blue, Gold, Orange, Black, and Red Refractors here. Those legacy refractors have always been favorites among the collecting community

[@garygordon3075]

@@CDGSports I am probably, but you are correct, the legacy ones have always withstood time as people definitely collect them

[@kennyshabanggaming1750]

i guess.....but i sold a nolan gorman orange for like almost 400 raw lol......so idk....i think people still chase the color

[@marcawesomespulls506]

I originally came in here to argue but as I actually listened to your video it makes sense. The odds are insane and I’d even add , how valuable are parallels even? Great video. Also kind of makes me wonder how these breakers on fanatics hit so many of the big names consistently even when they aren’t pushing through 100’s of boxes a month.

[@kennyshabanggaming1750]

parallels are valuable lol....nolan gorman base - to his numbered colored huge price jump

[@kennyshabanggaming1750]

as with every rookie just saying him bc i actually sold one for big bucks

[@HardenHighlights]

I get it, more is being printed and there is more parallels to fill these boxes. But what exactly is Topps supposed to do to fulfill the demand? Maintain the same printing numbers and price essentially most people out or do what they're doing now? We just want to criticize companies without critically thinking on what exactly makes sense for the hobby

[@trevordixon5262]

Tough love… Video was great. A lot of people are blaming the Fanatics takeover but Topps was well on their way to the situation we’re in today. Thanks for calling it out and doing the homework.

[@douglasbrink6342]

Exactly Scottie. Great video and take!! I got back into the hobby last year after a 30 year hiatus (yeah, I'm old and dug my old cards and sets out of the closet). As part of re-discoverying my old, cars I started buying and collecting 2022 Topps Update, Chrome, Chrome Update and a smattering of Sapphire. It was a blast ripping, sorting, and collecting again. But then as I quickly started learning that there were all these other sets (archives, heritage, Allen Ginter, Cosmic Sapphire, etc) I really go turned off. The number of refractor variations seemed stupidly insane. It turned me off so much I decided to sit out 2023 and I'm glad I did. I think Topps would have kept my interest if it stayed with a base set, a premium set, and a handful of refractors. My next step is to focus back on getting my old cards and having some of them graded and others upgraded. Thanks for confirming what I seemed to sense was the case given my experience getting back into the hobby last year. Love your channel!!

[@TripleC-fu4vg]

I started watching you about a year ago. Your analytics are insane on this Hobby. What do you personally do for work if you don’t mind answering. Education? I appreciate your content, you’re on another level. Why didn’t the Rockies or Pittsburgh play Conor Joe more? He’s a Beast.

[@kbutcher84]

Agree 100%. I think it was you who I first heard say that we’re not in the junk wax era again, but we might be in the junk parallel era. I think your video shows that it probably the case.

[@dr.gaberosenthal5319]

I just ignore all the Topps Chrome alternatives and collect the Topps Chrome Rookie Autos of the main players. The rest doesn’t matter to me. If a player has an auto in the regular Chrome set and the update set then I just collect the former. Not the latter

[@chrisojeda7377]

This sums up Scottie's video. I purchased a jumbo update and my box had 1 auto (missing 2 autos) and the one lone auto was.........Topps Update orange /25 auto of...........NARCISO CROOK. Dude didn't even play in 2023 and spent the last year and 1/2 in the Dominican League. BRUTAL. I know that when Topps gets around to my missing hits complaint, they'll probably send me 2 more CROOK auto cards as a FU.

[@LuisMendez-tx2dn]

Aren’t we the consumers also responsible for assisting with ruining the hobby? We’ve cried about how hard it was to pull the player/parallel/auto from boxes or that there wasn’t enough of them in each box, so now Topps is stuffing our faces with all the cards you want while making these cards worthless in a few years, you can't have your cake and eat it too😂. I’ve spent a total of $5000 on wax this year with the last box I purchased being this year’s Topps Chrome… and that is the last hobby box I’ll buy! I now buy singles on eBay of my favorite player and some other rookies for the right price. You’re an absolute fool if you’re buying Hobby/Jumbo boxes and overpriced retail blasters right now and I hope more and more collectors realize this and send a message to fanatics.

[@mattatbat96]

I agree with everything you are saying but I do think we left something key out... The fact is the amount of people in the trading card hobby is sky rocketed from the beginning of covid times. Sadly in my option alot of the issues we have are simply a by-product of that. With that said, how could anyone be annoyed that more people are into this hobby? is basically a catch 22. Could topps and frantic handled this better? sure to a degree but I think we would always see something like this because of it. Card companies need to produce more product to meet the demand. I see 3 options that topps could have taken: 1. They do what they are doing now. Produce more parallels, doing so produces more color into a product making it more "enticing" to open or they produce the same amount of color but increased the denominator of that parallel making it more common... not more valuable. 2. Keep parallels and all "rare cards" the same output as past years and produce more base cards... This makes product less "enticing" and drives away new and past fans. In fact we would probably have the same video about how topps chrome is dead but obviously the reason why would be different. 3. Produce the same output of product as past years, base cards and rare cards. This would drive prices of product even higher then what we already see today and once again drive away new and old fans and maybe even have yet the same video about how topps chrome is dead... In others words im not convinced we have a "good" way around this. I think this is just the new way for at least now. We need to get used to the idea that a sparkly looking parallel is simply just not worth what it used to be.

[@Vsnipes71]

I like that there are a ton a parallels now. More cool variations of players that I like. When you talk about long term value, there are very few players that would have long term value. The hobby is all around current hype and it doesn’t matter how significant that player is in the future. What’s important to Topps is the current market and it also helps to keep things exciting and people buying. Not everyone is a hardcore collector and investor. I can see why it’s bad for the hardcore investor community of the hobby but it’s fun for the collector side of the hobby. Just need prices to go down for the wax

[@JVsPrimeTimeCards-ur1fb]

Thank you for putting these numbers together. I agree with your analysis 100%, only I'll add this issue is far from limited to Topps Chrome. I got back into the hobby this summer, mainly football so far. I am really not looking to spend a whole lot more money on cards at this point. This is already starting to be known as the junk slab era, to your points this could also be called the junk parallel era.

[@corysmith6490]

I genuinely like numbered stuff...yeah there is a ton! But i like trying to find every parallel of my teams and players. Im okay with it..not worried about value from a collecting standpoint.

[@animalmother53]

I so miss the days from 1998-2003 of collecting Topps/Chrome and especially Finest. Bowman’s best from that era were beautiful cards too. Today, it’s too insane. I’ll stick to buying singles from that era.

[@keapoe]

This is due to Breakers. Due to so many hobby boxes being sold for breakers, they had to make all these parallel to increase card count and make less packs seem like "dead packs". This isn't just a issue with Topps Chrome, it's all are going this route.

[@Paul-uo1vw]

we are in a new "Junk Wax Era" which can be appropriately dubbed "Junk Parallel Era"

[@robertarnold9594]

I will occasionally buy a few packs of new sets at my LCS, but I tend to focus on the 1990 (yep, I'm old and still like 90s junk wax!) up until 2014 packs. I just got so burned out the last few years on all of the numerous parallels found in today's sets. Back in the day if you pulled a refractor, it was kind of a big deal. May not have been your player of choice, but still pretty cool. Now, the refractor just doesn't have that same awesome feeling or carry the value, unless they are the orange, red,.... as mentioned in another comment which I too feel will always have their place for most collectors. Anyway, to each his own. If you still love Topps Chrome, then I am very happy for you because collecting should be fun. I still like Topps Archives myself and always grab at least a few packs. Otherwise, I just try and buy the singles that I am after. Scottie, great content as always, sir. Honestly, watching your videos is a big part of why I still find joy in this hobby. You have a real knack for reaching your hobby audience, and we applaud you, sir!

[@madcitybrew]

Great video and still not convinced Fanatics will be good for the hobby now or into the future.

[@suitcasemurphy1220]

Fanatics purchasing Topps was the most obvious industry top signal you could imagine! 😂

[@floridastacker]

What set for 2023 would you recommend a new collector focus on buying key rookies this year considering the print numbers today?

[@thatsamare5346]

The aspect missing from your analysis is demand and print run. It's clear the supply of these parallels and autos has multiplied significantly, but if the hobby has grown and demand has grown to meet that new supply, the collectability and secondary market strength is unchanged. Honestly, I don't know if the demand is keeping up with the supply, but I think it's needed in this analysis to form a true conclusion.

[@oozealot]

I would call it the 2nd Junk Wax Era, but at least junk wax cards were affordable. The ROI are on these sets is going to be abysmal and they are pricing-out an entire generation of potential new collectors. How many kids have $130-$300 to drop on a hobby box? Even "cheap" products like blaster boxes are getting ridiculous.

[@SteveTYork]

Sapphire is the new Chrome. Chrome is the new Flagship. Flagship is tits up.

[@tedjerdee1028]

I've been saying this for years, eliminate at least half of the products they currently print and put all those autos and patches into the flagship products, especially retail. When people have 0 faith in retail and they don't want to buy a $250 hobby box, they put their $50 or so into a break which fuels breakers and enables Fanatics to keep ruining the hobby. If they improve retail, it pulls dollars away from breakers, it's that simple

[@nicklazzaro5055]

exactly. Have to make the direct collectors 50-100 bucks go further. Right now its a lotto ticket. Its using the casinos slot model. A lot of machines that take, barely any that break even, and a few that are monster payoffs. So its an all or nothing world with very little alls with hobby boxes. Now breakers are buying so much of the product theyre getting the few alls there is

[@tedjerdee1028]

@@nicklazzaro5055 IMO, all they need to do is guarantee an auto or relic per blaster. If you are going to increase prices while watering down the product on top of horrible QC, then at least promise something for the money

[@coryolsen8684]

Glad you’ve made this video. The ridiculous amount of sets & parallels of these is ridiculous, and on top of it all, the prices of boxes have gone up to ugly levels. Topps was already making & costing too much before Fanatics, and Fanatics has exponentially increased these things. It takes the fun and practicality out of all this & hopefully does not turn all the people away; the popularity is good, but the hobby is out of reach for kids. Boxes are a waste of a buyer’s money - 99.999% of the time. Commenters are right, too, that it’s not just Topps chrome and not just baseball.

[@SportsCardJungle]

You nailed the breakdown in this video. The number of parallels and different sets has gotten out of control. If these numbers keep increasing, how many parallels will there be in 2032 Topps Chrome? One stat that you missed that is probably impossible to know is how many of these parallels are given to breakers in loaded boxes? That makes the odds even worse. Why not cut the number of parallels in half while adding every player on the team? That could make those top players cards so rare that they get too expensive for the average collector, however if the average collector pulled it, they could sell it and reinvest into more cards. Also, you would also have collectors trying to fill entire team sets then individual players, which I think would be better for the hobby since these sports are team sports and not individuals competing one on one.

[@Wrosy313]

While I think parallels and flagship stuff is dead, if you look back to the 90s (where this was somewhat similar) what survived were the inserts. I will say that Topps has done a really good job with the insert sets, Hidden Gems, Hobby Masters, Planetary Pursuit (in concept is was great but executed poorly), etc. further, I think the SP and SSP image variations will end up being more collectible than the majority of the flagship parallels of equal population.

[@tjhendricks1756]

This makes perfect sense. When people start realizing this, people will slowly stop buying the product. This begs the question, what other comparable product do you buy? The answer seems to be nothing. People will lose interest and get out of he hobby altogether, kind of like with the junk card era. Maybe by that point, we'll see some sanity within the industry. Doubtful.

[@nevercold808]

Terrific breakdown. How the mighty have fallen...

[@cardconnection4322]

Agree. Collapse is imminent like it was after the over print junk era. The industry response to that was inserts and numbered cards back then. Now we are in over print junk insert and junk numbered card era. This makes me wonder what the response will be this time around … insert boxes in cases? Back to game used?

[@GeoffreyTMusic]

Very well put, like always Mr. B. Hopefully when Topps/Fanatics get the rights to nfl and nba the massive print runs will slow.

[@mikestahlman8225]

Topps and bowman chrome are and will always be my favorite. I should say older chrome. I'm not a huge fan of recent chrome cards as they seem to be mass produced. For some reason I would much rather have a chrome refractor than the rpa of a player.

[@GeorgeCummings28]

Damn that’s crazy.. as a context creator who exclusively covers baseball cards, that must suck 😢 also I feel like the one product that isn’t sitting on the shelves is Topps Chrome

[@CollectingBaseballCards]

0:00 - Announces the video will discuss how Topps Chrome is dead 0:07 - States Topps Chrome brand we've loved for 20 years has officially died a slow death 3:50 - Shows how number of parallels and sets have increased drastically over time, devaluing Topps Chrome 6:50 - Analyzes how many version of Ellie De La Cruz will be in various Topps Chrome sets 9:00 - Looks at cost to pull specific parallel cards over time, showing increasing costs 12:00 - Analyzes autograph checklist sizes and costs to pull specific autographs over time 16:00 - Gives final thoughts that era of Topps Chrome being the top premium set is dead

[@Dufex_of_Life]

Topps Chrome itself was originally a parallel set of Topps Flagship

[@samforsyth]

The boom both reinvigorated, and then eventually suffocated card collecting. Pulling any parallel or numbered card feels meaningless now... even autographs aren't exciting anymore... Its like I can't be excited about anything at all unless it's a BINGO of like 4 or 5 specific players that's a parallel AND numbered AND auto AND patch/relic... all the other "special" cards are just garbage designed to make you THINK you got a hit.

[@jamesreynolds9673]

Your right. Numbers dont lie and the numbers are definitely up. Kinda sad too cuz you have had good rookies who will be HOF players rookie cards suffer. Watered down like the free daycares koolaid.

[@Mattymatty2000]

Love your videos, Scottie, but this strikes me as a bit "get off my lawn"-ish. The parallels are, IMO, too much, but they're also what sells. People love parallels, so of course anyone who owns the company is going to make more of what people want, therefore more parallels. Fanatics/Topps doesn't care what your Corbin Carroll purple speckle /299 is worth in 20 years, but they know that if you hit that card you'll be happy. Personally I wish they'd pull back on some of these, but ultimately they're going to do what gets people to buy their product the most (or at least they'll try to). Thanks for the thought-provoking video, and for all the great videos you make. My son and I really enjoy them.

[@CollectingNostalgia]

Great breakdown, junk wax era is back, its just more colorful

[@ZiggyNo]

Appreciate your insights and hustle. Dead? It’s the future like it or not. IMO the market will impact the product and over time it will change again. Better or worse. One ring will rule us all. I’m looking forward to where Topps chrome will look with nba and nfl? Will they have shield fractor and logoman fractors. Will there be sapphire for nba and nfl? Update chrome will have debut patches It’s all perception sprinkled with market reality Cheers 🍻

[@chrisc4264]

They added too many parallels. This started several years ago. Fanatics will end up printing so much that it'll be similar to junk wax era im afraid. However, I'm still bullish on sealed wax hobby boxes of Topps Chrome and Bowman. 23 has a solid checklist of rookies and most people open everything even moreso bc of the MVP buyback thing. I'm also buying vintage when affordable

[@penaltybox4942]

Collect what you like. It's nice to think that your cards hold some monetary value. But if the monetary value of a card is more important to you than the card itself, you've already lost.

[@nicklazzaro5055]

heres what the real problem is.... if thats what the hobby is then nothing should cost more than a nickel. People arent buying high end boxes for cards themselves. People who live in this fairy tale need to get a grip and start asking why anything costs more than 5 cents in this hobby, like i said.

[@penaltybox4942]

@@nicklazzaro5055 I don’t buy high end boxes. I like Topps Chrome, so I buy Topps Chrome. It’s not a high end product. It’s nice to get a “hit”, but I also like collecting the base rookies. If you’re just chasing the hits, then maybe you should “get a grip” and start buying scratch off lottery tickets. The odds are better.

[@garygordon3075]

@@penaltybox4942 Uh, they are inserting less autos in the product, so it's not so nice to get a hit

[@markymichaels]

Couldn’t agree with ya more. Wayyyy too much coming from Topps., I think the demand is a big thing missing. Supply and demand is the reason for this. Demand has dropped, I really think topps is gonna start to pull back. Demand was Super Low in the 90s and 2000s. I wish we could see Topps yearly earnings from back then up until now. It’s definitely the inevitable that they will start cutting down. Imagine if we saw the same print runs and parallels as back then? Hobby boxes would be like 2500 each! Lol Great vid bro

[@kasual1414]

Pretty much at my shop the only reason Topps chrome sells is for the mvp buyback program. Blasters, hobbies, and hobby packs fly off the shelf just for the buyback and the occasional hit.

[@brentrichards4699]

This is why I’ve gone away from collecting ultra modern, and just collect my childhood cards in high grade now

[@Shanemo007]

thanks for sharing

[@Skunkgravy]

Man, as a set builder. I can't wait to put together complete parallel sets when all these things become cheap

[@Ecohoneybear]

This is why I don’t buy wax anymore. It’s overpriced and you don’t get any value. I just buy the cards I want now in the baseball offseason when the sellers let the price fall closer to where they are worth. This hobby is getting tough to be in nowadays.

[@nyckeith1]

I'm extremely hesitant to open any boxes going forward. This is ridiculous.

[@arsenal-slr9552]

I just want chrome refractors, stadium club chrome refractors, and the base cards for my team to put in my massive two binders. Everything else I could take or leave

[@TheRealBeastMcNasty]

I agree with everything you said but the comparison to previous hobby boxes to now needs to be adjusted to what they used to cost not what they cost now a days. It will actually prove your point further because you could buy a 2004 topps chrome hobby box for $100-125 back then.

[@Austinarcher10]

Part of the issue is we have more "premium" sets than topps chrome flagship. Sapphire/Gilded based on cost are leaps and bound more desired than topps chrome. I'm not disagreeing with your thoughts, but the hobby is changing and the mindset of the hobby has to change to go along with it.

[@PatMcCarthy420]

I hope this means Topps Finest makes a comeback

[@jonathonsantamont8527]

It’s an under rated product, for sure!

[@Bunny-Verse]

I remember there was a time in Topps Chrome Baseball and Football had Retail Blue and X-Fractors.

[@mikeb-box7817]

Sucks but great analysis my friend!! The beginning of the end for sure.

[@briguy8957]

I will buy a blaster just for the joy of opening packs but it has gotten ridiculous. Even one of my favorite sets, Topps Stadium Club, has a chrome now. If it's high end cards, breakers, or bust, it's going to be bust for me. It's unfortunate.

[@zevach82]

It needed to be said, thank you. We hope @Topps listens to their customers

[@youngipman23]

So true. I hope Fanatics sees this.

[@joealessandra7726]

so what is the best higher end product to buy at the moment?

[@duanetomka6559]

It will be interesting to see how the insert thing sorts out in 15-20 yrs...like if and which inserts are sought after. Look at the 90s and there are some very expensive inserts that continue to hold value even if it is a card that is 4-8yrs past the RC. Back in 1998 who would have thought a Griffey Man Refractor /75 fetches 5 figures

[@Wrosy313]

Video of the year!

[@scottiebcards2354]

Thank you Warren!

[@lastcalll2291]

People want less parallels so they are more valuable but complain when the rip a box that doesn't have 50 parallels..

[@MainStreamRegimeDemocrats]

I agree its so obviously a push to make as much as they can as fast as they can. Do u think this ends the same way junk wax did?

[@nicklazzaro5055]

Yup. I just made a comment above how this is just part 2. Instead of over production of the sets they had in the 90s, this time around its numbering a card but having 90 parallels all numbered to under 500 which in turn is not very special... Almost like Fanatics thinks people are into collecting colors more than cards.... Like a collectors going to a show and goin... yea i got the green and blue but not the Fuscia, Donut, Aqua, and Teal.... We arent interior designers (most of us)