Upper Deck has lost Marvel to Fanatics.

[HiltonL]

Originally Posted by finfangfan

Yeah… if they make a bazillion low numbered cards does it even matter if a card is a “low number” if there are a bazillion low number variations. I guess that depends on whether or not Fanatics is able to 10x the hobby as it says it will.

Platinum is the testament to the answer being 'no'

For myself as a collector, I do not enjoy there being a bazillion parallels just as a statement of basic fact

[DynaEtch]

Numbered cards absolutely lose their luster when there are a ton of parallels out there. There will be a sea of the stuff, which the hobby isn’t large enough to absorb, and there isn’t just much organic demand.

An example to contrast organic demand- you can have an unnumbered 95MM mirage, which was a rare pull at 1:360 packs but by no means that rare, being from the 90s, and I’d estimate a couple thousand minimum exist of each. But that should (and does) outsell many modern parallels which are much more limited and only /99 or less of a particular card. But the mirage is something coveted by so many set collectors, have built up fame, and importantly, only 2 exist in that set, and that was it for MM of the 90s. It’s not like modern mirages or parallels in general where there so much out there in set after set. Perfect example of organic value vs pure manufactured scarcity.

The number of parallels in Chrome is predictably a lot, but one thing I do applaud that checklist for is *not* doubling up characters. I am so tired of UD’s recent trend in doubling up base sets into low and high series and doubling characters (Metal sets, Platinum). Just have one card per character! make it more special to hit say a Wolverine or Spider-Man instead of “well I guess I hit *one* of the Spider-Man’s”. So a /10 Spider-Man really may as well be /20. I like simple…just a base per character. And I think Topps is at least doing that.

[Rictor]

Numbered cards are silly. I'll always sell a low numbered auto like a 1/10 and buy the base auto of the same card and a bunch of others with the money. An auto isn't worth any more to me because it's numbered.

[SouthEastCards]

So the first release we get is Topps Finest X-Men ’97 in Q1 2025

[finfangfan]

Originally Posted by eldavojohn

It's laughable to repeatedly claim country distribution rights are worthless today because of some loophole you know about.

I actually said the concept of regional trading card license is becoming obsolete in our modern globalized world…

Originally Posted by finfangfan

Also… Upperdeck sells Marvel cards to UK users through ePack. Like the UD head has done an interview on a podcast with a guy from the UK and the fact that it’s pretty easy for UK buyers to buy Marvel cards on ePack was laughed away. Maybe the era of regional licenses for trading cards has become obsolete in our modern globalized world.

And a week after you found that concept I brought up as being laughable…what happened? Oh yeah… Topps announces a GLOBAL Marvel, Disney, Pixar trading card license.

[glorbgorb]

Finally something official, lackluster though it is.

Of course the questions still remain around ePack, UD's remaining products (announced and unannounced), and so on.

But with the popularity of the X-Men '97 show, sound like an interesting way to make a splash. (Glad neither of my pc characters are on that show!)

[crdbored]

https://x.com/Topps/status/183423071...7Ctwgr%5Etweet'

Topps about to 10x on-card facsimile autos

[LittleJimmies]

Total bummer.

[finfangfan]

Originally Posted by LittleJimmies

Total bummer.

In short term, we *might* get some killer UD Marvel-related Black Friday sales and potentially some even deeper discounted Marvel ePack sales over the next few months before UD hands over the Marvel keys to Topps.

[finfangfan]

Marvel & Disney e-Pack Collectible Notice



Attention e-Pack Collectors,



The Upper Deck e-Pack® Team would like to provide an update involving your collectibles. After the conclusion of the collaboration, rest assured that you will still be able to engage with your existing Marvel & Disney collection, as well as any other e-Pack collectors’ Marvel & Disney items that can be found on e-Pack, in the following ways:

Store your Marvel & Disney items on Upper Deck e-Pack for as long as you would like
Ship physical Marvel & Disney items
Transfer applicable physical Marvel & Disney items to a linked COMC account
Complete achievements for, and involving, Marvel & Disney items
Combine multiple copies of Marvel & Disney trading cards to earn e-Pack exclusive parallels
Trade Marvel & Disney items for anything found on the e-Pack marketplace


Please reach out to us through the Contact Us link with any questions or concerns.



Thank you,

The Upper Deck e-Pack® Team

[LittleJimmies]

Originally Posted by finfangfan

Marvel & Disney e-Pack Collectible Notice



Attention e-Pack Collectors,



The Upper Deck e-Pack® Team would like to provide an update involving your collectibles. After the conclusion of the collaboration, rest assured that you will still be able to engage with your existing Marvel & Disney collection, as well as any other e-Pack collectors’ Marvel & Disney items that can be found on e-Pack, in the following ways:

Store your Marvel & Disney items on Upper Deck e-Pack for as long as you would like
Ship physical Marvel & Disney items
Transfer applicable physical Marvel & Disney items to a linked COMC account
Complete achievements for, and involving, Marvel & Disney items
Combine multiple copies of Marvel & Disney trading cards to earn e-Pack exclusive parallels
Trade Marvel & Disney items for anything found on the e-Pack marketplace


Please reach out to us through the Contact Us link with any questions or concerns.



Thank you,

The Upper Deck e-Pack® Team

These are potentially interesting. Could Upper Deck Launch every product in their pipeline and then make every planned physical card an "achievement"? Grasping at straws here haha.

Think I need to start looking into coin collecting or something.

[glorbgorb]

I know ePack longevity was one concern, so it's good they addressed that.

What I really want to see is a major announcement from UD now about what products will finally be released and when. Including ePack release dates. (*couch couch* MM22 anyone?) The Fanatics announcement said the X-Men '97 would be a first quarter 2025 release, so it makes sense that the end date for the license is Dec 31st.

With (presumably) no new products in the pipeline--they would have stopped at some point-- they should have info locked down.

I still wonder if they can just announce or soft launch things as a sort of loophole.

As an extreme example, could they ship 100 boxes (or whatever, the numbers aren't important) Product X to authorized resellers on December 30th and put all the rest of the product on ePack on December 31st? Timing notwithstanding, you get the point.

[jubei777]

So my guess is epack will not be able to sell anymore marvel/disney products once the agreement is over. Any thoughts on a date? Still bunch of products left to sell.

[finfangfan]

When UD lost ND you could (and still can) trade the cards but they deeply discounted ND like 90% or so (i forget exact amount but it was the first case I ever bought on ePack so it had to be cheap). I think similar pattern could happen to Marvel stuff in ePack shop prior to turning over the Marvel license keys to Topps. Either that or maybe a this party (Dacard/Blowout/Fanatics?) swoops in and is offer the unsold ePack Marvel stock in bulk.

[glorbgorb]

Originally Posted by jubei777

So my guess is epack will not be able to sell anymore marvel/disney products once the agreement is over. Any thoughts on a date? Still bunch of products left to sell.

We don't know, that's the problem. All speculation. FFF provided one example.

But I think someone elsewhere said it well--ePack is just a channel to sell that just happens to be a UD entity (well, a spaghetti entity with COMC, but you get the point). Anything on ePack is already made. It would be like telling brick and mortar stores they couldn't sell UD Marvel anymore.

But who knows how these agreements are written up.

[finfangfan]

Also the logistics of the lead time of new ePack product being scanned by COMC. You’d think someone in the warehouse would know what remaining Marvel ePack sets COMC has scanned or not scanned yet. Someone always knows someone, so you’d think information would comes soon if certain sets… like MM—- which has been delayed on ePack forever….will never be released on ePack.

[1992UDFootball]

What if MM22 doesn't have an ePack appearance? That would be great for my wallet.

My guess is UD is holding off until the last minute with that one.. Try to bridge the gap until DC cards show up.

Other than Marvel.. UD has some borderline indie stuff, random video game stuff, hockey, and AEW?

Getting off of ePack has been a slow process and I've been waiting on MM as it is, but the end is in sight. ......sorta.

[BobCollects]

Personally, I want to know if there are any sets in the works that will be scrapped entirely and, if so, how far along production was on those sets. Obviously, UD knew at some point the license was going away but we don't know when UD found out. It could be that UD fully expected to renew the license and there are sets half completed that will never see the light of day. Or, UD knew long enough in advance to stop working on sets.

[jubei777]

lol maybe this will free up those ScarJo autos that were rumored to be out there

[notoriousrmb]

Why are these Marvel Chrome boxes so expensive? I get that its new, its Topps, but the images are the EXACT same from the last couple UD releases.

Do people really care that much to get the exact same card on a different shiny background? I guess I answered my own question...

[Zeldafanatic15]

Originally Posted by notoriousrmb

Why are these Marvel Chrome boxes so expensive? I get that its new, its Topps, but the images are the EXACT same from the last couple UD releases.

Do people really care that much to get the exact same card on a different shiny background? I guess I answered my own question...

They're only EU products and can't be sold directly elsewhere. Currently they only have a license for Marvel there. So all the places selling it are reselling because they all bought it from either Topps UK drop or from another reseller.

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[Angus Con]

Originally Posted by notoriousrmb

Why are these Marvel Chrome boxes so expensive? I get that its new, its Topps, but the images are the EXACT same from the last couple UD releases.

Do people really care that much to get the exact same card on a different shiny background? I guess I answered my own question...

Apparently they do. But that isn't the reason they are expensive. You're getting properly price gouged by the Euro exclusive distribution arm of Topps/Fanatics.

At least next year you can look forward to domestic releases now. Euro exclusives with Topps is super painful for the American collector.

[The Accountant]

Massive. Glad topps is getting the license, personally.

[BobCollects]

Originally Posted by Angus Con

Apparently they do. But that isn't the reason they are expensive. You're getting properly price gouged by the Euro exclusive distribution arm of Topps/Fanatics.

At least next year you can look forward to domestic releases now. Euro exclusives with Topps is super painful for the American collector.

I wonder if Topps will have any sort of regional exclusives going forward. Maybe not full sets but inserts or variations. Rittenhouse has occasionally released USA and UK sets or insert sets exclusive to USA or UK boxes.


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[Xiarmadillo]

One immediate implication of this is what happens to epack Marvel cards after 2024 elapse....
Are you still able to transfer them to COMC? are they still able to distribute the physical cards at all? All questions that need to be answered by Upper Deck.