Topps Base Fad

[rogueriver]

Can someone please explain to me the Topps Rookie card fad going on now with all these players, Garnett, Kobe,Shaq and so on. I left the hobby in 2000 and came back 2 years ago when I left Topps from the 1990s was Junk nobody wanted Kobe Topps Rookie Cards, this was way down on the list at number 48 or so.... Now all of a sudden it is his like number 3 rookie card.. This is across the board on a ton of players. Shaq is another one. These were solid dollar box cards, I am not saying they were not decent cards to have but there were much better rookies to have that Topps. Why all of a sudden is Topps Getting so much love this is some kind of market manipulation going on. Nobody who collected these cards in the 1990s collected topps base....

[ThoseBackPages]

[sebreg]

I would also like to know the answer to this question.

[jbball50]

People can’t afford the higher end cards of those rookies so everyone goes the cheap route and booooom they go up like crazy.

[sebreg]

Originally Posted by jbball50

People can’t afford the higher end cards of those rookies so everyone goes the cheap route and booooom they go up like crazy.

Asujbi also mentioned that some people like collecting topps rookies because of the sets deep historical lineage. Keeps things uniform in collection being able to hit up one brand for rookies going way way back.

[rogueriver]

Originally Posted by jbball50

People can’t afford the higher end cards of those rookies so everyone goes the cheap route and booooom they go up like crazy.

OK if thats the case then why Not Fleer or Upper deck which were way more collected than TOPPS BASE.....

[byronscott4ever]

Originally Posted by rogueriver

OK if thats the case then why Not Fleer or Upper deck which were way more collected than TOPPS BASE.....

Topps has more of a history?

[mkebucks2001]

I think they're iconic and simple - not everyone understands the more obscure sets. Topps has brand recognition.

[phdbeckett]

Originally Posted by rogueriver

Can someone please explain to me the Topps Rookie card fad going on now with all these players, Garnett, Kobe,Shaq and so on. I left the hobby in 2000 and came back 2 years ago when I left Topps from the 1990s was Junk nobody wanted Kobe Topps Rookie Cards, this was way down on the list at number 48 or so.... Now all of a sudden it is his like number 3 rookie card.. This is across the board on a ton of players. Shaq is another one. These were solid dollar box cards, I am not saying they were not decent cards to have but there were much better rookies to have that Topps. Why all of a sudden is Topps Getting so much love this is some kind of market manipulation going on. Nobody who collected these cards in the 1990s collected topps base....

Shaquille and Garnett, sure I saw Topps in dollar bins over the years. Never Kobe. Ever.

[jbball50]

Originally Posted by sebreg

Asujbi also mentioned that some people like collecting topps rookies because of the sets deep historical lineage. Keeps things uniform in collection being able to hit up one brand for rookies going way way back.

Lol let’s be honest, that’s not the case. If that was the case they wouldn’t have been selling for 5 dollars a card before last year. People followed the fad to try to make money off them.

[patchgenie]

it is due to the greening on the kobe chrome. i'd rather have a base topps rc than a hulk kobe chrome.

[mkebucks2001]

Particularly with Kobe, I think the base card benefits from the TC card. I think the base and the TC are seen as THE Kobe rookie card.

[lseecon]

omg.....do we need another thread on this???

how many times can we hear people whine about why they didnt buy some base cards of the all time greats when they were cheap but focused on less popular but admittedly more scarce cards of those players...and now cant understand whey their obscure cards are worth less than the traditional base rookie cards.

Base mainstream rookie cards in baseball have been the "it" cards for long time going back to vintage in 1930s to 1980s. Collectors and investors realized the same in football and finally in basketball.

the base cards are just more recognizable, more liquid and with psa grading, can now be commoditized and PSA 10s of base rookie cards like Kobe, Curry arent as plentiful or as easy to find as people thought. Sure there are a lot of 1996 Kobe rookies, but not a lot of PSA 10. Cards have centering issues, surface issues, all types of issues even right out of the pack.

scarcity does not always mean more valuable---look at 1950s and 1960s and 1970s prices of a topps HOF base rookie card in high grade .....those are way more expensive than more rare non-topps rookie cards of HOF rookies, such as food issues, regional issues, and even other topps issued sets. 1969 Topps Reggie Jackson base rookie---way more plentiful than 1969 Topps Super Reggie Jackson rookie or 1969 Topps Decal, but the base Topps rookie is way more expensive and popular than the other scarcer cards. Countless examples of similar with HOF rookies.. The other Jackson cards are great but just not as desired as the base rookie card.....people want the cards they pulled out of packs as a kid traditionally.

collect what you like....why worry about prices...if you like and collect your non-base rookie cards then why care about the base rookie card prices.

[sebreg]

Originally Posted by jbball50

Lol let’s be honest, that’s not the case. If that was the case they wouldn’t have been selling for 5 dollars a card before last year. People followed the fad to try to make money off them.

That's true. I mean, most of these high pop topps are don't get caught holding the bag at these prices kind of cards in my mind. I like some of the vintage topps card designs, but the junk era topps weren't very interesting for the most part imo.

[Beavers98]

As part of my therapy of talking about it. Many of these topps cards were lost/stolen in my recent submission from Dec. Some were in my collection 25 years.(KG) Sent the best ones I had of stacks. Still Hurts.

[Spacemanspif]

There’s no doubt in my mind this fad is another form of manipulation by the SCI discord group or something similar. Prizm base, 2nd year Luka, slabbed junk wax, old school Topps... I would sell into the waves where you can, when there’s no logical explanation for the run up I certainly wouldn’t be buying anything

[rainmaker]

new 'amateur' money understands Topps base. I read somewhere that eBay sold something like 4 million more cards January 2021 than January 2020. All those new eyes and new money understand Topps base and PSA grading. they don't want to learn about Flair row 2/1/0 and the print runs of each. hell I'm not a newbie and I hardly care to learn about those differences. they don't want a Beckett slab with sub grades and different values within a 'true gem' and a 'minimum gem'...

Its really that simple.

[asujbl]

Originally Posted by jbball50

Lol let’s be honest, that’s not the case. If that was the case they wouldn’t have been selling for 5 dollars a card before last year. People followed the fad to try to make money off them.

It absolutely is the case

Collectors are OCD.

You can’t have a Kobe Topps but not a Duncan Topps.

It absolutely drives the value compared to some off brand like a Topps Pristine or something.

Especially with new folks. They don’t know what a Garnett Flair is. They know what Topps is.

[asujbl]

Originally Posted by rainmaker

new 'amateur' money understands Topps base. I read somewhere that eBay sold something like 4 million more cards January 2021 than January 2020. All those new eyes and new money understand Topps base and PSA grading. they don't want to learn about Flair row 2/1/0 and the print runs of each. hell I'm not a newbie and I hardly care to learn about those differences. they don't want a Beckett slab with sub grades and different values within a 'true gem' and a 'minimum gem'...

Its really that simple.

Also correct

Investors (or amateur money) understand Topps, Fleer, and Upper Deck

They don’t know what the hell a UD Victory or Topps Total is (before they get into the game)

[pejc300]

Originally Posted by phdbeckett

Shaquille and Garnett, sure I saw Topps in dollar bins over the years. Never Kobe. Ever.

Sold dozens of Kobe Topps over the years for $2-$5. So maybe not “dollar” box but they were absolutely sub $5 for a solid 20 years.

[PLB9eight]

Originally Posted by rainmaker

new 'amateur' money understands Topps base. I read somewhere that eBay sold something like 4 million more cards January 2021 than January 2020. All those new eyes and new money understand Topps base and PSA grading. they don't want to learn about Flair row 2/1/0 and the print runs of each. hell I'm not a newbie and I hardly care to learn about those differences. they don't want a Beckett slab with sub grades and different values within a 'true gem' and a 'minimum gem'...

Its really that simple.

Or maybe some people just like the base cards.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[ronaldkosh]

I don't own any of these Topps base RCs, and I think some of them are quite ugly - the 03 LeBron, the 05 Aaron Rodgers, etc

That said - besides what others have mentioned, Topps got out of making NBA in 2009-10 and NFL in 2015. Enough years have passed that people are starting to have nostalgia for the Topps brand.

Moreover, the photography on the cards is usually pretty great.

[lseecon]

Originally Posted by Spacemanspif

There’s no doubt in my mind this fad is another form of manipulation by the SCI discord group or something similar. Prizm base, 2nd year Luka, slabbed junk wax, old school Topps... I would sell into the waves where you can, when there’s no logical explanation for the run up I certainly wouldn’t be buying anything

heard the same thing with bitcoin when it was a few dollars a coin, then a few hundred dollars a coin, then a few thousand dollars a coin

heard the same thing when amazon and apple shares were trading in the teens and sub 100 for many years, same with netflix, etc....

will there be a correction....yes, definitely, but "old school Topps" is where the real money is...... going back to old school 1952 Topps. Lots of deep pockets new money could care less about a silver prizm or red disco new card. The shiny new stuff is really sneaker bois cards. Nothing wrong with the new stuff, but vintage "old school Topps" is what big time collectors and investors are realizing is quite rare compared to the newer stuff.

[drobfan8]

Originally Posted by ThoseBackPages

End thread.

It's a massive scam and manipulation.

[i4gotmyid]

Originally Posted by lseecon

heard the same thing with bitcoin when it was a few dollars a coin, then a few hundred dollars a coin, then a few thousand dollars a coin

heard the same thing when amazon and apple shares were trading in the teens and sub 100 for many years, same with netflix, etc....

will there be a correction....yes, definitely, but "old school Topps" is where the real money is...... going back to old school 1952 Topps. Lots of deep pockets new money could care less about a silver prizm or red disco new card. The shiny new stuff is really sneaker bois cards. Nothing wrong with the new stuff, but vintage "old school Topps" is what big time collectors and investors are realizing is quite rare compared to the newer stuff.

Uh...what? In basketball the most iconic rookies don't come in topps form...1961 fleer, 1985 star, 1986 fleer, 2012 prizm...but go ahead and tout "old school topps" and it's place in basketball lore