2016 Topps MLB Wacky Packages

[RawGoo]

Glad to hear you liked the postcards and comics so much! They were sure a lot of fun while they lasted, weren't they?! Mike and I were really interested in specialty releases, and these were a nice way to satisfy a small niche market with great art, gags and very limited numbers.  On that note, I think the MLB Wacky release will be well received, but for different reasons.

I take the meaning of "a lot of fun while they lasted" and your use of the past tense to mean the postcards and comics are officially dead.  I know, it's been pretty obvious, but wacky me was still hoping. 

[koduck]

I take the meaning of "a lot of fun while they lasted" and your use of the past tense to mean the postcards and comics are officially dead.  I know, it's been pretty obvious, but wacky me was still hoping. 

I've discussed it with my Topps contacts on several occasions, but seeing that the focus has largely been on GPK (and other releases), I'd say it's pretty unlikely that we'll see either postcards or comics anytime soon. But as Sean Connery once said, "Never say never"...

[vahsurfer]

Then there IS Hope they may actually make binders for Chrome, 2014 and 2015 Series 1!!!!!!

So..... Trebeck!!!!

[Fanatical_and_Sickly]

[crackedjerk]

My reaction to these is similar to my reaction to the Star Wars-Wacky mashup.  I'm curious to see them in person.  While I like both Wackys and MLB (just as I like Wackys and Star Wars), it seems like an unusual pairing that I'm not sure Topps can pull off.  I certainly hope so, and I hope it attracts some baseball collectors to Wackys, but I'm not sure it will.  I haven't bought tons of Wackys in the recent years (unlike the early years of ANS) and I likely will keep my spending limited on this set, but I'd rather have it than not have it.  And it'll be a nice late winter diversion to seek out. 

One of the bright spots for me in recent years have been the inserts (cloth, medallions, "game-used" cards) that have original wacky images on them.  I don't quite know if Topps can pull that off in this series but I hope so.  There were enough baseball images/topics in the original 16 series that it seems there could be some kind of subset of original Wackys with a baseball theme.  Even if some (like Weakies) have been done plenty of times in different forms, I'd still like to see them done in a new fashion.

[Swiski]

So what's the real skinny on why Wacky Packages products are not produced as much as they used to be? Is it because of poor sales, lack of interest, C&D letters from companies threatening to sue, or a combination of all the above? I guess we should consider ourselves lucky to get one ANS set per year, but I really miss the excitement 10 years ago when there was extra cool stuff like Old School, postcards, and other merchandise. Some of the veterans of the old forum make a rare appearance on this forum, but some people like Greg Grant fell off the face of the earth. Will there ever be another comeback?

So nobody can answer my question? Someone here must have inside information and isn't talking. If Topps decides to completely phase out Wackies, then we should at least be happy for what we have. But I hope Topps at least entertains inquiring minds to what's going on.

[Smokin Joe]

Yes, The Boston Tea (party) Bags is my gag/painting... good eye Joe G.
     I was not involved in the Wacky/Star Wars venture... and the sample gags I saw for it missed the mark for me (sorry whoever did these).   I went after my MLB gag concepts knowing the tie in to the team and products needed to be solid to satisfy the traditional Wacky Fan. It took me some time to figure these out, but when it clicked... it clicked! I submitted at least one gag for every MLB team.

   The gags needed to be 'cleaner' or 'less base humor' because of the association with the MLB team brands... and I think this helped them stay more like the Original 1970's Wackys.

   I have no inside info from Topps, but my belief is that demand drives the Wacky brand and it's releases. Topps is attempting to create the demand for Wacky by combining it with a more popular product and a larger audience... Baseball Card Collectors. I think it is a great strategy... if we can make it look and feel like a true Wacky Packages product parody. I am optimistic from my point of view.

[slamjim]

So nobody can answer my question? Someone here must have inside information and isn't talking. If Topps decides to completely phase out Wackies, then we should at least be happy for what we have. But I hope Topps at least entertains inquiring minds to what's going on.

I believe it's the sales numbers. The hardcore fans are getting older and the kids have a bazillion other things to collect so the marketplace is saturated.

There will be new sets but not two a year. I think there will be a tie-in set or themed set and hopefully a regular set. Also there will be internet exclusives.
It's being worked out now I hear.

[Swiski]

I believe it's the sales numbers. The hardcore fans are getting older and the kids have a bazillion other things to collect so the marketplace is saturated.

There will be new sets but not two a year. I think there will be a tie-in set or themed set and hopefully a regular set. Also there will be internet exclusives.
It's being worked out now I hear.

Thanks!!

[Slaytex99]

Yes, The Boston Tea (party) Bags is my gag/painting... good eye Joe G.
     I was not involved in the Wacky/Star Wars venture... and the sample gags I saw for it missed the mark for me (sorry whoever did these).   I went after my MLB gag concepts knowing the tie in to the team and products needed to be solid to satisfy the traditional Wacky Fan. It took me some time to figure these out, but when it clicked... it clicked! I submitted at least one gag for every MLB team.

   The gags needed to be 'cleaner' or 'less base humor' because of the association with the MLB team brands... and I think this helped them stay more like the Original 1970's Wackys.

   I have no inside info from Topps, but my belief is that demand drives the Wacky brand and it's releases. Topps is attempting to create the demand for Wacky by combining it with a more popular product and a larger audience... Baseball Card Collectors. I think it is a great strategy... if we can make it look and feel like a true Wacky Packages product parody. I am optimistic from my point of view.

Thanks, that is what I am hoping also.  Bring in some new (or new older) wacky fans via the baseball collector base.  I think it is a smart attempt and I hope it works to get some more momentum with regular wackys.

[DrDeal]

Also there will be internet exclusives.
It's being worked out now I hear.
[/quote]

Hopefully those Internet Exclusives will go on sale at Midnight and will be limited to how many one person can buy. That will deter the scalpers a bit.

Andrew

[crackedjerk]

I believe it's the sales numbers. The hardcore fans are getting older and the kids have a bazillion other things to collect so the marketplace is saturated.

There will be new sets but not two a year. I think there will be a tie-in set or themed set and hopefully a regular set. Also there will be internet exclusives.
It's being worked out now I hear.

Thanks for the update!  Honestly, I'm fine with a regular set, a tie-in set, and some internet exclusives every year.  I don't have to return to the mania of 2005-10 or so when there was almost too much to buy.  I liked those days in many ways because I liked pretty much everything that came out.  As long as the quality is good (or better), I'm fine with a reduced output these days.  But I do hope that the veteran Wacky collector isn't completely ignored.

[drono]

I was an avid baseball card collector, so I like them.  The gags are kind of "cheesy" but the artwork is good.  I'll probably buy a box and maybe pick up a master set from eBay.

I'm not sure where Topps is going these days.  Everything lately seems to revolve around the limited edition sets numbered 1 to 10 or 1 to 99.  They can't make much profit with such small production runs.  Even if they make $50 per set, with a run of 99, that's only $4,950.  Even if they did this every week of the year, that's only $250K, hardly enough to seem worth the effort.  I wonder if anyone is buying these.

[dth1971]

If this gets released and sells well, do you think Topps will make for the football season a 2016 Topps NFL Wacky Packages series?

[DrDeal]

I pre-ordered a collector box from Blowout cards. It does not look like many other on-line dealers are offering pre-sells on this.

Andrew

[dth1971]

I pre-ordered a collector box from Blowout cards. It does not look like many other on-line dealers are offering pre-sells on this.

Andrew

Will the upcoming Previews later this month have pre orders for this as well? As long as it does not snub it out like it did for Wacky Packages 2015!

[DrDeal]

I wonder if the resale on the chase items will surprise this group?

I know the baseball chase items can pull some crazy prices. Will this cross over?     

From the intro ad:


Active Stars Autographs showcase the same basic card format but include signatures from current players.

A pair of relics can also be found in 2016 Topps MLB Wacky Packages. Stadium Seats Relics include a piece of game-used seat from an MLB ballpark while Ticket Relics contain a 1.5" x 1.75" piece of an authentic ticket from a noteworthy game.

[koduck]

I wonder if the resale on the chase items will surprise this group?

I know the baseball chase items can pull some crazy prices. Will this cross over?     

From the intro ad:


Active Stars Autographs showcase the same basic card format but include signatures from current players.

A pair of relics can also be found in 2016 Topps MLB Wacky Packages. Stadium Seats Relics include a piece of game-used seat from an MLB ballpark while Ticket Relics contain a 1.5" x 1.75" piece of an authentic ticket from a noteworthy game.

When it comes to baseball, nothing surprises me anymore. In fact, I'm sure prices will get pretty wacky (bad pun intended)...

[JasonLiebig]

I'm not sure where Topps is going these days.  Everything lately seems to revolve around the limited edition sets numbered 1 to 10 or 1 to 99.  They can't make much profit with such small production runs.  Even if they make $50 per set, with a run of 99, that's only $4,950.  Even if they did this every week of the year, that's only $250K, hardly enough to seem worth the effort.  I wonder if anyone is buying these.

I would imagine they are trying to wrap their heads around how much money they've been making on the Star Wars Card Trader App.... it's a fascinating thing which I've been following since week one, with digital cards from the app occasionally cracking $100 on ebay (though rarely), but often hitting $2-$10 a pop.  I can't say for sure, but based on the "digital print run" of a certain card that required a $99 credit purchase to acquire, there was one week that I tagged them as making over $20,000 on JUST that credit package. 

Maybe this requires it's own thread...

[Monsterettes]

I'm in for one regular box. I'm not a big baseball fan (it's NFL football for me), but I'm happy to support anything wacky. I really enjoy the work of the participating artists, so I'm game to take a gamble. Now off to Draft Kings, 

[RawGoo]

Draft Kings sounds like fun.  I guess that's why New York State wants it stopped.

[Monsterettes]

Draft Kings sounds like fun.  I guess that's why New York State wants it stopped.

I've never actually played, I'm not good enough to win. But it does sound fun if you aren't trying to win big bucks.

[Fanatical_and_Sickly]

Will the upcoming Previews later this month have pre orders for this as well? As long as it does not snub it out like it did for Wacky Packages 2015!

No, the upcoming Previews later this month *won't* have a pre-order.  My guess is that Topps didn't supply the info in time to get it published in the monthly magazine.
It should have been in last month's mag - as orders were due by 11/11.
I would say Topps isn't being snubbed; just that there's no point in printing an item in the magazine if it is already too late to pre-order it.

But, items that are too late to get into the main magazine do end up in the online-only "Plus" supplement. MLB Wacky's got into last week's Previews Plus

[crackedjerk]

No, the upcoming Previews later this month *won't* have a pre-order.  My guess is that Topps didn't supply the info in time to get it published in the monthly magazine.
It should have been in last month's mag - as orders were due by 11/11.
I would say Topps isn't being snubbed; just that there's no point in printing an item in the magazine if it is already too late to pre-order it.

But, items that are too late to get into the main magazine do end up in the online-only "Plus" supplement. MLB Wacky's got into last week's Previews Plus

(Image removed from quote.)

Looks like the pack price has gone up .50. 

[dth1971]

Looks like the pack price has gone up .50.

Is it $2 for anything Topps baseball related for a single pack of baseball cards?

[crackedjerk]

Is it $2 for anything Topps baseball related for a single pack of baseball cards?

It appears these Wacky Baseball cards will be 2.99 per pack.

[vahsurfer]

Is there anything unique in the Hobby boxes that the Hobby Collector boxes will not have??

Richard

[vahsurfer]

Can anyone tell me if there is anything unique in the Hobby boxes that the Hobby Collector boxes will not have??

Richard

[DrDeal]

Can anyone tell me if there is anything unique in the Hobby boxes that the Hobby Collector boxes will not have??

Richard

It does not look like any items are exclusive to the Retail release.   I know in the past there were usually a few items only found at retail. It does not seem to be the case this time.

[vahsurfer]

Dr. D That is how I read it as well, thanks for the verification

[Fanatical_and_Sickly]

Can anyone tell me if there is anything unique in the Hobby boxes that the Hobby Collector boxes will not have??

Richard

yes,
the Hobby boxes will have a unique wrapper inside that the collector version won't have.

cheers!   

[vahsurfer]

I am sure I can snag a rapper from someone so I can have one but otherwise I would rather put the money into a collectors case like everyone else

[DrDeal]

I am sure I can snag a rapper from someone so I can have one but otherwise I would rather put the money into a collectors case like everyone else

I have a feeling the retail boxes will move quickly as they are a special MLB related release. We may not pick them up but the baseball card guys will.

[Paul_Maul]

I have a feeling the retail boxes will move quickly as they are a special MLB related release. We may not pick them up but the baseball card guys will.

Rather than offer an opinion with no basis, I'm going to ask sports collectors on the PSA forum if they are interested in this release.

[bigtomi]

I'm going to ask sports collectors on the PSA forum if they are interested in this release.

I will venture a guess of a general "no".