How Topps Turned 20-Cent Commons Into Cash With Its MVP Buyback Program

For many baseball card collectors, base cards are an afterthought—clutter filling up the box until one gets to the rare inserts. While choice base 2022 rookie cards from the likes of Julio Rodriguez and Bobby Witt Jr. get saved, even MVPs Aaron Judge and Paul Goldschmidt go into common boxes, donation bins, or are discarded in some cases.

Topps has taken a major step to turn these 20-cent commons into $20 treasures, one which has sent collectors on a rescue mission through dusty boxes and discard piles. Topps has partnered with hobby shops across the country to launch its Topps MVP Buyback program for collectors to redeem 2022 Topps Chrome cards of Judge and Goldschmidt for store credit, with values ranging from $20 for base cards to $200 for inserts numbered <100. A complete list of participating retailers and eligible cards is available on Topps’ website.

Announced in support of Small Business Saturday, Topps hopes the move will stimulate interest in both the product and local stores. Fanatics President of Trading Cards David Leiner said Topps is excited about developing more opportunities to enhance the collecting experience.

“To celebrate this year’s MVPs after an epic baseball season, Topps is launching the Topps MVP Buyback offer starting on Saturday, November 26th,” Leiner said via e-mail. “We’ve partnered with over 450 local hobby stores across the U.S. to-date and are already seeing overwhelmingly positive feedback from partners and consumers alike. We designed this program to celebrate the enthusiasm with fans and the hobby, support local hobby shops and offer consumers something fun to enhance the collecting experience. We look forward to creating more unique programs and offers in the future that drive meaningful, positive energy in the industry.”

For smaller hobby shops, this program could drive much needed traffic into their stores from customers who primarily purchase cards online. Topps has partnered with the Check Out My Cards website in order to expedite the reimbursement process for shops fronting the store credit. According to COMC’s website, they will process reimbursement claims upon receipt and verification of the participating cards.

Earlier this year, Topps took some heat when 2022 Topps Chrome Baseball did not include its advertised short print rookies in packs. Collectors were miffed when they discovered Rodriguez and Witt Jr. were among the five rookies potentially missing in the $150 boxes. Topps later launched a silver pack program as a remedy to give customers a chance at the missing cards. This Topps MVP Buyback program gives Topps another chance to generate goodwill for Topps Chrome collectors who were disappointed with the product’s initial release.