Everything You Need To Know About Topps At The 2013 National Sports Collectors Convention NSCC In Chicago

Collectors are set to hit the National Sports Collectors Convention in Chicago at the end of the month.  Sure to be one of the more popular places to visit will be the Topps Booth that will have plenty of exclusive collectibles in the offering.

FRIDAY NIGHT TOPPS MEET & GREET / Q&A

I attended this event last year in Baltimore and if you care about the cards you collect, I encourage you to try to attend this year.  Collectors will have the opportunity to talk to Topps employees during this meet and greet but make sure you sign up for it early as only the first 150 people get on the list at the Topps booth will be invited.  The event will take place Friday evening August 2nd in Room 3 at the Rosemont convention center from 8pm-10pm.  This really is a great opportunity to get a sneak peek at what Topps has planed and a rare opportunity to get answers to your important questions. 

TOPPS MINIS

Last year Topps premiered 2012 Topps Baseball Mini Cards, which were an instant hit with collectors and received a perfect 5 out of 5 from us.  (Use this link to see the review)  Once again Topps will be offering a limited number of all-new 2013 Topps Mini Baseball boxes, which is normally an online exclusive, for sale at it’s booth during the show.  Look for autograph cards from the following in this product.  This year among the autograph cards are Yasiel Puig,, Mike Trout, Sandy Koufax, and Nolan Ryan.  These sold out last year well before the convention ended so make sure you get your box early.

BOWMAN PLATINUM HOBBY BOX REDEMPTION

Get there early for this one.  (Are you seeing the theme now?)  One of the hottest redemption programs will be the return of the exclusive Bowman Blue Foil Parallel set. The 25-card 2013 Bowman Platinum Blue Foil Parallel Set (#’d to 500) will feature the hottest prospects and rookies in Baseball.  Even more limited will be autograph cards included in the sets some lucky collectors will find. Autos from Byron Buxton, Carlos Correa, Taijuan Walker and even a Yasiel Puig redemption for an auto can be found in this set.

Collectors opening one fully sealed Hobby Box of 2013 Bowman Platinum Baseball IN FRONT OF A TOPPS REPRESENTATIVE AT THE TOPPS BOOTH can redeem the box for this exclusive set. This redemption will be limited to 100 sets per day and 1 set per person per day.  The set will only be available at the National Sports Collectors Convention.

Now you’ll notice I said get there early for these redemptions.  If you followed our trip from last year you know there was some trouble for collectors looking to get these sets.  I bring this up in hopes that Topps has not forgotten what happened and comes prepared.  I also hope the dealers that bucked the system have reevaluated their sense of fairness and do the right thing here.

Last year there were some unscrupulous dealers who took advantage of their early access to the floor to get on line for the Bowman Blue Foil redemptions even before the general public could get in. When the doors finally opened, collectors had to sprint across the convention floor to get to the line behind those dealers.

Clearly the system did not work last year, a problem that was acknowledged by Topps. After talking to them at length it was clear that they would work out a better system to even the playing field for the National in Chicago. The whole Topps team was genuinely concerned about trying to make this a fun experience for everyone.

The only thing you can do as a collector to better your chances of getting one of these sets is to get their as early as you can.  After talking to the collectors on line last year it seemed most of those who got sets arrived at the convention center before 8:00 AM. Those who just missed getting one of the 100 sets allotted for each day arrived closer to 9:00 AM.

CLASSIC 1952 BOWMAN CARDS

Topps has created a special 8-card 2013 Wrapper redemption set that features the 1952 Bowman design featuring original artwork by James Henry Smith of JHS Sketch Cards.  You can check them out on Facebook using this link.  

Collectors opening 3 packs of any 2013 Topps/Bowman Hobby product IN FRONT OF A TOPPS REPRESENTATIVE AT THE TOPPS BOOTH can redeem their wrappers for one of the following cards.

Ernie Banks

Frank Thomas

Mike Trout

Bryce Harper

Geno Smith

EJ Manuel

Tavon Austin

Eddie Lacy

This redemption will be limited to 100 cards per subject per day.  And each subject is limited to 1 subject per person per day.

Once again, get there early for this one.  The most popular players were gone rather early in the day.

UPDATES

YASIEL PUIG GYPSY QUEEN CARD

Collectors who rip open a box of WBC Tribute at the Topps Booth will get an exclusive Yasiel Puig Gypsy Queen card.  (use this link to see our box break recap and review of Topps WBC Tribute) 

But get there early as this redemption is limited to 1 per day per collector and 100 per day in total.

This page will be updated as more information becomes available.