A historic World Series win for the Chicago Cubs means a historic day for Topps Now.
How historic? A mere (record) 36 different cards with a record five different signers, a Relic and 10 different base cards — and that’s just in the standard Now set. There’s a completely separate Now-branded team set also available that was previously teased here.
The five signers can be seen above — Kris Bryant, Anthony Rizzo, Javier Baez, David Ross and Dexter Fowler. The World Series MVP, Ben Zobrist, gets a Relic.
The biggest Chicago Cub in the hobby has the biggest autograph deal ever signed by Topps.
Kris Bryant has reportedly signed a seven-figure, exclusive autograph deal to only sign for Topps.It’s the biggest deal in Topps’ 65-year history of making baseball cards, which has only included certified autographs since the 1990s.
“We are beyond excited to secure this exclusive deal with Kris Bryant.” said David Leiner, VP and General Manager of North American Sports & Entertainment for Topps. “Never has The Topps Company executed such a long-term deal with any athlete. Kris is one of the elite players currently in Major League Baseball and we look forward to working with him as his career continues to flourish.”
We’re just a few hours away from Game 7 of the World Series where the Chicago Cubs will end more than a century of futility — or the Cleveland Indians will make them once again wait for next year.
On cardboard and in the hobby, there’s no comparison between the two teams as the Cubs are largely stocked with young players (several homegrown) who are well-established and readily available on cardboard — for now — compared to the Indians, who have a few young notables but nobody who’ll truly break the bank. Among the Cubbies’ notables are Kris Bryant, Kyle Schwarber, Addison Russell, Javier Baez, Jake Arrieta, Willson Contreras, Anthony Rizzo … and that’s not all on a list that’s meaty and the cardboard is boldly available for nearly all of them.
That got Buzz wondering … if the Cubs win it all, is their victory bigger than the Boston Red Sox’ 2004 World Series win when it comes to the hobby and collecting? Is it bigger than Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa, Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens — you know, all those historic super-human performances that ultimately turned out to be, well, a bit questionable? They all sold plenty of cardboard in the past — plenty — but that team and those players were mostly established veterans. The Cubs are largely kids with plenty of potential for future successes — dare we say dynasty — for years to come being a real possibility.
And that would all start with a ring tonight and pay off for collectors for years to come.
I’d argue that demand for the Cubs’ key players autographs and key players could be the biggest thing seen in years once it’s all said and done. Once The Curse of the Billy Goat is dead and buried alongside that of The Bambino there’s all kinds of potential for now in the short-term, later in the weeks and months to come and, ultimately, for future seasons.
It could be like nothing we’ve ever seen before.
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David Ross‘ final Game at Wrigley Field came with a serenade from Eddie Vedder on Sunday night, and as he marches toward retirement there’s one thing for sure about the Chicago Cubs’ 39-year-old catcher.
He’s easily among the toughest autographs on the team when it comes to certified cardboard.
That’s something worth noting as his career comes to an end — and potentially in the biggest way possible with a World Series win for the historically downtrodden team.
“I’ve had a storybook year, honestly. There are so many things I can talk about that have happened to me over this year,” Ross told The Associated Press. “Everybody was looking at me like, dude, Eddie Vedder just dedicated the whole seventh-inning stretch to you and I’m like, my mind’s blown. I’m thinking about being out of the game and he’s a quality individual. He’s just a good person, rock star, everybody knows who Eddie Vedder is. He says my name — it’s a huge compliment.”
He’s easily among the toughest autographs on the team when it comes to certified cardboard.
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