The Problem (and Solution) with the Elusive Topps Olympic Triple Auto
One of the biggest cards Fanatics and Topps has produced in recent history has yet to surface.
Yes, the elusive triple auto of LeBron James, Kevin Durant, and Steph Curry donning their Olympic attire is still sitting in a sealed pack, possibly listed on eBay right now.
This cannot be what Fanatics envisioned when developing this one-of-a-kind collectible. With all the pomp and circumstance surrounding it I’m sure Fanatics was ready for all the promotion they could give the card and the collector once it surfaced.
What does this mean for the hobby? Is it good? Bad? And how could Fanatics have prevented the packs from ending up on the secondary market, going for upwards of $3,000 at this point?
This, in my opinion, is not good for the hobby…or Fanatics. For collector’s, we are being robbed of the opportunity to see how the finished product looks. Sure, there are artist renderings. But to see it live, or live on screen, is another ball game. And Fanatics can’t be thrilled either. The wave of interest has waned since opening up the window of opportunity for purchase. Interest certainly was there right off the bat. According to the Topps website, the print run of the card ended up being over half a million.
So I ask again, how could Fanatics have prevented this?
A raffle.
They did the same thing with the Victor Wembanyama “1st card I ever signed” Bowman U green refractor. And I think Fanatics missed an enormous marketing opportunity. While collectors pulled a redemption to gain an entry to the Wemby contest, buyers of the triple Olympic cards could have gained one entry for each card that was bought. If you bought five cards you get five entries. To stretch it out and make for the dramatic, they could have hosted a live streaming event and drawn 20 names at random. Those 20 winners would earn an invite to an event at a future date, where they would have drawn one name to give away the triple auto in a very public fashion.
If you were required to buy from the Topps website in order to have a chance at the prized card, there would be virtually no reason to hold and flip on the secondary market, aside from the base parallels.
Hopefully this does not dissuade Topps from creating more cards like this one. After all, when Fanatics bought Topps we were promised game changing innovations. Hopefully they figure out a better way to distribute cards like this, to prevent stashing or reselling. Because this card could potentially sit undiscovered for years, and that would be a real tragedy.
Right now though, we collectors can only wait and speculate as to when the triple auto will see the light of day.