eTopps vs. NFT

[turnpipe]

Can anyone explain the difference? I am an NFT and crypto skeptic to put it mildly as I believe existing institutions will heavily resist if the ball really starts rolling. That being said I am certainly intrigued. I remember eTopps not exactly being a home run for Topps for a lot of reasons, so why would NFTs be different?

[FireRob]

I just don’t get this stuff either. I want nothing to do with any of it. It’s not a real tangible thing, nothing more than computer code. Reminds me of “The Emperor’s New Clothes”. I’m not a fan at all of the digital cards for that matter and am dumbfounded every time I see them for sale on eBay. Maybe I’m getting too old.

One more thing that I’ll complain about that I have several times on this forum is “custom” cards. I have to admit, I have bought a couple “sketch” or “art” cards off eBay. Reasoning is because it’s my player pc and they are hand drawn works but I won’t say I’m a fan either. The thing I really really don’t like is when people take a sticker autograph or jersey swatch from one card and put it on a different card or try to print and create their own made up card using pictures they find.

My apologies, rant off.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[jplcom]

NFT's are "non-fungible tokens". They 100% don't exist as a thing you can hold or touch. They are a digital item that only exists on whatever platform it was created/sold on. About 5-6 years ago, I was super into Topps Huddle which is also a digital card platform. Topps no longer supports it and they purposely broken functionality with trading them. Which means anyone who spent money on the platform can't trade or try to sell them anymore. That's how I view NFT's. People will somehow have to keep faith that the platform they were created on will stick around for decades. I do not have faith in that. I doubt Panini Blitz will stick around long-term which is the same thing as Topps Huddle. It's supported for now, but how long? I remember Ultra Violet for movies. That service is gone now and movie studios HYPED that endlessly. Fortunately it transferred over to other services, but it could just as easily not. I don't trust stuff I can't physically own as it can be taken away without recourse.

eTopps was a program Topps ran that that allowed you to buy digital cards just like an NFT or Huddle where you could buy, sell, trade digital cards. HOWEVER, at any time you could request a shipment and that digital card would disappear from your online portfolio and it would physically be printed and shipped to you. In that regard it was the same as Panini Instant or any of these other companies that sell on-demand cards. The part that sticks with this is that a lot of the cards don't have a lot of value and aren't worth the high shipping cost to get the sent to you. I know of plenty of people sitting on big piles of eTopps cards that Topps STILL HAS but won't pay the shipping to get them. Topps for whatever reason can't get rid of them (probably legal reasons) but they won't come down on their shipping costs either. I wound up paying to get my cards shipped long after their program ended cause I wanted them.

As for the custom cards, FireRob I definitely see your point. I do not like people taking other people's designs, pictures, NIL, etc and profit from them or try to pass it off as their own original work. I've seen people on eBay and Etsy do this very thing. I personally do like custom cards and I think they have their place strictly from a personal use perspective. I'm a prolific custom card created and I enjoy the challenge of either recreating a design from Topps, Panini, Fleer, Donruss, etc or coming up with my own designs. My thread on the customs forum shows plenty of my 3d printed designs with custom memorabilia put in from a collection of jerseys I've purchased and cut up over the years. The thing is, I never make money off of any of it. I credit the original companies I use designs from, and I never misrepresent what they are. I'm married to a librarian who specialized in copyright law so I've had a fantastic resource on bouncing ideas off of and where the line for fair use is.

[turnpipe]

@FireRob I totally agree with you about the digital cards. I typically don’t even give them a look when I see them for sale. How do you even digital autograph? I have no issue with customs, but I can’t stand fakes. If you make your own cards using other cards if makes it personal art, but if you alter something someone else created for gain it is more like forgery. There was a time when many of the exquisite collection and other high end rpa’s were being HEAVILY altered, and I believe it was one of the most demoralizing aspects of the industry. It’s also a big reason why we see manufactured and “player worn” jerseys. People obviously paid less for all white swatches. Keeping up with demand for high end patches with logos and multiple colors is just not possible with GU. A problem that cannot be solved through any tech.
@jplcom I’m struggling with what makes it different than a gif of google images? Why would it be worth money? Seems like a poker chip for use in casino only. What I understand is there are 3 scenarios:
1) Everything stays on track even through 2026 (strictly speaking on SC NFTs) and people continue utilizing the existing platforms even with unlicensed releases moving forward.
2) They get cut off and anyone who paid will lose everything.
3) They get cut off, but there is a way to switch existing platforms to newer more functional ones.
All situations eliminate the shipping issues, but may still fall victim to waning interest.

[jplcom]

jplcom I’m struggling with what makes it different than a gif of google images? Why would it be worth money? Seems like a poker chip for use in casino only. What I understand is there are 3 scenarios:
1) Everything stays on track even through 2026 (strictly speaking on SC NFTs) and people continue utilizing the existing platforms even with unlicensed releases moving forward.
2) They get cut off and anyone who paid will lose everything.
3) They get cut off, but there is a way to switch existing platforms to newer more functional ones.
All situations eliminate the shipping issues, but may still fall victim to waning interest.

Honestly not really a big difference. You can take a screenshot of an NFT and now you've got it. The token itself has digital code behind it signifying it's the original token, if one cares about that kind of thing. People get bragging rights on whatever NFT platform they use to having a 1/1 or rare token which..... okay. I don't see the point since it's digital and one has to trust the platform will stick around. I don't. Look at all the digital boneyard stuff that's out there. Have any digital stuff through Blockbuster's short lived online platform? Gone. Make something in Adobe Flash? Gone. Want to watch something on Netflix but they lose the rights? Gone. Want to stream the original Star Wars experience? Nope.

In the scenarios you mentioned
1 - best case scenario, but the one I trust the least.
2 - most likely scenario in my opinion
3 - very possible, that's what happened with UltraViolet movies. People who bought into that ecosystem could shift their libraries (For a limited time) to Fandango or Vudu but after that, gone.

I can tell you all the Topps Huddle stuff I have sort of falls into option 2. I can still log into the app and see my stuff, but without trading, the community is dead and the cards are worthless. Once Topps pulls the plug on the servers hosting everything, then it'll all be gone.

[clk823]

eTopps physically be printed and shipped to you. In that regard it was the same as Panini Instant or any of these other companies that sell on-demand cards.

.

I picked the raider team card E-Topps 2004 #27 limited to 663 at a nationals, there not bad cards , remind me of Gold label, with a refractor mirror finish, encased and sealed, there nice cards, ive never been a fan of digital cards at all, no one cares to trade for them, could be they feel its digital, who knows,

[turnpipe]

Honestly not really a big difference. You can take a screenshot of an NFT and now you've got it. The token itself has digital code behind it signifying it's the original token, if one cares about that kind of thing. People get bragging rights on whatever NFT platform they use to having a 1/1 or rare token which..... okay. I don't see the point since it's digital and one has to trust the platform will stick around. I don't. Look at all the digital boneyard stuff that's out there. Have any digital stuff through Blockbuster's short lived online platform? Gone. Make something in Adobe Flash? Gone. Want to watch something on Netflix but they lose the rights? Gone. Want to stream the original Star Wars experience? Nope.

In the scenarios you mentioned
1 - best case scenario, but the one I trust the least.
2 - most likely scenario in my opinion
3 - very possible, that's what happened with UltraViolet movies. People who bought into that ecosystem could shift their libraries (For a limited time) to Fandango or Vudu but after that, gone.

I can tell you all the Topps Huddle stuff I have sort of falls into option 2. I can still log into the app and see my stuff, but without trading, the community is dead and the cards are worthless. Once Topps pulls the plug on the servers hosting everything, then it'll all be gone.

I like this take on digital platforms. It would seem that the old saying “once you put something on the internet it will be around forever” may not exactly be true. Digital art is a huge question mark for me in general. It just doesn’t have the same feel. As useful as eBooks are, and I’m a huge believer in the utility of things like Project Gutenberg, I will never prefer an eBook. I would also likely never pay for an eBook unless print versions were unavailable or too expensive. I feel the same about cards and painting despite the respect I have for digital content creators.

I’ve been thinking about this a bit more and could envision a fourth scenario that is significantly more optimistic:
4) A decentralized NFT platform that accommodates a number of platforms including sports card NFTs.
I’m not sure of the plausibility of this type of scenario, but I’m sure there are smart guys working on it.

I would love to hear from someone who is in favor of these.