MLB NFTs: Topps confirms entrance into the Market
Major League Baseball NFTs are coming sooner than you think!
Topps announced earlier this year that they plan to take the company public via SPAC merger with Mudrick Capital Acquisition Corporation II (NASDAQ: MUDS). During that announcement, they described the future positioning of the company will continue to embrace the NFT market.
Topps previously tested NFTs by launching Garbage Pail Kids and Godzilla NFTs through WAX (Worldwide Asset Exchange). WAX is an alternative Blockchain that offers markets as an alternative to the more traditional Ethereum based (ERC-20) NFTs. (This means you will likely need a different wallet if you want to collect WAX NFTs). The good news is that Topps proceeded carefully, cutting their teeth in the NFT space with the aforementioned IPs. While we are reluctant to tout alternatives to ETH based NFTs, WAX has had previous success partnering with Capcom, Atari, and more, This Baseball announcement contains a bit more gravitas as digitized versions of one of the most recognized collectables in history has hefty consequences.
The biggest concerns for Topps and the MLB NFT will be accessibility and responsiveness. Simply put, will WAX work and will it scale? NBA Top Shot is still suffering from massive scale challenges on FLOW (another ETH alternative). On top of the sheer demand for Top Shot NFTs, collectors are becoming frustrated with drops. Common frustrations we hope MLB NFTs can avoid are the following:
- Drops have to constantly postponed, delayed, or rescheduled
- The marketplace is shut down with regularity (meaning collectors can’t buy, sell, or trade individual cards when demand is at its highest)
- It is very hard to get your money out of FLOW wallets even after you make sales (for the market this could be good as users are likely to reinvest than wait weeks to withdrawal small portions.)
We haven’t extensively tested the WAX blockchain or wallets but plan to before the Topps MLB launch. We will update this article with answers to those concerns as we learn more.
MLB NFTs set to debut on April 20, 2021
The NBA has done a great job creating moments and videos for collectors. Each moment is unique and enthralling. The MLB NFTs will remain more similar to the traditional Baseball cards and will not contain true movement around plays.
The drop details include the following:
MLB NFT Standard Packs
- 2021 Topps Series 1 cards feature iconic throwback card templates and anniversary dates.
- Like Top Shot, MLB NFTs will come in packs (but sold individually on the market)
- Each NFT Pack will consist of 6 digital NFT cards
- Each Pack will be priced at the equivalent of $5.00 USD.
- There will only be 50,000 packs in this series
MLB NFT Premium Packs
- 24,090 Premium Packs will be released
- Each Pack will come with 45 Digital Cards
- Price per pack with be the equivalent of $100 USD
- Premium packs will include 1 digital 1/1 Platinum Anniversary Card (NFT)
The digital MLB NFTs will have different rarity levels including a Legendary Limited Edition 1 of 1 Platinum Anniversary parallel that will be randomly inserted into premium packs.
“Our MLB blockchain NFT series debut marks a historic moment in the modern evolution of collecting for both traditional and new collectors,” said Topps VP & General Manager Tobin Lent.
In addition to Major League Baseball, Topps also owns the trading card partnerships with the NHL, many soccer (football) leagues, and most importantly Walt Disney. If Topps can successfully navigate this drop, expect Marvel, Disney, Star Wars, and Pixar NFTs in the near future.
