Manufacturers Are All-In For On-Demand Cards and Collectors Are Buying the Hype — For Now

On-demand cards from Panini and Topps have become a major part of the sports card hobby.

By now, you’re likely familiar with the Junk Wax Era and perhaps even the Junk Slab Era terminology. But have we entered a Junk On-Demand Era as well?

From Topps NOW, which kicked things off back in 2016, to Project2020, Project70, and Panini Instant, the popularity of on-demand cards has exploded in recent years.

Hoping to capture the excitement of important moments, on-demand cards are quickly designed by the manufacturer and the exact number of cards purchased during a short release window are printed and shipped.

Products like Topps NOW and Panini Instant take advantage of the demand while also sprinkling in limited print runs for relics and autographs. There’s serial-numbered cards to chase too.

If you’ve been paying attention to the start of the 2023-2024 NBA season, there has been a new Victor Wembanyama card released by Panini Instant every week — sometimes more than one per week.

Victor Wembanyama Panini Instant NBA #233

We’re talking about action shots in his Spurs uniform, complete with a rookie card designation. In fact, before the release of 2023-24 Panini NBA Hoops, the first pro uniform release of his career, Panini had already dropped six licensed cards for the No. 1 overall pick.

And they’ve continued to release about one per week through Panini Instant.

Some collectors have called on-demand cards a cash grab, but this concept only works if collectors buy the cards. And they have.

Here’s a snapshot of Wembanyama’s Panini Instant cards and their print runs:

2023 Panini Instant Draft Night: 31,324

2023 Panini Instant #5: 44,142

2023 Panini Instant #RPS-1: 16,791

2023 Panini Instant #19: 18,095

2023 Panini Instant #26: 10,018

2023 Panini Instant #32: 15,593

2023 Panini Instant #36: 6,309

2023 Panini Instant #60: 6,522

2023 Panini Instant #85: 6,841

2023 Panini Instant #98: 5,530

After some initial popularity, however, it’s not hard to see that demand has been dwindling.

From a massive print run of over 44,000 on Oct. 25 down to only 5,530 less than a month later, there appears to be some “Instant Fatigue.”

Collectors may have quickly realized that whatever card they ordered would be immediately followed by another a few days later. Another reason is that many of the on-demand cards lose relevance and value once major releases like Hoops, Donruss and Prizm all come out.

But Panini’s not the only manufacturer leaning into on-demand cards. Topps has been at it for years with Topps NOW and others.

Topps Star Wars Living Set #314 Luke Skywalker

The Living set stretches across everything from MLB cards to Star Wars and Garbage Pail Kids. And that’s all in addition to sets like Project2020, Project70 and Project 100.

Topps’ most recent version of ‘Wembymania’ has been with releases of Connor Bedard rookie stickers every week since he’s been in the NHL.

Topps NOW has also been used to commemorate huge offseason signings like Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto to the Dodgers, and Bowman U Next NOW to bring moments from Caitlin Clark and Bronny James to the market.

With licensing up in the air and NIL allowing incoming stars to monetize their name, image and likeness during their college careers, more and more segmentation could happen within sets, making print on-demand and online-only releases in general a regular part of the hobby.

We’ve seen the formula that mirrors hobby and retail wax releases — manufactured scarcity through limited “hits” to draw collectors in, but an unlimited amount of base cards available during a purchase window to ensure nobody leaves empty handed.

This makes sense for manufacturers and is extremely efficient, but all hobbyists — from collectors to flippers — have to determine what makes sense for them. Demand will always drive the market and the manufacturers are currently all-in with on-demand.