Topps Gives Inside Look Ahead of Hobby Rip Night
Topps Hobby Rip Night wasn’t supposed to grow as fast as it did.
The plan was to start on the smaller side: give packs away, share experiences and get collectors in hobby stores.
Grow with each edition and eventually expand overseas in a few years.
The plan didn’t work out that way.
On Saturday, September 14, the third Topps Hobby Rip Night will take place in nearly 600 stores — including 10 different countries.
And Topps is expecting 50,000 collectors to visit shops.
“I think what's interesting is this is something that I would've expected to take years to build into something at scale,” said Fanatics Collectibles CEO Mike Mahan in an interview with Collectible on SI. “And it is already given the level of participation that feels like a scaled event. There is a momentum and an energy to this that is undeniable.”
Topps Hobby Rip Night, expected to be held every February and September, has grown. At the second event held in February, several athletes and celebrities turned up to surprise collectors at different hobby shops.
People such as Kevin Durant, Tom Brady, Steve Aoki and Meek Mill showed up to packed hobby stores. As word leaked about what celebrities would be at these events, collectors showed up early to get a peek at people like Chipper Jones, Jayson Tatum or Will Levis.
Their presence enhanced the experience and now it’s expected.
Celebraties and athletes will be hitting the pavement again with 100 different celebs expected in stores. Brady, Mike Trout and Anthony Volpe are set to make appearances along with Kevin Hart and Quavo, and a few surprise guests.
The players are also planning to bring a case of cards to trade with a few fans.
“Think of it as a trade night, but flipping trade night on its head,” said Avery Jessup, CCO of Fanatics Collectibles. “We tell our hobby shops to tell their collectors to tell a friend and bring someone new so they can bring someone else into the hobby and see it at a level of this magnitude.
“I think just the fact that they're providing games and experiences and stuff like that in these types of rip nights, I think also where it's not as intimidating coming in and not knowing where to start when you get into a hobby store.”
While Topps is offering exclusive Topps Hobby Rip Night packs to stores, it’s up to store owners to run the events. Many are including giveaways and product discounts.
Several local hobby stores are teaming up in Nashville to rent out Geodis Park, where MLS’ Nashville SC plays, to create a full day for sports fans and collectors. They are combining efforts to create a day filled with cards and athletes while giving back to charity.
“I think the big thing is we want to make sure that this is driving folks back into their hobby shops,” Jessup said. “So as much as we can, we try to make sure that it's leaning into that local collector that can find that hobby shop and go into it after the event.”
Twenty percent of shops from Topps’ second Hobby Rip Night reported record single-day sales, according to the company. It has also seen the number of stores participating grow from 409 to 568 shops since February.
Topps is also expecting to give out more than 100,000 packs and is considering this a single-day record for a pack giveaway.
Each of those Topps Hobby Rip Night packs comes with four cards with a chance at parallels: red, blue and gold. The 20-card set will be numbered 21-40 on the back, with the first 20 cards given earlier this year.
Players on the checklist include Bobby Witt Jr., Paul Skenes and Jackson Holliday.
But more than cards, you could find a surprise guest at your local card shop and make new collecting friends.
“Community is such a critical element of everything we do,” Mahan said. “I mean, if you think about what the hobby is there are so many different experiences, but at some point, if they're not shared, it doesn't hold, right? So what makes the hobby so special in our eyes, or one of the many things, is community such an important part, whether that's your family, whether that's your friends, whether that's online, whether that's other people locally. And, for us, the hobby shop is at the center of that community.”
SUZY LULGJURAJ