Starting April 20, Topps’ Series 1 Baseball cards will be available in NFT form on the WAX blockchain.
Major League Baseball has joined the ranks of professional sports leagues and pro athletes who are looking to cash in on the NFT (non-fungible token) craze of 2021. They’ve joined forces with Topps to release a digital baseball card series on the WAX Blockchain.
On Monday, Topps announced the partnership with MLB and the MLBPA to release the 2021 Topps Series 1 Baseball NFT. The series will launch April 20th and marks the trading card giant’s first venture into the crypto collectibles space.
The news comes just days after Topps grabbed headlines with plans to go public via SPAC (special purpose acquisition company) merger. Part of the fanfare concerned upcoming plans for NFT offerings. And we now know just what they’ll be.
“Our MLB blockchain NFT series debut marks a historic moment in the modern evolution of collecting for both traditional and new collectors,” said Tobin Lent, vice president and general manager of Topps Digital Sports and Entertainment in an official company release. “We’re excited to bring almost a decade’s worth of digital collectibles innovations to 2021 Topps Series 1 and provide another fun avenue for fans to collect their favorite heroes and moments with secure digital owner ownership on the blockchain.”
Similar to platforms like NBA Top Shot and Sorare, Topps will release standard and premium packs with cards varying in rarity. The Topps MLB NFTs differ from other sports’ offerings, however, in that they’ll include a mix of conventional player card templates, motion graphics, and highlights, with other digital collectible formats still to be announced.
According to Topps, there will be 1,986 cards available to collectors in regular packs of six cards and premium packs of 45 cards. In using the WAX (“Worldwide Asset Exchange”) Blockchain to verify ownership and authenticity, collectors will be protected from fraud and theft.
“We’re excited to be working with a venerable heritage brand like Topps to tokenize MLB trading cards for the modern collector,” said William Quigley, co-founder of WAX. “The WAX Blockchain is the safest and most intuitive platform for Topps’ largest NFT release yet.”
Topps is starting things off by offering the first 10,000 collectors who sign up for alerts for NFT releases eligibility to receive a free Topps MLB Opening Day NFT Pack. But even after this set is sold out on the proverbial retail shelves, it’s clear that the company’s crypto collectibles adventure is only getting started.
