2024 Topps Chrome Has One MAJOR Flaw 

Just quit opening boxes at these crazy prices Buy the singles you want, you’ll be shocked at what you can get for the same amount you’d buy a box for

Buying and opening boxes in 2024 is like playing the lottery but ticket costs $100-200 and the jackpot is $10K

I don't mind getting smoked on $25 blasters and $13 hangers. I thought $35 was rough last year but $40 is brutal. Definitely not buying much chrome again this year.

Another incredibly important fact about the blasters is there are only SEVEN packs vs. EIGHT in previous years. That's four less cards, and, as you noted, shrinkflation.

My take fanatics will be worst than panini. Everyone thinks the grass in greener on the other side. But if they’re pricing things like this for baseball imagine what football and basketball will look like.

I only buy singles. I miss opening the packs but the boxes are too expensive and the hits are weak

I've basically stopped collecting altogether since Fanatics stepped in. These prices are just insane and I'm trying to save for my first house. I might pick up a blaster or hanger from time to time but my Walmart hasn't even had those in stock as consistently as they have in the past.

remember when cards were for kids? kids cant afford these box prices, too much greed in our hobby.

I'm not surprised anymore. Everything is priced for breakers now. Breakers will buy them at $1000/box as long as they have the gamblers risking it for the biscuit in the break. What I find funny is elly de la Cruz is the main feature as a rookie and he's not even a damn rookie this year. He was eligible for RoY last year as well. What a joke.

Greedy people and unregulated breakers equals NO MORE BOXES FOR ME!☹️

I knew when Fanatics said they wanted to 10x the hobby this was coming. 2020 was the last year i opened anything boxes because I stopped when I looked at the changes in the pull rates of golds.

Man thanks for being so passionate and motivated to put these vids out. I’m a designer that loves cards for the design and pop culture excitement so these vids are so key for me to know what I need. I’ve been collecting since the early 90s and all I can say is this hobby is no way to make money. It’s speculation at best not investment. But when you collect to have fun it doesn’t matter. ❤thanks

They just did the same thing with Topps Finest this year too.

How does scott have less than 30k subs? This dude should be a go to for anyone in this thing. Thanks again for what do scott.

Great analysis again Scott, lots of behind the scenes stuff that collectors don't always think about!

Lets take a lesson from the War Games movie... "The only way to win, is to not play". Stop buying the new topps products. They will put out better products if we show them that we won't buy this trash.

You should also mention how much Hobby Box prices were in 2014 ($70) compared to todays prices. It’s ridiculous how fast and what rate Topps has raised the prices across the board.

Thanks for the deep dive. The data is concerning.

Scottie B back with another high quality video. Originally, before the news started coming out about this product, I was thinking of getting a case. Now, I’m not even interested in buying a blaster. Buying singles is so much better of a way to go. Just let the breakers open the product, since they are the reason for the product getting ruined.

Passed on Topps Chrome for the first time in nine years. Playing the lottery is more rewarding.

I'm out. I'm not paying those ridiculous prices.

More than one flaw. The print runs are higher likely plus more parallels. At $40 a blaster , retail has gotten way too out of hand. I'll wait and get a deal on an MVP buyback lot. Too big a checklist at 300 cards also.

Thanks for producing this video. When I saw the enlarged checklist with the increased cost, I immediately knew there was not going to be as much bang for the buck. When statistics and financial analytics are part of card collecting, it doesn’t feel much like a hobby anymore.

I'll wait until the fall and buy the Blasters on clearance at Walmart for $15 just like last year. However, even at $15, I still lost money on 5 Blasters. 😢

It’s refreshing to see all the comments about buying singles instead of boxes. This is what I’m doing. The excitement of opening packs just isn’t there anymore at these price points. Save a ton of money and get players I actually want to collect.

Superb analysis. I would have done the MVP buyback slightly differently, but yours is great too. Makes me want to buy a box of 2005, 2013, or 2014 Chrome in a couple of weeks in Cleveland.

I will not be buying any Topps Chrome to rip. Only purchases I will make of Topps Chrome will be by buying individual singles. I just wish everyone would ban together and not purchase any retail or hobby packaged Topps Chrome. Topps (Fanatics) is getting more and more greedy. It's all about getting people to spend more money. No thanks.

Good stuff! Appreciate seeing the numbers to back up my buying singles stance.

I like opening boxes but I’m being priced out of the market so I started buying retail but at 40.00 a retail box that is more than I’m willing to pay. Thank you for your time making these types of videos.

You just could not leave Billy Butler mention out of video 😂

This is a great breakdown. Thanks for putting in the legwork here 🤘

What we learned here today folks, is Fanatics has already successfully 10xed the hobby... with 10x the print runs of ten years ago. Nailed it! Need to know info here Scottie, well done.

Thanks for breaking down the numbers like that, appreciate the video.

Nice job on getting us break down on the 2024 topps chrome!

Fanatics thinks Chrome is like Prizm. When it's not. So they increased the price on everything. Which sucks. The 10x the hobby idea should be dead as prices are insane. Average set collectors will quit the hobby soon and it'll be a breakers world just like panini football is.

I think of these inflated checklists anytime someone starts firing off the "loaded" rookie checklist that'll be in a product. For every good rookie pull there are 10 reliever rookie autos of players pushing 30 years old, and another 10 utility guys that have already been DFA'd. People are getting hyped to be gouged.

I love ripping boxes. I know I'm just blowing the money and am generally fine with that. It's fun. I like cards. I like to build sets. It's fun seeing if you get anything interesting. The entertainment value is worth it. But this year's Chrome release? No way. Forty bucks for a blaster? How can you have fun with that? Even outside the monetary value, you just get so little actual entertainment for that money. Even last year was a bloodbath when it came to fun. This year? No way, Topps. I saw the pre-sale price and skipped it. It'll release and...I'll skip it. I'll buy a few singles of my team, but they suck this year so not many. Make card collecting fun again, Topps.

One major flaw-- no Skenes

Chrome continues to spiral downward

Excellent breakdown on shrinkflation. Where will it all end?

Great video man

Awesome video, thanks for the info and concise breakdown.

Opening packs in general is always a colossal rip off. We give in because its a super thrill like gambling but there is no arguement to be made that its not a huge rip off.

I saw your video on your Larry Walker grail card. It got me thinking, the ultra modern cards are becoming the new junk wax. Totally saturated. I'm scooping up 90s serial #'d HOF for cheap and sending in for grading. Low pops and plenty of 35-50 year old men with some extra money to spend. Just a theory but I think the 90s are going to be a trend soon🤞. Look at Topps, they are doing 80s throwbacks, 90s are next

I can live with everything but the checklist i remember opening prizm foootball and just pulling nobodies at least a 220 checklist you are guaranteed to see a player you know and even a star every other pack pulling 10 packs and knowing a linebacker is the worst experience

even as someone who enjoys buying hobby and jumbo hobby boxes somewhat frequently videos like these are a great heads up for what to expect/avoid

Good stuff, and great information. Definitely be buying singles. I enjoy ripping but the print runs alone says stay away 🤙🏻

I pulled a Spencer Torklelson purple redemption auto out of a Blaster in 2022 WHAT A BUST !!!

In 19, we pulled a blue Tatis auto, orange polar bear auto, Eloy auto, and more all in a little over a case

Monopolisation is NEVER a good thing.

Honestly have mostly sat out of buying boxes retail or hobby since last year. Play. Anniversary is one of my favorite sets and yet couldn’t find the hype in it this year. And it even had better checklist this year.

Man, increasing the checklist by 30% is just uncool

I can’t/won’t touch blasters at $40, how much are mega boxes?

Thanks for the video! It is sad to see Fanatics quickly morph into Panini. After buying 2 lackluster 2023 Topps Chrome Platinum hobby boxes, I decided not pursue a Topps Chrome Baseball hobby box, and go with blasters. Then I saw the price of those high-price blasters and pivoted to the monster boxes. Luckily, I was able to get a couple of monster boxes at the $59.99 price before Fanatics raised them to $64.99.

last years blaster sat forever at my Walmarts.

I buy singles and open boxes. This information is great knowledge for all in the hobby. Smarter collectors make a better hobby all around. Thanks for the content.

I'm nuking only monster boxes of this product this year. Did that for 2023 and the XFRACTORS held some decent value for money back, and the pulls deff surpassed retail items.

Bought 1 hobby box last year on release day that’s it all year. Pulled ultra violet of my favorite player (Ohtani) but still sold it for twice the cost of the box. Bought it 4 months later for 30$ haha

Community: rabble rabble *uproar* rabble Also community: take my money Next year: gets worst

Blaster pricing inflation is 100% due to MVP buyback

I saw a video short months ago of a player with stacks and stacks of cards he had to sign that was in the 1000's. Think about dividing them between hobby and retail and that's 1000's of boxes while he's only one player of the many prospects that sign. The price is up and so is the quantity. We will never run out of old product to open.

How do I do the mvp buyback

I am already regretting purchasing a hobby box of this product. Feels like I lit my money on fire.

The bigger problem that dealers are trying to keep on the DL is that guys are putting boxes under CT scans. There are many small privately owned medical imaging places. I know a guy whose dad owns a radiology facility and his son flips lots of unopened sealed boxes, but has very nice pulls. I know what’s going on.

Interesting analysis… I used to buy Hobby boxes along time ago, but the last five or six years I just buy singles because it’s way better value

HI SCOTT YOUR THE BEST KEEP IT GOING I'LL BE JOINING SOON AS I GET BACK TO WORK !!! PROMISE

Thank goodness for breakers and their consumers.....I will never rip wax again, targeting singles only.

Why do I still want a hobby box? 😢

Love this as a math/numbers guy. Got back into the habit recently (been over 30 years) and I was blown away by the cost of packs and boxes. These type of reviews hopefully open folks eyes and convince some to not keep spending the insane box prices and hopefully causes demand (and thus pricing) to go down. I know wishful thinking

The ripple out effects of checkflation is what makes the waters of the secondary market so dangerous. It also suggests that Topps does strong projections about the secondary market way early on. What a wild hobby 🎉

Good analysis Scottie, could not agree more, hopefully topps will listen and change but that is probably wishful thinking

I hope you have a will because Fanatics is coming for you! You are great for the hobby community and thank you!

Great video bud

pretty good information. However, to clarify, your price of “getting the gold you want” are actually the price of likely pulling 220 gold refractors. not “of the gold you want”

I'm completely out on new product

im excited to scoop up singles for the low haha

Well I was excited about my jumbo hobby coming tomorrow ...

I’ve gone back and forth on buying chrome or not. I’m pretty annoyed with the drastic price increase over the last couple years. I think I’ll stick to singles or buy something else

Wow, those dollar amounts you had up for pulling the exact gold card you want is insane. I think a lot of collectors are getting priced out at this point. $40 blasters... bruh.

Definitely not a secret that it’s a rip off 😂 Love the content one of the most important people in the hobby

Worth noting : It appears the tacofractors are (so far) not making a return for 2024. They were inserted in 2023 Topps Chrome and Topps Chrome Cosmic for reference. If they don’t return and are in fact a one-year wonder, could be a sneaky fun collect down the track.

last year i got 3 chrome acunas at lcs in a 3/$5 box....

Gonna hold of on this product for this very reason. The increased checklist is a bigger deterrent for me than the pricing, and the pricing is terrible. I'd rather spend the same amount on some 2022 Update or Update Sapphire.

@scottie I’m interested in buying a Valuable card of David Ortiz in a Red Sox uniform. I’m 99% a Football collector, so I don’t know much about Baseball types like Tops, Chrome, Pristine, etc Can you point me in the right direction?

Add in the fact that Walmart likes to add another $5 to the price of a blaster and Meijer adds $10. Looking at $45 and $50 at those places.

Just go buy an auto of a future HOFer, Bryce Harper, for less than a box of 2024 Topps chrome where you’ll probably hit a mark Appel auto or something. Unreal.

I’ll never understand why anyone with a fully functional brain would buy wax in 2024. People say it’s nostalgic and brings them back to their childhood. Apparently those people had an uncle that touched their no-no spot.

Still better than a box of Optic at $500 for a single auto

Cant think of the last time I bought retail. 9/10 times you get nothing from it. I've found success picking up a couple.singles here and there and trade them for bigger cards down the road. Save your $$$.

Sounds criminal

Buy some boxes to open, sell anything decent and buy the singles you want. Much easier to let others open +$1mil in product to find the card you want.

there better be Billy Butler cards in this years chrome!

Hobby JUmbo was still great in 20219, Retail was still good in 2021-22. But now you should just buy the cards you want and avoid any box opening... it's a terrible deal. Even a $100 20224 hobby box is a terrible deal. $40 for a 7 pack blaster is outrageous. There's two players I want their rookie autos or refractors.... I'll get them cheaply off eBay.

Smart Aleck comment prior to watching the video. The flaw is the cost right?

All products in 2024 are going to be a rip off. Once Topps realizes their production and pricing problems i bet it will take them 2 years to adjust it to a sweet spot that buyers will be ok with. I won't be buying any wax for the next couple years, only singles for me.

Keep flooding Topps with emails about their price gouging and quit buying their expensive ass products they'll learn thats what i do i email Topps at least once a week about their shady shit

I think I'm done opening anything baseball wise other than Bowman at least for a while.

No breaks or boxes or blasters for this guy. Singles... maybe. I just dont get excited for it like i used to with how hard they've made it to return even a 1/4 of your investment.

I've been back in the hobby since 2017 after collecting as a kid and I haven't opened wax since 2019. I let the gamblers and breakers open it and I just buy singles!

i think I'll stick to LEAF products for now.. i have a better chance pulling a Shohei Ohtani auto, or gunnar Henderson auto buying leaf cards.. unlicensed or licensed idc as long its an auto i can care less!!