One of the cards features the late Kobe Bryant at a Dodgers game.
Topps Now cards have been a fun, innovative addition to the card manufacturer’s portfolio, capturing exciting moments on cardboard nearly as they happen.
Since 2016, Topps has been creating these cards, which go live the day after a game and are usually available for only 24 hours.
Topps Now has had its fair share of attention-grabbing releases over the years — Bernie Sanders sitting in the cold during the 2020 Presidential Inauguration, or the Team USA triple auto of LeBron James, Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant from the 2024 Summer Olympics, which still hasn’t surfaced.
But a handful of unassuming Topps Now cards command big bucks. Here’s a look at four of them.
The first card
This may not come as a surprise, but the very first Topps Now card ever made commands a premium.
It’s unassuming because it features Pittsburgh’s Francisco Liriano striking out 10 on Opening Day in 2016. It’s a nice outing and could still make the cut for a Topps Now release today, but as the program was just getting started, good — not necessarily great — games were featured.
Some of those early cards of the program sell for around $100.
Los Angeles royalty
On Card No. 947 from 2018, Yasiel Puig hits a three-run home run in the sixth inning of the World Series. It’s a somewhat memorable moment, but the front of the card isn’t even what collectors are chasing.
Turn it around and there’s basketball legend Kobe Bryant on the back, celebrating Puig’s big moment from the crowd.
Bryant hadn’t appeared on a Topps card since 2009, but in this case it was likely considered fair use. Bryant, like any other fan, was photographed in the stands by Getty, and anyone in the stands is fair game for their likeness to be used in the media.
The card sold for as much as $1,999 as recently as this past October.
First Ohtani card
While Shohei Ohtani’s rookie cards appeared in 2018, Topps actually created a card of the international superstar in 2017.
When Ohtani signed with the Angels, Topps featured his Angels introduction on Dec. 10, 2017. The card doesn’t have an RC logo, but instead an “International FA Signing” logo on it.
The card had a print run of over 17,000, so it’s surprising to see these consistently sell for over $100 — though maybe not that surprising since it’s Ohtani.
2017 Jeter and Judge Topps Now Card of the Month
Topps Now used to have a Card of the Month. You couldn’t buy these cards. The only way to get one was as a redemption through the rewards program, and you earned points only by buying Topps Now cards.
In 2017, one of those cards featured Yankees Derek Jeter and Aaron Judge, showing them shaking hands in the dugout before Jeter’s number-retirement ceremony. Just 198 of these cards were made.
High-graded versions consistently sell for more than $500.
Category: General Sports
