General Forum

Has anyone ever been to a Topps Industry Conference?

I see tickets are availabe on the Topps Website.  Is it a fun event for collectors or strictly focused on the business side of the hobby?

is this in Hawaii ?

I have heard the legendary "Hawaii industry summit" is back on. 

[I have not been to one]

same thing maybe?

Phoenix, Arizona

Sounds like the latter, nothing a collector would find too interesting. This is from last year’s event

https://gogts.net/2022-topps-industry-conference-key-takeaways/

Hawaii sounds more fun

Our Beloved Hobby may look a little different in 2023.  In visiting my LCS Friend in Rockledge last week, He had just gotten some BIG News from TOPPS.  Finally, He got the direct relationship with TOPPS back on, after the Distributors are beginning to go by the wayside a bit.  The FANATICS deal was hopefully going to produce a better way forward for Collectors & Hobby Shops and this is an indicator that is beginning to occur.  TOPPS and The Distributors just got too greedy and now are having to stop chasing all the BIG $$$, because Our Hobby is currently on a reset towards a better normalcy.  Sure that Paul will be heading to that TOPPS Industry Summit in Arizona.  Hope each of You has a truly amazing Week!!

Yours in The Hobby - Felix 

Thanks for the link to the conference summary, pistonfan. It's worth a read. Here are a few bullet points that stood out to me (I added the bold text.):

• With regards to acquiring new consumers and addressing supply vs.demand issues, the goal is to get as much product into the market in a RESPONSIBLE manner – “we are tired of the peaks and valleys and volatility that have been part of our business”. 
• “We want to bring new people into the hobby, and doing that today at some of the price points is hard.”
• Support systems for breakers in Topps/Fanatics plans: O’Neil: “Breakers are important. We are talking about different programs” – not just hobby shop program, also breaker program. Luber: “we believe every channel is important.” Also says demand shows we need 10x the breakers.
• Consumer education: Luber: “we also have to be better at educating everybody that they’re not always going to get the hit.” Educated consumers are better consumers. “It’s on us to educate everybody.”

Ten times the breakers? Yeesh.

Overall, though, it's good that Topps/Fanatics seem to understand some of the issues in the hobby, and hopefully they're able to make collecting more enjoyable for everyone.

Yeah, that stood out to me too. "10x the breakers"? Why are breakers so important? I can only think of the money that pours in due to the need for breakers to consume boxes and boxes of product. Given the rest of the write up, particularly about hobby accessibility and trying to get away from hits expectations, that they would actually want less breakers.

This is a truly important point, but does catch us Trading Card Collectors a bit by surprise.  My LCS Friend is a Breaker, as well as a good Friend to the true Collectors.  However, He could hardly get His hands on several cases at a time, because the Distributors "gobbled" most of the product up for Their Breakers and Other (larger Store Front) Accounts.  The winds of change are blowing, so We are hoping & praying that it will be a much better day ahead for everyone - Collectors, Local Card Shops and even, Breakers.  This is going to be interesting to be a part of as a Collector!!

Yours in The Journey - Felix     

I like that they are discussing price points for getting new collectors into the hobby.  I am fairly certain if prices were like they are today when I was a kid then I likely wouldn’t be in the hobby.
 

Could you imagine being a kid at Walmart and watching an adult flipper buy all the boxes you can afford before you have a chance?

I hope they come up with some ideas to correct this.