Is eTopps Still A Thing Or Am I Out Cards?

I know that Topps stopped selling new eTopps cards in 2012. The website is still active, but it's a mess. The website won't recognize my login and the forgot username and/or password link does not work. I e-mailed Topps about it on February 19th. I received a reply later that day that Topps was looking into the situation. I have not received any other communication from Topps.

While trying to get my collection streamlined and organized these past few months, I had a moment of clarity. I had eTopps cards that I hadn't shipped. This little epiphany started this frustrating path down the Topps rabbit hole.

So, is there anything I can do at this point? I feel like I've already invested too much time in this endeavor and the Topps Company has not invested any. At least that's the way it appears. Perhaps there is a dedicated team working around the clock on my login problem and I have exposed a previously undetected issue that threatens to bring down the very infrastructure of the Topps Company and all that will be left in its wake is Panini America and I will be burned in effigy for the destruction of the trading card industry, cancelling the National this year and beyond, and bringing the world to the brink of devastation. Perhaps not.

Closer to the truth is that Topps probably does give two bleeps about eTopps and most likely hasn't since before 2012. Truthfully, I haven't cared about eTopps in a long time either. The cards are still in limbo because I balked at the shipping rates years ago. I thought it might be time to get my cards out of limbo, but it's proving difficult to do so.

If anyone has any serious suggestions as how to get some actual help from Topps on this issue, I'm all ears. I don't see this ending well. I have a feeling that my account was deleted and I am out the cards I have stockpiled. I hope I'm wrong and a nice solution presents itself.


***UPDATE 4-1-19***
Apparently, I chose the absolute worst time to remember I had cards on eTopps. "System issues" was the explanation I was given. I am back into my account, but I seem to remember more cards in my account than I actually have. My memory could be faulty or cards could have disappeared. Nonetheless, I am back in and can formulate a plan from here.

2011 eTopps Konerko

A new White Sox eTopps card of the White Sox captain.

A 2011 eTopps Release For The White Sox Fan

Chris Sale gets to pitch in front of this "really interesting" design.

Some eBay Sellers Are On Crack

I ran across this auction on eBay of a 2008 eTopps Allen & Ginter card of Barack Obama. The opening bid is $2,008.00. Does this seller expect anyone to bid on this? If someone purchases this card from this seller, they must have eaten paint chips as a kid, then had a frontal lobotomy.

I get the cuteness in offering it for $2,008 dollars. Ha ha. A more practical opening bid would have been $20.08. If someone is stupid enough to purchase a potato chip in the shape of Jay Leno, then someone is stupid enough to pay over $2,000 for this card.

What a shock, the last feeback as a seller is negative. This is the only thing that the eBayer is selling. It's stuff like this that makes me not like Topps. I want to like Topps, but they shoot themselves in the foot all the time.

These cards go to the sellers, not the purchasers. Every eTopps card that I've bought, a total of 3, I've bought off eBay. I have never puchased a card directly from Topps. This makes me suspicious, but that's just me. As a public service, please avoid sellers like this like the plague. I'll gladly take this card off the seller for 1 cent. It would serve the seller right.

Topps Screwed Me Twice Today

This is what Mark Buehrle's 2008 Topps card looks like. It looks like the photographer captured Mark in his Sunday best. A nice card, as are the rest of the White Sox cards in the set. At least from the few that I have seen.

I had to go to a hobby shop to pick up some top loaders today. They had both the 20 card Upper Deck pack release and the 10 card Topps pack release. The Topps jumbos are coming in tomorrow.

I bought two packs of Upper Deck and 4 packs of Topps. I figured 40 cards each would be a great way to start. Well, after trudging through the snow, I got home and started opening the packs. As much as I hate to say it, Upper Deck impressed me a bit more today. I'll get to Upper Deck in another post.

There was not a single White Sox card in the release. I did get a few inserts, but mostly common players. I love Willie Harris as much as the next guy, but his card didn't do anything for me today. Sorry Willie. I know you were on the 2005 World Championship team, but you are a Brave on this card.

Today was not about pack opening and posting the results. Today was about first impressions of the new base releases for the two remaining companies. Topps was nice but kind of blah, but not because of the lack of White Sox cards. The base cards remind me of a sad, tortured clown. There are lot of shapes and bright colors, but no happiness.

I guess what shaped my opinion even more was the e-mail I got today. When I got home with the cards, there was an e-mail waiting for me that said IPO SOLD OUT. Topps screwed me over again today. The worst part about it was that they made me wait two days before telling me. I could deal with the cards being sold out. It happens. There's a limited amount available. The thing that gets under my skin is that they waited so long to tell me. There's no excuse for that.

If you think that influenced my opinion when ripping into the packs, I can assure you that it did not. I didn't check my e-mail until after I opened all the packs. It probably made the e-mail message slightly more sinister. I'll wait a little bit before I purchase another 2008 Topps pack. I need to clear my head and start fresh with Topps. By tomorrow, I'm sure all we be forgiven. It's just frustrating sometimes.

Super Tuesday

Well, Super Tuesday is here. It doesn't feel very super. Just a normal day. Larger images of the 4 Presidential candidates featured in the latest eTopps release are now available.

Barack Obama can clearly be seen wearing a White Sox uniform, but that was always obvious. He has always spoken of being a White Sox fan, so that's not a huge shocker. The next one is a shocker.

Now, Hillary Clinton can be seen wearing a Cubs hat, which is her first team. She abandoned them in favor of the Yankees when she moved to New York. It's like when she campaigned for the Republicans in Chicago and switched to the Democrats because she didn't like the candidate the Republicans ended up endorsing. It might've had something to do with campaigning for a candidate that lost out on the presidency.

John McCain is clearly wearing a Diamondbacks hat, which makes sense. That would explain the World Series jacket that he's wearing. And here I thought it was the Florida Marlins, from the tiny image that was released prior. Silly me. Why didn't I think of Arizona before? It all makes perfect sense to me... now.

There's a reason that Mitt Romney's image wasn't featured in the pre-release hype. He doesn't have any baseball team affiliation whatsoever. Mitt's just wearing a simple button-up shirt. You'd think with a name like Mitt, he'd have a hat or a jersey or something. Maybe Mitt's just a button-up kind of guy.

Enough political mumbo jumbo. What about the cards?

The cards look like the typical Allen & Ginter style card. Very sharp looking. Will we get sick of this design like we did the 1952 design? I hope not. The A&G design looks like it's here to stay and Topps will use it in everything from online cards to wresting cards.

And yes, I've put my order in for the candidate wearing the White Sox uniform. Don't think of that as an endorsement. I'm not endorsing anyone on this blog. It's a card with someone in a White Sox uniform. That's good enough to add to my White Sox collection. I'll leave the political endorsements to the political blogs. This is a site about baseball, baseball cards and the White Sox. I don't aspire to stray much into anything else.

2007 eTopps Moments And Milestones

Something smells fishy about this release. At least to me anyway. I never really bought into the whole eTopps thing. Pristine cards are offered for sale that lessen in value if you actually want to see them. Isn't the whole point of collecting to actually see and enjoy your collection?

I was caught up in the hype in October, but I also had some common sense left. I wasn't about to pay $7 a card for something that I may never potentially see. I paid $5.75 for the Jim Thome and $6.75 for the Mark Buehrle. Yes, I got caught in a mini bidding war for the Buehrle, but I still didn't pay $7. It's the principle of the thing.

Since I purchased them on eBay, they have gone down in value. Thome is down to $4.75, not too far from what I actually paid. Buehrle is down to $4.23. I like both of these players so I can live with it. For the record I liked Thome when he was on the Indians and the Phillies and I would still like Buehrle if he ever packs up for St. Louis, like he's joked about in the past.

• Alex Rodriguez - 500 Home Runs
• Mark Buehrle - No Hitter
• Tom Glavine - 300 Wins
• Craig Biggio - 3,000 Hits
• Sammy Sosa - 600 Home Runs
• Frank Thomas - 500 Home Runs
• Jim Thome - 500 Home Runs
• Justin Verlander - No Hitter
• Pedro Martinez - 3,000 Strikeouts
• Curtis Granderson - 20/20/20
• Prince Fielder - 50 Home Runs

Two White Sox cards, two ex-White Sox cards and one of someone who grew up in Blue Island, which is only a few miles away from my hometown. Not too bad Chicago-wise. The milestones are amazing as well as the player selection. It's hard to remember every major event that happens in a year of baseball. Some get lost in the shuffle and some you don't even realize happened.

There is also a moments card of Barry Bonds that was offered for $11, in addition to the 11 card set. It commemorates his "achievement" of 756 home runs.

This is a great set. It combines the look of Allen & Ginter with the feel of Moments & Milestones. The only thing I don't like about this set is that it's an online entity. It almost feels like you're being ripped off. Collecting is for seeing and touching, not seeing an image that looks like your card and not being able to hold it in your hands right away.