Topps 582 Montgomery Club

[smanzari]

Originally Posted by Mazman2727

No way they let others have more than three boxes and others just three. I hope not cuz I only have one order complete out of three

All mine from the pre-sale have shipped (3 separate orders)

Originally Posted by 1977 Cloth

"In an effort to give our interested customers a chance to purchase this product, we'll be releasing 2019 Bowman Draft Sapphire Edition in limited quantity waves throughout today exclusively on Topps.com. Be sure to check back regularly for the latest drop!"

Did we have a wave 1 or 2 or 3? The whole process confused me.

I think there were really 3 waves (10x Limit, 3x, & 1x) but the last one hung around a while due to server issues

[yrocks2001]

Originally Posted by ClarenceWorley

The Bowman Sapphire was a disaster today, but did get my 4 box order of Brooklyn Collection as I was heading out.
Box 1: Hiura Senzel Bellinger-base. Harper-Gold, Keller-Black.Vlad Sr Auto, Molina Orange Auto
Box 2: Lindor Yelich DeGrom-base. Sanders-Gold, Cobb-Black. Dawson Auto, Vlad Jr Auto
Box 3: Soto Arenado Vlad Jr-base. Turner-Gold, Tatis-Black. Aaron Gold Auto, Jimenez Auto
This is where I should have stopped, but I got greedy.
Box 4: Jimenez Hiura Senzel-base. Riley-Gold, Cole-Black. Rizzo Gold Auto, Kikuchi Auto

Overall, not disappointing. Puts me closer to a set and some of the color/auto's were nice hits.

At least base in the last we’re almost al rookies

[bryanscs]

I just opened 1 of my 5 Brooklyn boxes. Holy moly!

[SaltyCracker]

Originally Posted by bryanscs

I just opened 1 of my 5 Brooklyn boxes. Holy moly!

Nice reds!

[RichardGasner]

Originally Posted by bryanscs

I just opened 1 of my 5 Brooklyn boxes. Holy moly!

So this isn’t like 18 boxes combined to have the best cards of each?
My god, very nice

[gamboooler]

Dang that's a heck of a box.

[bryanscs]

Kudos to my wife, for picking a good one out of the 5. Ha!

[dream34]

So to recap the adventurous day:

The Good:
- Many Club Members were able to experience the benefits of being in the Club.
- Topps preemtively having the Club allowed mainly loyal Topps customers to purchase product and not have to deal with the headaches/heartaches that come with dealing with bots
- An absolutely great product being offered direct to consumer at a great price point

The Bad:
- By far the biggest problem today was the manner in which the product was released - in seemingly small increments. It seemed like there was someone behind the computer at Topps just restocking 10-15 boxes at a time instead of 1000, 2000 box waves as was hinted at. SO many people had to deal with seeing the boxes constantly available to add to cart but seeing it appear and disappear all day long. This made it almost impossible for normal people to purchase and is the exact type of restocking method that would favor bots. If this was to raise website traffic for an "All time great day" then that may be the poorest idea ever heard as almost every customer you would want to attract on the "All time great day" left with an all time bad feeling towards your company.
-Not limiting Club Members Pre-Sale. This is a touchy subject as being part of the Club gave Members a chance that everyone would have taken today.
-Bots. Someone said their IP was eventually blocked because he refreshed too many times. This was probably done on the back end by Topps because they were getting too many hits from bots and could not differentiate him from a bot.

Suggestions:
-For Club Members, most agreed that it would be best to have a hard limit to the amount per Member/Household. The best suggestion IMO being to have a hard limit and then allow the unpurchased inventory move over to be part of the Public offering sale. However Topps is in a tough position here as their goals as a company may not quite align with our preference. Having Demand is always a good thing. I feel for Topps here as they are in a terribly tough position.
-Offer a larger allocation to the Club Members (90%). Bots are a real problem and may eventually become a problem within the Club. Still better to deal with them amongst a small customer group than to deal with them at large. Most that are using these are not Sportscard collectors but from other collectibles (sneakers, handbags, etc.). They most likely will not return the money they make to your market. Club Members? Well they already technically returned that money. Feel sorry for the collectors who are not in the Club, but really that will only create more demand for the Club while rewarding your already loyal customers.

In the end, there will be better days ahead for us and the guys at Topps, today was just not one of them. We should be thankful that we were able to even have Monday because of their foresight. Hope that they make the adjustments they need going forward.

[The Accountant]

Originally Posted by dream34

So to recap the adventurous day:

The Good:
- Many Club Members were able to experience the benefits of being in the Club.
- Topps preemtively having the Club allowed mainly loyal Topps customers to purchase product and not have to deal with the headaches/heartaches that come with dealing with bots
- An absolutely great product being offered direct to consumer at a great price point

The Bad:
- By far the biggest problem today was the manner in which the product was released - in seemingly small increments. It seemed like there was someone behind the computer at Topps just restocking 10-15 boxes at a time instead of 1000, 2000 box waves as was hinted at. SO many people had to deal with seeing the boxes constantly available to add to cart but seeing it appear and disappear all day long. This made it almost impossible for normal people to purchase and is the exact type of restocking method that would favor bots. If this was to raise website traffic for an "All time great day" then that may be the poorest idea ever heard as almost every customer you would want to attract on the "All time great day" left with an all time bad feeling towards your company.
-Not limiting Club Members Pre-Sale. This is a touchy subject as being part of the Club gave Members a chance that everyone would have taken today.
-Bots. Someone said their IP was eventually blocked because he refreshed too many times. This was probably done on the back end by Topps because they were getting too many hits from bots and could not differentiate him from a bot.

Suggestions:
-For Club Members, most agreed that it would be best to have a hard limit to the amount per Member/Household. The best suggestion IMO being to have a hard limit and then allow the unpurchased inventory move over to be part of the Public offering sale. However Topps is in a tough position here as their goals as a company may not quite align with our preference. Having Demand is always a good thing. I feel for Topps here as they are in a terribly tough position.
-Offer a larger allocation to the Club Members (90%). Bots are a real problem and may eventually become a problem within the Club. Still better to deal with them amongst a small customer group than to deal with them at large. Most that are using these are not Sportscard collectors but from other collectibles (sneakers, handbags, etc.). They most likely will not return the money they make to your market. Club Members? Well they already technically returned that money. Feel sorry for the collectors who are not in the Club, but really that will only create more demand for the Club while rewarding your already loyal customers.

In the end, there will be better days ahead for us and the guys at Topps, today was just not one of them. We should be thankful that we were able to even have Monday because of their foresight. Hope that they make the adjustments they need going forward.

This recap is very accurate. Thank you for typing this. I agree that the Club is probably the best route. Topps could easily ban out “bot” members in the club and the group could be tracked. Also we need Topps to make stand and cancel those large bot orders. Clearly no human could have order 300+ boxes, let alone 50.

[Trueblue]

Originally Posted by dream34

So to recap the adventurous day:

The Good:
- Many Club Members were able to experience the benefits of being in the Club.
- Topps preemtively having the Club allowed mainly loyal Topps customers to purchase product and not have to deal with the headaches/heartaches that come with dealing with bots
- An absolutely great product being offered direct to consumer at a great price point

The Bad:
- By far the biggest problem today was the manner in which the product was released - in seemingly small increments. It seemed like there was someone behind the computer at Topps just restocking 10-15 boxes at a time instead of 1000, 2000 box waves as was hinted at. SO many people had to deal with seeing the boxes constantly available to add to cart but seeing it appear and disappear all day long. This made it almost impossible for normal people to purchase and is the exact type of restocking method that would favor bots. If this was to raise website traffic for an "All time great day" then that may be the poorest idea ever heard as almost every customer you would want to attract on the "All time great day" left with an all time bad feeling towards your company.
-Not limiting Club Members Pre-Sale. This is a touchy subject as being part of the Club gave Members a chance that everyone would have taken today.
-Bots. Someone said their IP was eventually blocked because he refreshed too many times. This was probably done on the back end by Topps because they were getting too many hits from bots and could not differentiate him from a bot.

Suggestions:
-For Club Members, most agreed that it would be best to have a hard limit to the amount per Member/Household. The best suggestion IMO being to have a hard limit and then allow the unpurchased inventory move over to be part of the Public offering sale. However Topps is in a tough position here as their goals as a company may not quite align with our preference. Having Demand is always a good thing. I feel for Topps here as they are in a terribly tough position.
-Offer a larger allocation to the Club Members (90%). Bots are a real problem and may eventually become a problem within the Club. Still better to deal with them amongst a small customer group than to deal with them at large. Most that are using these are not Sportscard collectors but from other collectibles (sneakers, handbags, etc.). They most likely will not return the money they make to your market. Club Members? Well they already technically returned that money. Feel sorry for the collectors who are not in the Club, but really that will only create more demand for the Club while rewarding your already loyal customers.

In the end, there will be better days ahead for us and the guys at Topps, today was just not one of them. We should be thankful that we were able to even have Monday because of their foresight. Hope that they make the adjustments they need going forward.

I see what you did here. This is an excellent summary and a few key points that I also hope reach Topps decision makers. Great work.

Imagine a truly exclusive club where you had consistent access to great products at a great price and memberships were limited with a modest YoY growth. It would create extraordinary demand for the club, combined with a primary existing base of hobby-veteran MC members to hype the product on BO/FB/IG (and not flippers that simply gloat). Direct revenue is nice, but this should be viewed as a marketing lever for Topps. There's a huge opportunity here. Key is to not go overboard and overproduce or over-member the club - if you excessively water a seed, it dies. I earnestly hope they exercise restraint.

[Vinniebrasco]

Poor execution plain and simple. The reality is I did not have a realistic shot at pre sale being a club member.
I am not stopping work to F5 all day.
Would it really have been that hard to set aside three boxes per member and e-mail them they had 24 hours to check out?
Simple solution....dismiss the tech team, higher these Bot scriptors and have them design a script that sends 3 boxes to each members shopping cart with an e-mail stating they have 24 hours to check out. member can delete any number of items in the cart but not add any pre sale items.

[The Chad]

I think Topps is doing exactly what they want to. They are showing people that it was "easier being a club member". They will have the chance if they want to open the flood gates for membership next year if they choose.

[Americards]

Originally Posted by The Chad

I think Topps is doing exactly what they want to. They are showing people that it was "easier being a club member". They will have the chance if they want to open the flood gates for membership next year if they choose.

$10,000 membership
you get:

24 Boxes of Ginter X
24 Boxes of Topps Chrome Sapphire
24 Boxes of Bowman Draft Sapphire
24 Boxes of Bowman Heritage
4 Brooklyn Boxes
Plus the 5 20 card sets

[premium1981]

Originally Posted by Americards

$10,000 membership
you get:

24 Boxes of Ginter X
24 Boxes of Topps Chrome Sapphire
24 Boxes of Bowman Draft Sapphire
24 Boxes of Bowman Heritage
4 Brooklyn Boxes
Plus the 5 20 card sets

I'm in. Maybe that is what they should do. Have different levels that guarantee these exclusive offerings. I like it.

[The Chad]

Originally Posted by Americards

$10,000 membership
you get:

24 Boxes of Ginter X
24 Boxes of Topps Chrome Sapphire
24 Boxes of Bowman Draft Sapphire
24 Boxes of Bowman Heritage
4 Brooklyn Boxes
Plus the 5 20 card sets

I could see them doing a tiered membership with more options like this. Base membership will get you sets, 2nd tier sets and pre-sale window, 3rd tier sets and guaranteed option to buy exclusives...

Why wouldn't they try to milk as much money out of this as possible. Granted I dont know everything but from the way the last month of being a member has gone, I think this time next year we will all be saying "last years membership was better".

[cj828282]

1,000 memberships at $10,000 would deplete the TCS boxes (if production is level). A quick way to make 10 million.

[smanzari]

Originally Posted by The Chad

I think Topps is doing exactly what they want to. They are showing people that it was "easier being a club member". They will have the chance if they want to open the flood gates for membership next year if they choose.

Yup, and charge $500 per, if they want to! (Really hope our inaugural price remains locked!)

[silverandblack]

pretty annoying that people are getting shipping notices from the general public sale and i still haven't gotten mine from the members pre order

[premium1981]

Originally Posted by cj828282

1,000 memberships at $10,000 would deplete the TCS boxes (if production is level). A quick way to make 10 million.

Nowhere near 1,000 would be able to drop 10 grand at one pop. The only way there would be a large number of members would be the well off members, and guys like Blowout probably fronting the cost for all of their workers with some sort of kickback so they could get all the boxes.

[mwheeler27]

Originally Posted by Americards

$10,000 membership
you get:

24 Boxes of Ginter X
24 Boxes of Topps Chrome Sapphire
24 Boxes of Bowman Draft Sapphire
24 Boxes of Bowman Heritage
4 Brooklyn Boxes
Plus the 5 20 card sets

Intriguing, for sure.

I think we’d have to get 36-40 boxes instead of 24 though, at the $10,000 price per membership.

If that was the case, I’d be in for 5-10 memberships.

[cj828282]

Originally Posted by premium1981

Nowhere near 1,000 would be able to drop 10 grand at one pop. The only way there would be a large number of members would be the well off members, and guys like Blowout probably fronting the cost for all of their workers with some sort of kickback so they could get all the boxes.

I know but after what happened yesterday I think more people will consider these options and not hassle with trying to purchase during an online sale.

[ClevelandIC]

Originally Posted by The Chad

I could see them doing a tiered membership with more options like this. Base membership will get you sets, 2nd tier sets and pre-sale window, 3rd tier sets and guaranteed option to buy exclusives...

Why wouldn't they try to milk as much money out of this as possible. Granted I dont know everything but from the way the last month of being a member has gone, I think this time next year we will all be saying "last years membership was better".

I don't know how likely the $10,000 price point is but a tiered system seems logical

$250
$500
$1,000

Obviously each step getting more inclusions. The third tier could be even more expensive if they did some type of member only meet-up at the National or something like the Transcendent party they do yearly. I like the possibilities of it. As someone said, if they keep the membership with a small growth year over year it should take care of itself.

[The Chad]

I hope they keep it as they do now, but lets say hypothetically that they monitor message boards and what not, I saw a lot of posts yesterday that showed me that the interest is there for people to join who arent members now. I just see this as an opportunity for Topps to increase membership and have potential to take this to another level. I mean they already showed in one public release the benefit to being a member. They also showed this benefit with a brand new product.

[1989FF]

Originally Posted by silverandblack

pretty annoying that people are getting shipping notices from the general public sale and i still haven't gotten mine from the members pre order

I don't think they process the orders as rec'd. I think they go by height or last name starting with Z going backwards. I pre ordered as well. Just got my shipping confirmation an hour ago.

[bustsomewax]

3 of my 5 Draft Saphire have shipped. All overnight.

Receive the first today.