At the Topps industry conference in February, they revealed the full schedule of MLB hobby releases.  Thirty-eight different products will find their way onto hobby shop shelves, and if shop owners have their way, into the hands of collectors.

I created the info graphic on the right as an easy to reference, easy to share resource to track what’s coming.  Feel free to save and share!

The Product Breakdown

The year seems to start at a manageable pace, with six releases coming out from January -  April.  Series 1, Heritage, and Bowman are three of the most popular releases every year, and collectors will have a month or more to recover between products.

However, from May -August things will get interesting for both shop owners and collectors.  Twenty-One different products will be released in a 17 week window, with several of them carrying a high price point.  With Bowman being the only April release, it is curious to me why Topps didn’t take the opportunity to bring a couple of those releases to the beginning of the season.

As the season begins to wind down, so will the product offerings.  September will have four releases, followed by three in October, two in November, and two in December.

Thirty-eight sure seems like a lot of products , and some collectors complain of market saturation, but it appears the hobby ecosystem is able to handle it.  Topps also shared they are predicting 15-20% revenue growth in 2019.  While WWE, Star Wars, and Soccer all contribute to that number, MLB makes the biggest contribution.

While the hobby appears to be alive and well, I wrote about a few ideas that I think could make it even stronger.

I am currently planning on buying sealed hobby boxes of nine of these products, and I’ll probably look to pick up a blaster or two of a couple others. 

I want to hear from you.  How may of these products do you plan on buying?  Let me know in the comments below!