Topps is expanding fans’ options for memorializing the best moments in baseball with its new Focus digital trading cards.
Fans have become accustomed to watching highlight videos of their favorite moments in MLB on platforms such as Twitter and YouTube. Topps Focus makes those moments collectable.
The Focus set had already been debuted in Topps’ WWE and NHL applications, and taking it to the baseball app, Topps Bunt, was a natural progression according to Topps Director of Mobile Production and Digital Editor-in-Chief, Chris Vaccaro.
“We saw how passionate our fans were about the video content in our hockey and wrestling apps,” Vaccaro explained. “It was a no-brainer to bring it to baseball. It provides a fresh, new element to an already-exciting digital trading card product.”
The first video card, which featured a bunt single by Chicago Cubs outfielder Kyle Schwarber straddling the third base line, was released free to users of the app. Since then, a second video card showing Toronto Blue Jays infielder Chris Coghlan hurdling St. Louis Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina has been released as well.
Future releases of the video inserts will occur as the Topps editorial team ultimately decides, but Vaccaro says that fans will have some voice in which moments get converted into a Focus card.
“All of our producers have editorial or journalistic backgrounds and are experts in the fields they are assigned to,” Vaccaro explained. “They make the decision on what the content will be. There’s definitely going to be a lot of room for social engagement and fan participation. Over the coming months, there will be opportunities for fans to let us know what they would like to see and have a say in which moments are chosen. It won’t be as frequent as Topps Now by design. We want to make Topps Focus a special and rare product. We want to be on a “front-page” space as far as our video content goes.”
As an official partner of both MLB and the MLBPA, Topps gets all of its high-quality video content from MLB Advanced Media. The innovation to the market is something that Topps is excited about, and Vaccaro says the product has gotten a great review so far.
“The fans are very excited that we continue to progress our platforms,” Vaccaro stated. “The fact that we can now offer fans video on top of the already-progressive digital trading card products is exciting for both consumers and our partners. Fans are heavily engaged with the product.”
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While the product’s release has been successful, Vaccaro thinks that Topps has only scratched the surface of the potential of incorporating video into its digital products.
“Every day is a new day as far as the digital products that we offer our fans goes,” Vaccaro elaborated. “There’s a lot more we can do to offer more video content across all of our platforms. There are so many ways to do video that we haven’t even thought of yet, much less implemented.”
Video highlights have become a vital part of social conversation surrounding sports. With Topps Focus, MLB fans now have those moments on their smart devices for posterity.