New York Yankees first baseman Ben Rice has been one of the cooler stories in baseball so far this season.
Called up to replace the injured Anthony Rizzo on June 18, the 25-year-old recorded a hit in his debut and has batted .250 with 16 hits, five home runs and 14 RBI through 64 at-bats.
Rice’s time with the Yankees so far peaked when he delivered three home runs in a July 6 victory over the Red Sox. Since then, collectors have been flocking to his trading cards.
There's just one major problem: Rice doesn’t have many cards, and collectors have been massively overpaying for what there is.
Rice’s recent call-up means he never had a chance to appear in February's Topps Series 1 release or June’s Topps Series 2. An appearance in Topps Update later this year seems unlikely, and that doesn’t fix the immediate issue for fans wanting his cards now.
Unfortunately for collectors, Rice isn’t featured in prospect-focused sets from the Bowman lineup either. Before Rice’s debut, fans and hobbyists were limited to minor-league cards from his time with the Hudson Valley Renegades and Somerset Patriots.
Without a traditional rookie card to target, collectors have been buying Rice’s Topps NOW cards with volume.
Printed to demand during a limited release window, Rice’s first NOW card, celebrating a hit in his debut, has a total print run of 2,471. His second NOW card, which highlighted his three-homer game, has a print run of 10,850.
Originally sold for just $8.99, these cards have been selling for prices that will likely leave collectors feeling sour.
According to price tracking tool 130 Point, Rice’s first NOW card has sold on eBay for as much as $300 in recent days.
Numbered parallels have sold for even higher amounts, with an Orange /5 selling for $1,200, a Red /10 for $1,495, a Purple /25 for $1,000 and a Blue /49 for $500.
One factor at play could be bad actors pushing prices up through shilled auctions, though it appears plenty of misguided purchases have gone through as legitimate sales.
To be clear, there’s nothing wrong with buying Rice cards in general — collectors should buy the players they want, when they want. The problem here, however, is that Topps NOW cards have high print runs, don’t have a track record of long-term price stability, and they aren’t considered flagship rookie cards.
The window where Topps NOW cards hold value is extremely tight — most often when there are few other options available. The excitement following Rice’s three-homer game certainly fueled this price increase, but prices will eventually collapse as interest fades and new cards are introduced into the market.
Even Topps NOW releases for a hobby darling such as Victor Wembanyama don’t hold high value. Wembanyama’s Topps NOW #472 PSA 10 has sold more than 1,400 times over the last year, according to pricing tool Market Movers, but is currently trending around just $47.
To put these prices into further perspective, PSA 10 examples of Aaron Judge’s flagship Topps rookie — his 2017 Topps #287 Base — are currently trending around $100.
Topps NOW cards can be great additions to any collection at the right price, but Rice’s recent sales are far from that. Sellers of these cards certainly deserve to take a victory lap, though the buyers might be better served buying outside the hype cycle or waiting for a flagship release instead.
Ben Burrows is a reporter and editor for cllct.