Last week, Topps released another year of Dynasty, which might be one of the best singles buying products out there. It also extends the “one card box” format further, as we have seen become a trend with Topps baseball products. The difference here is that Dynasty is one of the only super-premium (borderline ultra premium) product that uses this format, and comes out to be more than Flawless when the configuration is extended to that size.

Even with the pricing, it sure does deliver when you hit it big, as we can see:

2017 Topps Dynasty Derek Jeter MLB Logo Auto 1/1

2017 Topps Dynasty Aaron Judge All Star Game Logo Auto /5

2017 Topps Dynasty Mike Trout Angels Logo Patch Auto 3/5

2017 Topps Dynasty Floyd Mayweather Logo Patch Auto 3/5

2017 Topps Dynasty Jose Altuve Astros Logo Auto 2/5

2017 Topps Dynasty Andrew Benentendi Ortiz Commemorative Logo Auto /5

Dynasty produces cards that are almost unavailable in any other product, much like a product of this sort should. It has the craziest patches, a great checklist, and collectors seem to have latched onto the secondary market potential. Problem is, with one card per box, and a checklist that has its share of duds, it is very tough for collectors to justify ripping in small batches. This product is built for the case buy, and that’s not even to support the group breakers. Without a lot of hits, this type of format doesnt even bode well there, other than generating eye candy to put on their instagram page.

This begs the question of whether or not this format is a sustainable experience for Topps’ loyal consumers, or if this is just another brick in the wall of why the industry is headed in the wrong direction. Can you build a super-premium product that doesnt lend itself to casual buyers, group breakers and 99% of the hobby who wont spend 275 bucks on a slot machine handle pull? I want to say no, but here we are with another year of the product.

Im not complaining that it exists in the slightest, as the youtube breaks provide amazing amounts of entertainment. I dont have to sit through the breakers slow slide 15 cards per case, and shout terrible fucking catchphrases for an hour, its literally 5 boxes and 5 cards that I can easily fast forward through. That is gold, people. GOLD!

The desire to better understand the direction of the hobby these days is growing by the moment, as its clear the industry is trying to land with nontraditional configurations to see what sticks. Adding in that baseball is over for the year, Judge and Bellinger have already gotten their ROY trophies, and pitchers dont report to Spring Training for 4 months, im curious how this stuff is going to work.

We also got word that Transcendent is back for another year too, which further complicates the direction Topps is trying to go with baseball. Do they continue down the super and ultra premium path in Baseball despite historic troubles with any high end product not named Triple Threads (ugh)? At some point, someone is going to have to answer that question, as its clear that some of their risks have paid off, especially when you note how many set collectors still exist in baseball.

Either way, I love me some Dynasty, but cant get these major questions out of my mind as I cant help but enjoy the card porn.