The universe of card collecting has forever been tainted by whispers of rigged distributions and favoured allocations. In an attempt to put these murmurs to bed, Fanatics/Topps recently assigned KPMG, one of the Big Four auditing firms, to carry out an extensive assessment of their card distribution protocol. The aim was straightforward – prove or disprove the suspicion of bias in issuing high-value cards and reaffirm their commitment to unbiased and random distribution.
The move was announced at the Industry Conference in Atlanta by Mike Mahan, CEO of Fanatics Collectibles. The announcement followed several months of painstaking scrutiny from KPMG, which concluded that Fanatics/Topps distribution methods effectively preclude any deliberate distribution of high-value cards to certain customers.
Speculation on biased distributions within the collectors’ community has been a heated topic for a while. Large volume customers or infamous breakers were presumed to be silently favored. Fueling this suspicion were numerous social media videos, where breakers were seen pulling multiple high-value cards from their packs. Greg Abovsky, CFO of Fanatics Collectibles, was quick to jump to defense, attributing the trend to the sheer volume of cards the major breakers dealt with, negating any manipulation conjecture.
Behind the scenes of the audit was a thorough examination of the collation process and production logs at the Texas printing facility, the birthplace of these coveted cards. KPMG sought to verify that the distribution process is truly random and authentic as Topps maintains it to be. This strategy, a premier in the industry, is Fanatics’ transparency initiative aimed at shattering myths and restoring faith in their distribution framework.
But the auditors were far from finished. Another bubbling suspicion was directly addressed – the infamous ‘seeded boxes’ theory. There was a belief among collectors, that Fanatics intentionally planted valuable cards in boxes for promotional purposes. Abovsky categorically denied this theory, reinforcing the commitment to a fair process.
With the audit clearing the air and their reputation, Fanatics plans to make this audit an annual fixture. Empowering the collectors with the knowledge of an unbiased system, and the commitment to regular audits from a globally renowned firm, Fanatics is rewriting the narrative of transparency in the card collector community, one card at a time. It’s akin to holding out a royal flush openly – confident, assured, and irrefutable. Here’s to hoping other players in the industry pick a card from their deck. After all, in this game of high stakes, trust is as valuable as the rarest of cards.
