Topps Refuses To Acknowledge Their Own Card! | What Are Comps?? | & More Sports Card News!

In this episode of "Clearing the Bases," the host covers a slow news week in sports cards, beginning with a strange aggressive comment from a viewer. The episode then dives into several key topics: First, a heated debate on Hobby Twitter about whether shipping and commission costs should be included in stated card prices—with the host initially saying $100 for a $113.67 total purchase but evolving toward including all costs. Second, a case involving former Upper Deck assistant card issuing manager Edward Fronczak who pleaded guilty to stealing cards worth at least $500,000 and received 18 months supervised probation. Third, PSA's certification queue decreased by 800,000 cards in two weeks (from 9M to 8.2M), suggesting they still receive approximately 800,000 high-value cards monthly despite inflated prices. A major controversy featured Topps refusing to authenticate one of their own cards—a 2026 Bowman Chrome superfractor variant pulled from a hobby box that doesn't appear on the official checklist. When customer support was contacted, Topps stated they could only confirm documented cards and refused to validate the variant, suggesting collectors get it graded independently. The host criticizes this response, questioning Topps' purpose if they cannot authenticate their own products. The episode also covers multiple grading and authenticity issues: PSA reactivating a Barry Bonds PSA 10 card that had uneven edges after community reports, an MBA (autograph authentication) gold diamond on a card with unconfirmed authenticity, and a 1952 Willie Mays card with an MBA certificate that doesn't exist in their verification system. High-value sales highlighted include a $1.7M Steph Curry 2012 Panini Prizm gold PSA 10 card (most expensive public Curry sale), a $1.1M Kobe Bryant BGS 9.5 gold Prizm, and a $1.25M Lionel Messi 2026 Prizm card. The host also discusses eBay's mysterious purchase limits that one collector encountered, damaged Topps Chrome blue refractors sent as replacements on different paper stock, and an AI-generated autograph that altered Tim Kurkjan's signature to "Bernie." The episode concludes with various noteworthy auction items including vintage cards, memorabilia, and an observation that breaking (splitting cases to minimize individual losses) is "a way to split a $1,000 loss between 30 people so no one realizes how bad it was."