Conference Notebook: Topps plans plenty for reminder of 2019

Topps is wrapping up its second Industry Conference at the Talking Stick Resort in Scottsdale, Ariz., today, and the company revealed some of its plans for releases to come throughout the rest of this year.

The company's MLB lineup is relatively similar to recent years save for the return of Bowman Sterling, which is planned for an August release in place of Bowman Tek. It will be back with one auto and five base cards per pack and five packs per box. MLB products for the second half of the year include Diamond Icons, Archives Signature Series (both versions), Tribute, Topps Chrome Luminaries, Heritage High Number, Archives, Five Star, Gold Label, Bowman Chrome, Triple Threads, Heritage MiLB, High Tek, Topps Update, Dynasty, Transcendent, Bowman Draft and Bowman's Best. (Details on all of these will arrive with their First Buzz previews throughout the year right here on The Buzz.)

Possible Transcendent guests for Topps include Derek Jeter and Ken Griffey Jr., though nothing firm was announced yet. There are also plans for a Bowman Transcendent release beyond this year. Meanwhile, Topps National Baseball Card Day will return on Aug. 10 in participating hobby shops with teasers at baseball stadiums, MLB Network publicity and packs in shops. Holiday packs also will return late this year, while silver promo packs will continue through Topps Update.

The WWE side of things for Topps cardboard is getting a dramatic refresh with the show-specific Raw and Smackdown flagship releases being joined by a Summerslam set, a Money In The Bank set, another Women's Division release and a new take on NXT. Two hits per box with one autograph guaranteed will be the norm for most, while NXT moves to a 24-pack box ($2.50 per pack) with two autos per box instead of the one-per-pack format. MITB will carry the mini-box format with two hits per mini (three autos per master box).

Plans for UFC will include Topps Chrome, Museum Collection and UFC Knockout with similar formats to past years. Chrome will include two autos per box, Museum will include three (two autos, one Relic) and Knockout will be one auto and one Relic per pack. For MLS, there will be a new line called Back of the Net.

For Star Wars fans, there will be a Hobby-only Chrome Legacy set with the mini-box format and two hits per overall box as well as a Skywalker Saga box with one auto and one other hit per box. Joining them will be a Journey to Episode IX (also one auto or sketch among two hits) and another go at Masterwork which will have a hit per pack and two autos per box. That one will include costume Relics, which aren't easy finds in Star Wars stuff. Stellar Signatures will get another go as well with some new inclusions that include jumbo sketch cards.

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