On Monday, Topps announced that a special insert would be included in the upcoming 2025 Topps Series One baseball release. A Paul Skenes “follow back” redemption.
…what?
Check out the tweet below:
𝐅𝐈𝐑𝐒𝐓 𝐋𝐎𝐎𝐊: Paul Skenes has agreed to follow the collector who pulls this card.
— Topps (@Topps) January 27, 2025
This card is in 2025 Topps Series One. pic.twitter.com/6kd3DNmgLU
So, the “lucky” collector who pulls the Paul Skenes Follow Back redemption will receive a follow on social media. As you’d imagine, this didn’t get a positive buzz on social media. The reaction to this news was not what Topps was expecting.
In the past, I think Topps has done some fun gimmicks. The Tom Brady Expos card that was inserted into the 2023 Bowman Draft set quickly comes to mind. For me, that’s an extremely desirable card of one of the greatest football players of all time, in a baseball uniform and autographed. Years from now, these cards will still have value and be wanted by collectors alike.
This “follow back” redemption, to me, is silly. I hope that a younger collector nabs this and gets the elusive follow from Skenes. But, this is also setting up for disaster. Skenes isn’t exactly active on social media. On Instagram, Skenes last posted on March 27, 2024. On X (Twitter, whatever you want to call it), Skenes retweets things once in a while. But, the last time he did that was July 13, 2024. So even IF a young collector pulls this card, it’s not as if Skenes will be interacting with this fan much. Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure a young collector would be thrilled to have the follow but that novelty will wear out quickly. I imagine this poor kid throwing @Paul_Skenes tweets and DMs for them to just go unnoticed. If we’re being honest, while the “hobby” was always geared toward kids, it’s an adult-dominated business.
This isn’t a knock on Skenes either. The man isn’t a big social media guy and that’s fine! It can be extremely toxic and as someone as high profile as he’s become, he’s better off suppressing the noise. He isn’t the only one that’ll have these cards. Players like Ken Griffey Jr, Juan Soto and others are included on this inserts checklist. Topps, for now, is using the Skenes name to help push this gimmick.
These types of redemptions aren’t new. They originally were based in the “Big League” hobby boxes, which were geared towards kids. They were PERFECT for young collectors, as a “hobby box” is priced around $30. While you weren’t guaranteed an auto, it was a fantastic way for young collectors to rip a “hobby box” without breaking the bank. Trust me, breakers and resellers weren’t cracking open cases of “Big League” and selling off teams. To me, this was such a great way to not price out the younger generation. But now, we’re bringing one of their gimmicks to the mainstream boxes.
The 2025 Topps Series One set is going to be weak. After the flurry of product with Skenes headlining the rookie class, this set doesn’t have the star power. Dylan Crews and James Wood, both of the Nationals, will be the headliners. These are two highly touted prospects that saw some action in the majors last season. But, they won’t garner the buzz Skenes did.
In conclusion, I’m hoping some kid gets lucky and pulls this. Otherwise, I’m very much looking forward to how much this card is sold for on eBay, just so you can see the notification saying “Paul_Skenes is now following you!”
Yay.
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