Editing Topps (section)

===Topps Digital===
In 2012, Topps began creating digital sports cards, starting with the Topps Bunt baseball card mobile app.<ref>{{cite web|last1=|title=Topps Bunt History|url=https://www.carddugout.com/blog/history-of-topps-bunt/|website=CardDugout.com|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150708232721/https://www.carddugout.com/blog/history-of-topps-bunt/|archive-date=July 8, 2015|df=mdy-all}}</ref> After releasing Bunt in 2013 and finding success with it,<ref>{{cite press release |title=Topps Launches BUNT® 2014, Fueling Growth of Digital Collecting |url=https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/topps-launches-bunt-2014-fueling-growth-of-digital-collecting-252656591.html |website=PRNewswire |publisher=PRNewswire |access-date=4 December 2020}}</ref> they expanded their sports card market into other apps including the Kick soccer app in August 2014, Huddle Football app in April 2016, and Skate hockey app in 2017.

Along with sports cards, Topps also expanded its marketplace for collectors of digital goods to include non-sports cards on mobile devices. In March 2015, they released their ''[[Star Wars trading card|Star Wars Card Trader]]'' app, and in May 2016 they released a [[Walking Dead (TV series)|Walking Dead]] trading card app. Following the success of their assortment of digital trading card apps, they once again expanded their marketplace for digital collectors a few years later, releasing a [[Marvel Comics|Marvel]] trading card app in the spring of 2019 and their [[Disney]] trading card app in November of that same year.

In March 2020, Topps announced a collaboration with WAX.io to make their cards tradable on the [[blockchain]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://toppsgpk.io/|title=Topps GPK 2021 Food Fight! Collectibles on WAX|website=toppsgpk.io}}</ref> {{asof|December 2020|post=,}} Topps has only made [[Garbage Pail Kids#35th Anniversary Blockchain Series|Garbage Pail Kids]] cards available to traders via blockchain but they have announced [[Alien (franchise)|Alien]] Quadrilogy collectibles will be coming soon.<ref>{{cite web |title=Alien Quadrilogy Blockchain Collectibles - Topps |url=https://play.toppsapps.com/app/alien-nft |website=ToppsApps |access-date=4 December 2020}}</ref>

In April 2021, Topps announced plans to go public via a merger with [[Mudrick Capital Management|Mudrick Capital Acquisition Corporation II]], a publicly traded [[Special-purpose acquisition company|special purpose acquisition company (SPAC)]]. Michael Eisner's firm [[The Tornante Company]] planned to roll its stake into the new company while Mudrick Capital would lead an additional investment of $250 million. The deal valued Topps at $1.3 billion.<ref name="lucas">Amelia Lucas, [https://www.cnbc.com/2021/04/06/baseball-card-company-topps-to-go-public-through-spac-deal.html "Topps to go public through SPAC deal as baseball card company ventures into NFTs,"] CNBC.com, April 6, 2021.</ref> However, reports surfaced within six months of their initial plans that Mudrick Capital Management had backed out of the investment deal.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Mangan |first1=Dan |title=Topps SPAC merger with Mudrick Capital dies because MLB killed 70-year-old trading card deal |url=https://www.cnbc.com/2021/08/20/topps-spac-merger-with-mudrick-is-dead-because-of-mlb-trading-card-deal.html |website=CNBC |access-date=1 September 2021 |language=en |date=20 August 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Topps Mulls Options Amid Claims MLB Fanatics Deal Done in Secret |url=https://sports.yahoo.com/topps-mulls-options-amid-claims-040109785.html |website=sports.yahoo.com |date=August 23, 2021 |access-date=1 September 2021}}</ref>

In August 2021, it was reported that [[Fanatics (sports retailer)|Fanatics]] acquired future exclusive licenses with Major League Baseball and the MLB Players Association to produce baseball cards.<ref name="Hajducky">Dan Hajducky, [https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/32052284/fanatics-strikes-deal-become-exclusive-licensee-mlb-cards "Fanatics strikes deal to become exclusive licensee for MLB cards,"] ESPN.com, August 19, 2021.</ref> In January 2022, Fanatics announced they had acquired Topps for US$500 million.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|last=Young|first=Jabari|date=2022-01-04|title=Fanatics acquires Topps trading cards for $500 million|url=https://www.cnbc.com/2022/01/04/fanatics-acquires-topps-trading-cards.html|access-date=2022-01-04|website=CNBC|language=en}}</ref>