Hobby U : An education on Buyback card history

After both Shohei Ohtani and Aaron Judge were named MVP this year, collectors began flocking to their hobby shops to partake in the Topps MVP Buyback program. In this Topps' program, collectors can receive anywhere from $20 in credit for a base card of one of the MVPs, to up to $200 in credit for numbered or special refractor examples of the MVP winners. This is just the latest iteration of 'Buybacks,' in the hobby, it certainly isn't the first and won't be the last.

The first buybacks were introduced by Topps in 1991, when the company decided to celebrate its 40th anniversary by randomly inserting cards from the previous forty years into packs. Although most collectors swear on never finding anything of value, this may be urban legend. Topps claimed that the oversized cards of the 50s for example were issued as redemptions, as were at least one card each from their first original 1951 Red Backs and Blue Backs sets. The buybacks in 1991 weren't stamped, so there was nothing special to signify that these cards were 'buybacks' and came out of 1991 packs rather than the year they were issued. This could be another reason many of these original buybacks became lost in the shuffle and the thing of legend. If you've never seen the original Topps 1951 sets, they are gorgeous and well worth checking out.

Duke Snider, Topps Red Back | Cardladder

In the late 90s, Upper Deck's SP Authentic brand introduced the 'Buyback auto' into the hobby. They took cards from the 1998 set, and re-released them the following year, autographed, and hand numbered (by an Upper Deck employee - not the player presumably). They came with a special UDA sticker on the card and a matching Certificate of Authenticity card to go with it. For hardcore collectors, the COA is extremely important and desirable, even more than a PSA slab for these cards. Upper Deck continued this practice with multiple brands in the early 2000s, most notably with higher end Ultimate Collection.

Along the way, a funny thing happened. Some collectors developed a disdain for these types of buybacks. Though they are still meet the holy hobby litmus test of being 'pack pulled,' some collectors viewed these cards as inferior, or gimmicky. Due to this, it is still possible to find more affordable autograph examples of your favorite players, as a small but significant portion of the hobby is buyback averse. Furthermore, the number of buybacks is far beyond what meets the eye, so don't be surprised to see one of your favorite early aughts players have licensed, numbered autograph cards that you've never seen or heard of before.

Meanwhile, in 2001, Donruss introduced their own buybacks; these were graded by BGS, and were older Donruss cards slabbed up with the moniker "2001 Donruss Anniv. Originals." A special few even hit rare autographs of these best of the best Donruss cards, though they are extremely rare.

Donruss buyback — Dwight Gooden Donruss Recollection Auto | Cardladder

Around 2015-16, Upper Deck introduced buybacks to hockey, with their Buybacks specific set which contained one buyback autograph in every pack, mainly consisting of rookies. This became a huge hit in the hockey world, as Upper Deck had already acquired the O-Pee-Chee licensing in 2007, giving them many more years and cards to work with. In 2019-20, Upper Deck went so far as to release a set all around buybacks, with each box containing only two cards, one a buyback. Some special examples were autographed, but this set revealed just how popular some buybacks had become in the hockey world.

Though buybacks have slowly increased in popularity and ubiquity, it still seems that they are misunderstood and fly a little under the radar. This is a prime opportunity for savvy collectors who don't mind the 'buyback' designation to find deals on their favorite players' cards and autographs, and of course you can also currently cash in on your Shohei and Judge base cards.