SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...

I’m going to change up the format of my Digital Dabblings Posts. From now on I’ll only do a What’s New once a month to cover the previous month’s worth of releases, and I’ll post that during the first week of the next month. So this edition will focus on Slam in the month of August. The Retro-Insert Set Reviews probably won’t come back unless there’s a huge outpouring of support, in which case I’ll continue next time.

What’s New August 2017

New Sets:

Victory Wave 3

Boom Studios Comic Covers

WCW (Marathon)

Triptychs (Marathon)

Five Star Wave 2

Color Surge

SummerSlam

Signature Series

VIP Only Dolph Ziggler Red

Inserts

Sunday Showcase Trish Stratus, Roman Reigns

Live Signatures Goldberg, Shinsuke Nakamura

Seth Rollins Kingslayer One-Off Insert

New Insert Set – Color Surge (two variations)

Samoa Joe Asuka Razor Ramon Big Show Cedric Alexander Naomi Shinsuke Nakamura

Award – Alexa Bliss

New Insert Set – Boom Studios Comic Covers

Dean Ambrose Stone Cold Steve Austin Roman Reigns The rock Seth Rollins Undertaker Triple H

New Insert Set – Victory Wave 3 (two variations, regular and VIP)

Stone Cold Steve Austin Brie Bella Jake the Snake Roberts Kalisto Mark Henry Nikki Cross No Way Jose Apollo Crews

Award – Shawn Michaels

Base Variants

Lime Green Subscription Incentive Seth Rollins

Purple Miz, Dean Ambrose, Ember Moon, Stone Cold Steve Austin, Natalya, Lince Dorado

Gold Rush Lana, Batista

Marathons

WCW #1-3, Award – Wolfpac Sting, Macho Man Randy Savage, Lex Luger, Diamond Dallas Page

PPV Logos #3, Award, 4, 5 – Night of Champions, Summerslam 94, Extreme Rules, Roadblock

Archives 14,15, Award – Rowdy Roddy Piper, Jake the Snake Roberts, Trish Stratus

Triptychs #1-3, Award – Shawn Michaels, Akira Towzawa, Roman Reigns, edge







SummerSlam

Key Art Poster

SummerSlam Classics set of 7 + Award

Rock v. Brock Lesnar Dual Signature

Summerslam/NXT Brooklyn III Base Set (5 variations), Sig Set (5), Matchups (9), Predictors, Poster

Topps Now







Five Star Wave 2

Base Set (5 variations)

Signature Set (2 variations)

Set of Jericho Part 2 (5 cards)

Samoa Joe Insert

August was a huge month for Topps Slam in many ways. I do believe that there was more content released in August than any other month in the apps history. Not only did we get a major tent-pole PPV set (SummerSlam), but we got a huge new insert set in 5 Star.

The first wave of Five Star hit during the opening of August and the second just last week. While the first set of signatures was pretty much “ho-hum” the second was much better with the inclusion of the uber-popular Finn Balor and first sigs of Alexander Wolfe, Jerry the King Lawler, Batista, Big Show and Darren Young. The Finn signature has the possibility of hitting elite level quite quickly as it’s sold for as much as $70, though it’s more commonly sold for between $30 and $50.







The SummerSlam set was massively large and contained something for everyone. In Typical Topps manner, all the best content was only available in diamond packs rather than coin packs, and you can expect this to be the paradigm going forward. If you want the best content you’ll have to buy diamonds. I still say that five full variants on the base and signature set was one too many, though it is nice to see that the highest tier (purple) was a 500cc limited edition for base and 50cc for signatures. The 5 card signature set consisted of three dual WWE cards (Bray/Finn, Jinder/Shinsuke, Naomi/Natalya) and two single NXTers (Bobby Roode & Asuka). The award for all five signatures in a variant was a quad sig of the Universal Championship participants. Purple sigs run $15-25 currently.

The rest of the SummerSlam content included an 8 card Classics set released a day before the main set, a 9 card matchup set, a special one-off/two variant Brock Lesnar/The Rock signature card which sold out in minutes and the gold version is nearing elite level value due to it being 50cc. Two posters were also released, one before and one after the event.





With the recent release of Color Surge the player base has been experiencing instant pack sell-outs, something that has plagued other Topps Apps in the past but never really occurred with regularity here. It might have something to do with Alexa Bliss being the award. Alexa’s in-app popularity has reached epic proportions, and her fan-boys will stop at nothing from obtaining her cards. The 1000cc Lime Greens were extremely difficult to pull without multiple pack purchases, and since every pack had a guaranteed Purple (7000cc) variant, the Purple cards were in extreme short supply, with some players having dozens of copies. Trying to trade for these has proven to be somewhat difficult.







Topps Now

This “living set” is an offshoot of Topps popular print on demand program. Ironically the card count in game is usually 5 to 10 times higher than the actual in print cards. Being available for direct purchase (at $9.99 per card originally, and now the equivalent of diamonds) and with long-odds in coin packs, NOW are some of the most popular cards in the game.

The way it works is pretty simple, after each PPV a selection of at least 5 cards commemorating the matches just held are released. Occasionally they will issue one or more cards when something special happens on either of the WWE’s flagship shows Raw and Smackdown Live.

The digital version is slightly different than the in-print version, and several in-print cards have never been issued in the game, sadly the second Finn Balor Now is one of them.







Older Now cards have a much higher value and tradability than the most recent issues. Finn Balor’s only card #2 from SummerSlam 2016 goes for $13-18. Becky Lynch’ #7 from Backlash has gone for as much as $17, while her only other single card #63 from Elimination Chamber maxes at $7. Alexa Bliss has 4 different cards so far with her first from TLC #38 is about $15, her second from Raw #85 goes for $4-9. Her third from Payback #91 is stabilized between $5-6 and her most recent from Extreme Rules #102 is $4-6.

The most expensive cards in the set are obviously the 25cc Mat Relics, with Sasha Banks SummerSlam 25cc topping the charts. This card will be very difficult to obtain as one player has amassed at least a dozen of them already. One sale on eBay for the Sasha went for $125! The other Mat Relics run between $40 and $60, but sales on them are very few and far between.

Recently NOW sets have not been holding their values. SummerSlam/NXT Brooklyn singles are barely commanding $1-2 on the secondary market, while most cards from 2017 are solidly $2-3. 2016 Now are on average $4-6, with the usual caveats. BTW the performer with the most NOW cards? Kevin Owens with EIGHT!

Notice there are several issues with the checklist printed below, notably there is no card #42 and two #40s. The checklist skips from 79 to 85, with 4 printed cards never making it to the game. The NXT cards are also sloppily numbered skipping several numbers and not coming up with a consistent numbering scheme for several sets.







Current Topps Now Checklist

Card # Performer CC Event Notes 1 Brock Lesnar 604 SummerSlam 2016 2 Finn Balor 675 SummerSlam 2016 3 Dean Ambrose 638 SummerSlam 2016 4 Charlotte Flair 613 SummerSlam 2016 5 AJ Styles 687 SummerSlam 2016 6 AJ Styles 528 Backlash 7 Becky Lynch 499 Backlash 8 Heath Slater & Rhyno 465 Backlash 9 Kane 405 Backlash 10 The Miz 422 Backlash 11 Kevin Owens 390 Clash of Champions 12 The New Day 322 Clash of Champions 13 Charlotte Flair 417 Clash of Champions 14 Roman Reigns 406 Clash of Champions 15 Chris Jericho 328 Clash of Champions 16 AJ Styles 291 No Mercy 17 Dolph Ziggler 271 No Mercy 18 Naomi 277 No Mercy 19 Nikki Bella 290 No Mercy 20 Heath Slater & Rhyno 273 No Mercy 21 Bray Wyatt 296 No Mercy 22 Goldberg 996 RAW (One off card) 23 Kevin Owens 409 Hell in a Cell 24 Charlotte Flair 449 Hell in a Cell 25 Roman Reigns 407 Hell in a Cell 26 The New Day 415 Hell in a Cell 27 Brian Kendrick 347 Hell in a Cell 28 The Miz 346 Smackdown Live #900 29 Edge 319 Smackdown Live #900 30 Undertaker 332 Smackdown Live #900 31 Goldberg 149 Survivor Series 32 Team SMACKDOWN Men 161 Survivor Series 33 Team RAW Women 158 Survivor Series 34 Team RAW Tag Teams 163 Survivor Series 35 The Brian Kendrick 174 Survivor Series 36 The Miz 166 Survivor Series 37 AJ Styles 333 TLC 38 Alexa Bliss 410 TLC 39 The Miz 209 TLC 40 Nikki Bella 257 TLC (there are two card #40s and no #42) 40 Randy Orton & Bray Wyatt 248 This should be card #42 41 Baron Corbin 233 TLC 43-A Kevin Owens 182 Roadblock 44 Cesaro & Sheamus 178 Roadblock 45 Sami Zayn 173 Roadblock 46 Seth Rollins 195 Roadblock 47 Rich Swann 168 Roadblock 48 Charlotte Flair 236 Roadblock 48-B Charlotte Flair 25 Roadblock Mat relic 49 Naomi, Nikki Bella & Becky Lynch 540 Royal Rumble 50 Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson 484 Royal Rumble 51 Charlotte Flair 492 Royal Rumble 52 Kevin Owens 490 Royal Rumble 53 Neville 460 Royal Rumble 54-A John Cena 482 Royal Rumble 54-B John Cena 25 Royal Rumble Mat relic 55 Goldberg 477 Royal Rumble 56 Randy Orton 487 Royal Rumble 56-B Randy Orton 25 Royal Rumble Mat relic 57 Nia Jax 439 Royal Rumble 58 Bray Wyatt 499 Elimination Chamber 59 Naomi 492 Elimination Chamber 60 Randy Orton 498 Elimination Chamber 61 Nikki Bella & Natalya 504 Elimination Chamber 62 American Alpha 455 Elimination Chamber 63 Becky Lynch 477 Elimination Chamber 64 Bayley 518 Raw (One off card) 65 Goldberg 519 Fastlane 66 Bayley 553 Fastlane 67 Roman Reigns 504 Fastlane 68 Neville 484 Fastlane 69 Sasha Banks 560 Fastlane 70 Gallows & Anderson 487 Fastlane 71 Samoa Joe 514 Fastlane 72 Undertaker 805 Wrestlemania 72-A Undertaker 25 Wrestlemania Mat relic 73 Naomi 678 Wrestlemania 74 Goldberg 661 Wrestlemania 74-A Goldberg 25 Wrestlemania Mat relic 75 Randy Orton 673 Wrestlemania 75-A Randy Orton 25 Wrestlemania Mat relic 76 John Cena 711 Wrestlemania 76-A John Cena 25 Wrestlemania Mat relic 77 Hardy Boyz 862 Wrestlemania First Card 78 Bayley 682 Wrestlemania 79 Kevin Owens 682 Wrestlemania 84 Dean Ambrose 873 RAW 85 Alexa Bliss 963 RAW 86 Kevin Owens 854 Smackdown Live 87 Charlotte Flair 828 Smackdown Live 88 Braun Strowman 692 Payback 89 Bray Wyatt 671 Payback 90 Seth Rollins 755 Payback 91 Alexa Bliss 907 Payback 92 Hardy Boyz 715 Payback 93 Chris Jericho 648 Payback 94 Shinsuke Nakamura 472 Backlash 95 The Usos 445 Backlash 96 Sami Zayn 452 Backlash 97 Nataya, Carmella & Tamina 426 Backlash 98 Kevin Owens 417 Backlash 99 Jinder Mahal 465 Backlash 100 The Miz 934 Extreme Rules 101 Sasha Banks & Rich Swann 922 Extreme Rules 102 Alexa Bliss 1,143 Extreme Rules 103 Cesaro & Sheamus 908 Extreme Rules 104 Neville 910 Extreme Rules 105 Samoa Joe 949 Extreme Rules 106 Carmella 1,015 Money in the Bank 107 The Usos 924 Money in the Bank 108 Naomi 971 Money in the Bank 109 Jinder Mahal 942 Money in the Bank 110 Baron Corbin 992 Money in the Bank 111 Brock Lesnar 669 Great Balls of Fire 112 Braun Strowman 665 Great Balls of Fire 113 The Miz 603 Great Balls of Fire 114 Sasha Banks 797 Great Balls of Fire 115 Cesaro & Sheamus 613 Great Balls of Fire 116 Big Cass 569 Great Balls of Fire 117 Bray Wyatt 612 Great Balls of Fire 118 Neville 662 Great Balls of Fire 119 Jinder Mahal 628 Battleground 120 The New Day 629 Battleground 121 John Cena 659 Battleground 122 Kevin Owens 603 Battleground 123 Natalya 659 Battleground 124 Baron Corbin 614 Battleground 125 Triple H & Stephanie McMahon 1,275 Summerslam 2017 Connor’s Cure 126 Natalya 1,331 Summerslam 2017 127 Sasha Banks 1,443 Summerslam 2017 127-B Sasha Banks 1 Summerslam 2017 Gold Mat Relic 127-R Sasha Banks 25 Summerslam 2017 Mat Relic 128 Dean Ambrose & Seth Rolllins 1,370 Summerslam 2017 128-B Dean Ambrose & Seth Rolllins 1 Summerslam 2017 Gold Mat Relic 128-R Dean Ambrose & Seth Rolllins 25 Summerslam 2017 Mat Relic 129 AJ Styles 1,341 Summerslam 2017 130 Jinder Mahal 1,315 Summerslam 2017 131 Brock Lesnar 1,311 Summerslam 2017 131-B Brock Lesnar 1 Summerslam 2017 Gold Mat Relic 131-R Brock Lesnar 25 Summerslam 2017 Mat Relic NXT-01 Samoa Joe 231 Takeover Toronto NXT-02 Asuka 276 Takeover Toronto NXT-03 #DIY 217 Takeover Toronto NXT-04 Authors of Pain 232 Takeover Toronto NXT-05 Bobby Roode 244 Takeover Toronto 7 Eric Young 312 Takeover San Antonio 8 Roderick Strong 324 Takeover San Antonio 9 Authors of Pain 309 Takeover San Antonio 10 Asuka 366 Takeover San Antonio 11 Bobby Roode 328 Takeover San Antonio 12 Seth Rollins 337 Takeover San Antonio 4-B Asuka 25 Takeover San Antonio Mat relic 5-C Bobby Roode 25 Takeover San Antonio Mat relic 7 Bobby Roode 715 Takeover Orlando 8 Asuka 697 Takeover Orlando 14 Roderick Strong 261 Takeover Chicago 15 Asuka 325 Takeover Chicago 16 Bobby Roode 291 Takeover Chicago 17 Authors of Pain 271 Takeover Chicago 18 Tommaso Ciampa 292 Takeover Chicago 20 Sanity 1,346 Takeover Brooklyn III 21 Asuka 1,370 Takeover Brooklyn III 22 Drew McIntyre 1,239 Takeover Brooklyn III 23 Adam Cole 1,287 Takeover Brooklyn III First Card 81 Finn Balor 0 RAW Does not exist in App, Print Only 83 Shinsuke Nakamura 0 Smackdown Live Does not exist in App, Print Only 80 The Revival 0 RAW Does not exist in App, Print Only 82 Tye Dillinger 0 Smackdown Live Does not exist in App, Print Only

Don’t forget you can find me in game at GRENDELSEN, and I’m always happy to trade or answer any questions you might have. Leave questions or concerns here and I’ll see you next time. I still need 9 more NXT Orange base.