There’s Money in Topps Rip Cards…Literally

Collectors love to rip open new packs of cards. Will they dare rip open the card itself? Topps is hoping to tempt some of them with one of its upcoming products.

Topps Treasury Basketball, which will go live the week of Sept. 29, will offer one autographed card and one Rip card in every 18-pack box. The Rip cards bring back the card-within-a-card concept that has been tried a few times in the hobby in the past, but this time Topps is upping the ante by offering some very tempting possibilities within the Rip card.

The exterior of the Rip cards feature one of 50 players, with each card sequentially numbered. The same 50 players will appear on mini-cards within the Rip card. Exterior and interior cards are also offered in four levels of parallels, numbered to as few as 10. Autograph mini-cards and one-of-one mini-cards featuring the NBA logoman patch are also available.

There will be no debating the value of the other insert cards titled, “They’re Money.” Actual $10, $20, $50, $100, $500 and $1,000 bills will be inserted into the Rip cards. A total of 429 cards will contain some form of cash.

The Topps Treasure base set features 100 players and 20 rookies. Each of the top 10 selections from the 2008 NBA Draft are among the rookies who have signed cards for the set. Each five-card pack carries a $5 suggested retail price.