The Skuttlebutt Podcast

"WhAt CaPe PeRsOn WoUlD yOu PuT iN tHiS sCeNaRiO?!" and other riveting questions have been asked of us every week for the past two months or so.  Not that 90% of the people actually read them.  They just comment "hi" or "." and get their 10k coins and move on.  Most of the questions are lukewarm things you'd ask a grade schooler to act out using action figures.  Where are the questions we want to hear?  Questions like "If we released seriously limited cards, would you pay $3 a pack for a 1:30 chance of pulling one?" or "If you could use triple the number of cards in a fusion, but were guaranteed to get one that you didn't have yet, would you do it?"  Things app-related, not MCU or Comic related.  While this app and Marvel are heavily revolving around the MCU and Comics, the people in the app care more about the app, their collection, and what hope there is for the future of their investment.  Instead, they want to know what two superheroes would you pair up and what would you call them.  Nobody cares, not even Topps themselves, about the answer you give.  It's just an attempt to appear as if they're adding a new feature.

Besides discussing the routine schedule of releases in the app with almost zero interruption with anything new or exciting, we try to figure out what cards from the last 18 months will hold long-term value.  It's a very challenging segment.  After listening to the episode, let us know: What cards from March 2020 - October 2021 do YOU think will hold lasting value?

As always, if you have anything you want to share with us or be read on the podcast, email us at [email protected] or Tweet us @SkuttlePC!

This time last year, and the month or two leading up to it, we were eagerly anticipating 2020 Base Series 2.  We watched all of the other apps get their Series 2, and we were wondering when Marvel would get theirs.  We talked about it for a few episodes in a row, until it finally arrived.  Fast forward to this summer, and we never even thought or cared about a 2021 Base Series 2.  It just kind of, showed up.  Not an ounce of anticipation.  The community wasn't asking for it, but it did happen.  Right in the middle of everyone working on their Rust, Steel, and Gold Fusions, Topps doubled the number of those cards, which will continue to rip Common cards to shreds.  It really goes to show that without a system like Monuments, base doesn't really matter in this app except to true hoarders and character collectors.

Besides that, we got the timeline feature, which is a fun and creative idea for sharing your needs or accomplishments with a smaller group of followers.  Except Topps then shot themselves in the foot by making posts only appear if you and the other trader both follow one another.  Imagine if Twitter required this for you to see someone's content.  So close.  We'll see if they adjust this in the future.

While we did get some nice content for Shang-Chi, King in Black Volume 2, and a new Deadpool set, the same flow of content happens week by week, and we're hoping to see something really shake up the app sometime soon.  The What If...? content is a nice change of pace, but it's such a small amount of content for each episode, it barely gets noticed.

All of this and much more in this week's/month's episode of the Skuttlebutt Podcast!

As always, if you have anything you want to share with us or be read on the podcast, email us at [email protected] or Tweet us @SkuttlePC!

Well, it's been over a month, and a lot of things have come and gone in the app, but was any of it memorable?  Another crafting set, a bunch of collections with epics that most of us have forgotten already, and the usual weekly sets.  The Black Widow Premiere Collection was pretty great, but then they stumbled with the Standoff printing collection.

Let's talk printing sets.  Up until this set, the same rules always applied: First were 250cc capped, Second were 750cc capped, at the very least.  Now they lowered first prints to 100cc, made second unlimited, then limited the third prints to 500cc.  Our guess is that the last printing set, the Swordsmanship one, was such a flop that Topps came out of that thinking that lowering the CC cap was the answer.  But then they removed awards from all printing sets in this collection.  So to a surprise to all, they aren't even close to the 100 cap.

We also are getting daily tickets all through August, to eventually get one, maybe two Super Rare cards.  If the end result set is pretty cool AND HAS AN AWARD, trading to finish the set could be interesting.

Besides this, we go on insane tangents from Star Wars Card Trader, to NFTs, to Disney, to the MCU, to Pokemon cards, and bring it back to Marvel Collect here and there.  Hope you enjoy our rambling!

As always, if you have anything you want to share with us or be read on the podcast, email us at [email protected] or Tweet us @SkuttlePC!

For those who hit the big 45 Common to Rust fusion early, you'll know what the title is talking about.  For those who didn't, well then the title is talking about that sweet, sweet, orange-tinted 1st print set!  You know, the ones that cost $18 at odds and look like garbage and 2 weeks in are still around 150CC?  There was a Storm card, so naturally Jim had to spend more than he wished to try to get at least one copy.  The downside to all of this is it will end up with a low CC award, which will probably be worth something down the line.  Still, we're not certain it's worth chasing!

The rusty start continues with the same image used for a 3rd time on an Inked card, more Retro and 90s Collections, and of course, a complete disregard for America's Independence Day.  More importantly, the unwritten tradition of screwing up a diamond bundle drop that we can all take advantage of!  There were no deals for the 4th of July this year!  Jim still did something for it on Facebook, but it's far from the same.  But still, it's up to the community to keep tradition alive, no?

Bashing aside, there have been some nice releases.  Topps Supreme looks great, and Jim is happy with another Wasp set that will end with a low CC award.  And Vintage Panels are back after 5 months!  Still endless according to Topps!  And of course the Rain cards with their great effect.

Finally, we discuss Loki so far, as we missed a few weeks in there. Spoilers abound!

As always, if you have anything you want to share with us or be read on the podcast, email us at [email protected] or Tweet us @SkuttlePC!

In this episode we talk about the beginnings of the Marvel and Disney apps, as both of us were around for those, and how no matter what it is, if you drop like a hundred bucks within the first month of a new Topps app, you will most certainly make your money back down the line.  It would take a near-dead IP that nobody is interested in for a Topps app's early content to fail to hold value.  We also discuss our own ideas for future Topps apps, but ultimately we really just don't know if Topps will make any more apps or just stick to blockchain-hopping.

We also discuss the surprising amount of Thor content that's been released recently.  Even with a Thor-adjacent show coming out on Disney+, it seems like an odd choice to do 2 Thor collections in a row, with the Loki show itself having its own mid-week collection.

We also do an award CC recap of recent awards that we both earned that finally got counts assigned to them.  We want you to listen to the episode, but just for a sneak peak, check out the Inked Series 3 Super Rare award CC, then the Rare award CC.

Finally, we discuss the first episode of Loki and what this all ultimately means for Phase 4 of the MCU.

As always, if you have anything you want to share with us or be read on the podcast, email us at [email protected] or Tweet us @SkuttlePC!

Week in, week out, the same schedule every week.  Same weekly sets on Monday and Tuesday, same concepts used over and over. Concepts that were great the first time they were used, but by series 7 or 8 have lost their appeal.  But we keep opening the packs, to keep our collection complete.  On this week's episode, we wonder what it would be like if Topps brought back some much older concepts.  Ones that haven't been used in quite some time, primarily the Collector's Box.  Earlier on in the app, the Collector's Box sold for $5 or $25 and the $25 box came with a unique card.  Most of those unique cards are still very valuable today.  But times have changed, and things cost significantly more in the app.  Weekly epics at odds cost around $25 themselves.  So what kind of price would we expect a new Collector's Box to be?  If it were a much higher price than in the past, would you still buy it?  What would the count look like?  We ponder this and more on this week's The Skuttlebutt Podcast.

Jim's an idiot note: in this episode I accidentally mix up the contest ticket crafted base variant in Bunt with the 70th anniversary limited release base variant which is a significantly lower CC.  So please don't yell at me!

Loki is coming soon, so look forward to us talking about it next week!

As always, if you have anything you want to share with us or be read on the podcast, email us at [email protected] or Tweet us @SkuttlePC!

Back when 2021 base came out, a ton of base variants appeared under the 2021 Base set in the Sets & Collections list as Coming Soon.  Something about Magma and Ice and a bunch of others.  We haven't really thought about it much since, until this week when the Rust crafting base variant came out.  We decided to take a look, and all of those variants have disappeared from the checklist.  Who knows if we'll ever see them again.

Anyway, we talk about the Rust variant and its 5 minute timer and its eventual use to make iron and gold base variant cards at some point.  Will that make this year's gold lower CC?  Doubtful, but we'll see.

Besides that and an epic set with a Storm award that Jim will be figuring out how to get, there really wasn't much to talk about this past week!  But we do what we can to find things to talk about!

As always, if you have anything you want to share with us or be read on the podcast, email us at [email protected] or Tweet us @SkuttlePC!

Big update this week: online status on you and other traders.  Now you can tell if another trader is currently active in the app, or has been in the last hour.  That is, unless they choose to hide themselves, which I assume most will.  But besides that fact, now you can sit there and watch your pending trades and see someone who is active in the app and choosing not to accept your trade!  Maybe it'll be a good hint that you need to add a few more kickers to that trade.

Besides that, Topps Marvel Collect wanted 10,000 followers on Instagram for some reason.  I don't know if they post anything unique to Instagram, as I followed them and then never opened the app again.  But apparently 5,000+ people got the memo and signed up, or a few people made a bunch of bots, who knows, but either way, we got a ton of free packs for the effort.  Omnibus mostly.  Neat.  But hey, some lucky people hit a Super Rare in the mystery packs in the later tiers, so that was cool I guess.  But now they have their 10,000 followers and maybe 4 or 5 of them will like their new posts instead of 1 or 2.  I don't even think there's 7,500 active traders in the app, let alone 10,000.  But what do I know.

There's a new event for an old common set where you can't get the award.  Most people got tricked into spending 20,000 coins to end up with just a few more commons.  Newer players probably appreciated it more than the older ones, but overall a forgettable event.

Speaking of, a few other forgettable sets came out along with that sweet Mech Strike collection, which kickstarted Jim's sick addiction to gambling for digital cards.  So much for not spending money anymore.  Hell of a drug.

As always, if you have anything you want to share with us or be read on the podcast, email us at [email protected] or Tweet us @SkuttlePC!

The anniversary season has come to an end.  The speed hoard contest is over, the stream is done, the giveaways have all been given away.  Topps gave us at least something for the anniversary this year.  Nothing earth-shattering, or even Wintercon level, but at least they acknowledged the anniversary in the app.  We're still glad we were able to do something for the community.  Thank you again to all of the traders who donated some incredible cards for the giveaways!

So now what?  Business as usual for the app, but as for Jim, a few revelations have occurred.  One is: focusing on the decent mid-week sets leaves you with some decently lower-CC Super Rares, as opposed to always dumping coins and diamonds into weekend collections.  Weekend collection Super Rares are double, sometimes triple the CC as the mid-week ones, and if you don't finish the sets, it's better to have the mid-week Super Rares for trading later on.

But a large focus on this episode is just how bad does your luck have to be before you give up trying hit the odds?  Jim and Dan talk about Jim's recent horrible luck streak from the past 3 months, not just in Marvel but in Star Wars as well, and how he's now done spending money in the app and getting nothing.  It took a lot of failure to finally realize that he's just better off trading for or buying from the secondary market to get the cards that he wants.  But, it also takes the fun out of opening packs and hoping to hit that sweet epic when tapping through the cards.

We hope that all of your don't have as bad of luck, and that you continue to enjoy the app and the community, but sometimes, the odds are just stacked against you.

We also do a short recap of the end of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, but we realize we're way late and it's kind of in the past now, so we keep it quick!

As always, if you have anything you want to share with us or be read on the podcast, email us at [email protected] or Tweet us @SkuttlePC!

Our 2nd TMC Anniversary Celebration ended this weekend with a mixture of giveaways and us discussing what's currently going on in the app, along with discussing the history of the cards that were being given away.  It was a fantastic event and we're happy for those who were able to join us for interviews, create original artwork for us, and chat with us on the stream.  Also to all of the community members who graciously donated cards for us to give away during the season and on the Twitch stream.  For those who want to watch the full recording of the stream, you can do so here: https://youtu.be/mYEsJOFhB3w

We didn't have time to discuss the last episode of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier this week, but we will do so next week!

As always, if you have anything you want to share with us or be read on the podcast, email us at [email protected] or Tweet us @SkuttlePC!