The Topps Co. Inc. has signed a three-year agreement with online auction site eBay to offer etopps, a line of sports cards to be bought and traded only on the Internet, and the Topps Vault, from which Topps plans to auction sports memorabilia.
New York City-based Topps expects a "soft launch" of etopps featuring NFL players by December 2000 and a full launch of both etopps and Topps Vault in March 2001. etopps will be sold individually, by specific player, through Initial Player Offerings exclusively on the Topps Web site. Buyers of these cards have the option of having their cards physically remain in Topps possession and reflected in their personal portfolios to allow for the subsequent buying and selling of these cards on a dedicated secondary market, the etopps trading floor on eBay, with Topps transferring the record of ownership from seller to buyer. Buyers also can have their cards delivered in uncirculated mint condition.
Through the Topps Vault, Topps plans to sell thousands of original sports memorabilia items annually, including signed player contracts, canceled checks with players' personal endorsements, photographs from its library including many used to make actual cards and other items. The firm has collected these items throughout its 50-year history, it claims.
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