Francisco Lindor starred in a commercial for Steven Spielberg’s new movie Disclosure Day 😱

2025/26 Topps Signature Class NBA Analysis & Deep Dive (The Real One) If you tuned in yesterday to my pre-pre-order pre-analysis, you know we were missing key data points that made a complete breakdown impossible. Today, upon pre-orders going live, I was able to fill in most of those gaps. I'm going to forego any flowery introductions because, frankly, this product doesn't deserve it. And I'm kinda tired of digging in the weeds on this one. If you are on the Topps production team and are reading this, you may want to go check out my Bowman Baseball breakdown instead. That was a good product with a deservingly strong breakdown. This one isn't. Yesterday I bit my tongue a bit because there were key details we did not know. Today I'm not. Guys, look. I don’t like being negative. I really don’t. That’s not my lane. I’m usually one of the more optimistic voices you’ll find in this hobby. But as we grow, more and more people are actually using my data to make real decisions. And this isn’t chump change we're talking about. As a self-proclaimed, numbers-obsessed Neanderthal who lives in odds sheets, I owe it to you to call it like I see it. You don’t have to agree. That’s fine. But my job here is simple: find value and be honest about it. No sponsors. No big brother. The only people paying me are readers who appreciate the honesty- and my fellow degenerate rippers and nerds who love the numbers as much as I do. Speaking of which, if you need more of these product breakdowns in your life, please consider following me on Substack where you'll find over 100 of them in one easily navigable archive. Free tier, paid tier...it doesn't matter. I welcome all who are interested in this kind of material. substack.com/@slabsquatch So here we are, fresh off another craptastic pre-order with Hoops. Maybe I’m wrong. Maybe this stuff comes out hot and makes me eat every word. If so, I'll take that medicine. Just know, my analysis is based on numbers, not full-blown opinion. Right now, I really hope Topps has something better in the oven. Early signs point to Signature Class and Hoops battling Topps Three for the early lead in worst NBA product of the year. At least Three had some aura. It just lit your wallet on fire. It seems like Hoops and Signature Class are in a wrestling match to figure out who has the biggest identity crisis. Thank God we have Cosmic NBA in mere hours to wash this bitter pre-taste out of our mouths. Part 1: How Much Did They Make? Total cards in product: 50,320,640 Total production by format: Hobby- 51,313 boxes (8,552 cases) Jumbo- 18,030 boxes (2,254 cases) Value- 672,320 boxes (16,808 cases) Mega- 246,500 boxes (12,325 cases) Part 2: Hit Rates Hobby- $540 for 32 cards. Really?! In what universe does this make sense? A product with zero pedigree. Zero rare inserts with any kind of built-in desirability. It's hitting streak is zero based on the fact that the only other time it was released it was a crappy unlicensed football product that rotted on shelves interminably. There are plenty of products that can easily get away with charging $16.88 ea for every card in the box. Not this one. I mean, it will. But it shouldn't. Please keep in mind, this is not a Chrome product. There are some Chrome cards. But most are not. Here's what comes in the box: 2 autos, 4 parallels, 3 inserts, & 2 numbered cards. Jumbo- $900 for some cards. They don't even tell us how many. One thing is for certain, it won't feel like a "jumbo". I believe there will be 4 packs of 10 cards. But I could be off by a couple. Here's what we can expect from a Jumbo: 4 autos, 7-8 parallels, 3 inserts, 4 numbered cards. Value Boxes- $35 for 42 cards (6 packs of 7) 1 auto per 20 boxes, 4.2 parallels/box, 1.5 inserts, 1 numbered card per 4.4 boxes Mega Boxes- $65 for 80 cards (10 packs of 8) 1 auto per 6 boxes, 8-9 parallels, 3 inserts, 1 numbered card per 2.6 boxes Part 3: Value Map $/Card: 1) Mega- 81¢ 2) Value- 83¢ 3) Hobby- $16.88 $/Parallels: 1) Mega- $7.53 2) Value- $8.33 3) Jumbo- $124.48 $/Auto: 1) Jumbo- $225 2) Hobby- $270 3) Mega- $390 $/Numbered Card: 1) Value- $154.35 2) Mega- $170.95 3) Jumbo $225.00 In case you haven't noticed, Hobby & Retail are basically two entirely different products. This feels a lot like Topps version of Panini Contenders. Hobby hangs it hat on autos while retail formats are mostly filler. Part 4: Best formats Let’s be perfectly clear- “best” here is purely relative. I’m comparing these formats against each other, not calling any of them good. Because I’m struggling to find anything I’d actually label as good. From a parallels and inserts standpoint, Jumbo and Value are surprisingly similar in cost-efficiency for most inserts and parallel variants. That feels wrong at first glance given Value’s much lower $/parallel, but it's true. The reason being Value is predominantly unnumbered, while Jumbo gives you roughly 4 numbered and 4 unnumbered per box. For case hits, the shared rare inserts (Star Cast, Algorithm, Roses, Fluidity) are cheapest to chase through Value. That said, they're all unproven. Will they actually hold any value? Who knows. From an Auto perspective, Hobby is the clear winner. Jumbo technically has a lower $/auto, but it’s flooded with base autos, which kills the appeal. For clarity, here’s the breakdown on numbered autos: Hobby- 29.2% Value- 24.3% Mega- 21.4% Jumbo- 15.5% So if the plan is “pay more, get better autos,” just know you’re mostly getting unnumbered base versions. For a product called signature class, I can't get with the fact that so many autos are base. After breaking down a product like Bowman where half the autos in the product are numbered parallels, this feels subpar. If you're like me and there's no way on God's green Earth you're paying the spend for Hobby or Jumbo, then here's the Retail format comparison in a nutshell: Value Boxes are better for parallels & inserts, Megas are better for autos. Bottom line: there isn’t a best format. They all suck. I suppose if I had to buy a format strictly to rip...I'd probably....UGH. I can't. I don't have it in me to recommend any of them. Part 5: What Would the Squatch Do? The Squatch wouldn't buy this with your money. I'm not going to sit here and say the product looks like total trash. There are some really clean looking cards here. A couple that caught my eye: Roses, Monarchs of the Game. There are some neat acetate autos. Is there a chance this product could be a decent flip, or provide solid stash value? I sincerely hope not. I feel sorry for anyone who pays more than retail price for this. I want to believe collectors are smarter than they've ever been and that just won't happen. Regretfully, I'll probably be proven wrong. Look, I'm not mad at Topps for attempting to gain traction with a basically entirely new product. We need new products that aren't just re-hashes of old products. This one just feels so uninspired. It doesn't even feel like there is an underlying theme. It's just...there. I’m still sruggling to figure out who Signature Class is actually for. If you’re chasing autos, there are cheaper and better options. It’s not Chrome...mostly. The inserts are forgettable. There’s nothing this product does well, much less better than anything else on the market. Signature Class is probably nearly as bad as Hoops. It just costs double. At least Hoops has a name people recognize. Most importantly, whatever voodoo Topps has over you to make $540 or $900 feel reasonable for this mess…snap out of it. You’re stronger than that. This ain’t the one. If you need someone to talk you off the ledge, hit me up. I’m happy to do it. The Squatch has your back. Part 6: The Print Runs First, let me detail the parallel structure since it's weirdly different than any other Topps product in existence: Coral /299 Magenta /250 Teal /225 Yellow Chrome /199 Lime /175 Green /150 Purple /100 Pink /75 Orange /50 Red /25 Red Lava /25 Black /10 Black Gold /10 Blue /5 Foilfractor, Superfractor /1 Base: Veteran Base- ~383,000 ea Rookie Base- ~26,935 ea Veteran Chrome Base- ~24,440 ea Rookie Chrome Base- ~15,150 ea Unnumbered Parallels Paper: Veteran Blue & Orange- ~14,230 ea Veteran Bronze- ~7,565 ea Veteran Yellow- ~400 ea Rookie Blue & Orange- ~5,760 ea Rookie Bronze- ~1,975 ea Rookie Yellow- ~400 ea Chrome: Veteran Refractor- ~7,545 ea Veteran Pandora- ~5,000 ea Veteran Pandora Yellow- ~1,790 ea Rookie Refractor- ~7,880 ea Rookie Pandora- ~6,515 ea Rookie Pandora Yellow- ~2,260 ea Unnumbered Inserts After Image (25 card CL)- ~18,315 ea High Fidelity (30 card CL)- ~17,580 ea Pure (25 card CL)- ~18,315 ea Unfazed (20 card CL)- ~17,835 ea Star Cast (25 card CL)- ~450 ea Algorithm (25 card CL)- ~450 ea Roses (25 card CL)- ~300 ea Fluidity (20 card CL)- ~375 ea Monarchs of the Game (Hobby/Jumbo only, 30 card CL)- ~145 ea Leviathans (Hobby/Jumbo only, 20 card CL)- ~145 ea Aristocrat (Value/Mega only, 20 card CL)- ~1,165 ea Odyssey (Value/Mega only, 20 card CL)- ~1,165 ea Pressure Points (Value/Mega only, 10 card CL)- ~1,165 ea Unnumbered Autos Veteran Class Base Autos (46 card CL)- ~400 ea Rookie Class Base Autos (46 card CL)- ~770 ea Veteran Class Chrome Autos- ~125 ea Rookie Class Chrome Autos- ~785 ea Veteran Class Crystal Clear Autos (37 card CL)- ~30 ea Rookie Class Crystal Clear Autos (45 card CL)- ~70 ea Legends of their Class Crystal Clear Autos (10 card CL)- ~50 ea Signature Blend (25 card CL)- ~335 ea Shadow Scripts (25 card CL)- ~455 ea Penstroke Signatures (29 card CL)- ~560 ea Eternal Marks (19 card CL)- ~200 ea Manuscripts (70 card CL)- ~740 ea Dual Autos (15 card CL)- ~20 ea Triple Autos (10 card CL)- ~15 ea #thehobby #SlabSquatchAnalytics #2025ToppsSignatureClassNBA