The Skuttlebutt Podcast

Episode 53: We've Got a Burning Question For Ya

"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 skuttlebuttpodcast@gmail.com [skuttlebuttpodcast@gmail.com] or Tweet us @SkuttlePC [https://twitter.com/SkuttlebuttPC]!

Episode 52: What If... People Used The Timeline?

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 skuttlebuttpodcast@gmail.com [skuttlebuttpodcast@gmail.com] or Tweet us @SkuttlePC [https://twitter.com/SkuttlebuttPC]!

Episode 51: Ticket to Ride

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 skuttlebuttpodcast@gmail.com [skuttlebuttpodcast@gmail.com] or Tweet us @SkuttlePC [https://twitter.com/SkuttlebuttPC]!

Episode 50: The Rusty Summer Continues

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 skuttlebuttpodcast@gmail.com [skuttlebuttpodcast@gmail.com] or Tweet us @SkuttlePC [https://twitter.com/SkuttlebuttPC]!

Episode 49: The Early Bird Gets The Worm

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 skuttlebuttpodcast@gmail.com [skuttlebuttpodcast@gmail.com] or Tweet us @SkuttlePC [https://twitter.com/SkuttlebuttPC]!