In practical moves towards transparency in their operations, Fanatics Collectibles and Topps have called upon the expertise of multinational professional services network, KPMG, to perform an independent audit of their card distribution processes. The move serves as a significant gesture towards addressing budding skepticism and whispers of partiality in the dispersion of high-value cards among collectors and business individuals—to reassure them that, in fact, the distribution process is random, fair and square as the companies claim.
News of this engagement was brought forward at the Industry Conference in Atlanta by Mike Mahan, the charismatic CEO of Fanatics Collectibles. After several months of persistent review, it was announced that KPMG had made a comprehensive inspection of the card distribution processes and found no evidence of intentional placement of prized cards to specific customers or entities.
This outcome is particularly significant, given the ongoing suspicion among the collector community that Fanatics and Topps had a proclivity towards favoring large volume customers or prominent breakers in their card distribution. Fuelled by sporadic social media videos showing these breakers pulling out multiple valuable cards, the doubt cast a long shadow on the randomness of pack content. However, in the wake of KPMG’s audit, Greg Abovsky, the CFO of Fanatics Collectibles, has reiterated that the high frequency of valued ‘pulls’ by prominent breakers is more reflective of a statistical likelihood due to the massive volume they contend with rather than manipulation or bias in the packing process.
At the heart of KPMG’s audit was an exhaustive scrutiny of the Texas printing facility and how the trading cards are produced. This meant a thorough examination of the collation process and detailed insight into the production logs for each job to ensure the delivery of cards was genuinely as random and unbiased as Fanatics/Topps assert. According to the company, this move was the first of its kind in the industry and was charted to confront and debunk rumors about their distribution process.
In a further attempt to counteract doubts in their distribution integrity, the Fanatics team also made clear that they have not once seeded boxes with valuable cards for promotional purposes – a common suspicion among their collector base. With an overarching vision of continuing their tradition of fairness and transparency in their practices, Fanatics also declared their intent to make the randomness audit an annual event.
Casual observers and hard-core fans alike can now breathe easy – the assertions made by Fanatics and Topps about the randomness of card distribution have been validated by a leading audit firm. The companies have successfully adversed conjecture – at least for now, and set the more cynical tongues to rest. As collectors continue to chase after those elusive high-value cards, the unpredictability remains part of the thrill and the game of chance. And isn’t that the beauty of collecting after all?