Hoarding on Topps Apps: What is It? How Do I Start? Who to Trade With?

What are Topps Apps?

Topps apps are digital card trading apps operated by Topps. The apps currently available are:

1. Bunt (major league baseball)
2. Kick (soccer, but not Premier League)
3. Skate (hockey)
4. Star Wars Card Trader
5. Marvel Collect
6. Disney Collect
7. Walking Dead
8. Slam (wrestling)
9. Huddle (National Football League, no longer updated)

What is hoarding?

Hoarding is an activity some digital card traders choose to do. It involves choosing one or more characters (usually base, which are cards that come free in packs) with the aim to collect as many of that particular card as possible. Hoarding originated on the Star Wars Card Trader app where one could obtain a reward for collecting a certain number of a particular card. Though this reward is not available on the other apps, people still do it.

You can also find an interesting discussion of mass hoarding in the early days (Star Wars Card Trader in 2016).

Why do people hoard?

Some reasons why people hoard cards on the Topps digital card trading apps are:

• New player with a small collection, but want to actively participate on the app
• Experienced player with a large collection who wants a self-defined goal
• It can be fun to see how many of a card one can collect
• Hoarders are going to hoard, whether it is physical or digital items

How do I decide what to hoard?

There are two ways you can look at this question:

1. Choose a particular character or art that you really like
2. Do the above, but select a lesser popular character so that you are not competing with other hoarders

For example, on Marvel Collect I have a few different things I hoard:

• Black Cat base (any tier)
• Ghost Spider base (any tier)
• Several Commons (Ghost Spider, Mary Jane, Captain Marvel), but particular art that I like
• Black Widow / Hawkeye Avengers Movie Card (yes, that scene)
• And then casually any other Ghost Spider card

Ghost Spider was my primary hoard, but I started collecting Black Cat as well because it did not seem like any other player was hoarding her cards. Some of the others I selected because of the art, and I chose to collect the Black Widow / Hawkeye card because I enjoy both the move and that particular scene. Also, it was a heavily collected set which makes it relatively easy to pick up copies in trades (usually as throw-ins).

Is hoarding popular on all of the apps?

In general, hoarding seems to be more popular on the non-sports trading apps. You will find people on sports apps that are interested in hoarding, but I don’t typically see it advertised in the trade feed.

How do I find people to swap hoards?

The trade feed is a great place to start. You can also join Facebook groups dedicated to each app. There, you can post that you want to swap hoards, and typically people will respond.

You can also use the information below as a guide. I will keep this updated infrequently, so do not consider these lists exhaustive. There will always be newer players with new hoards, and even older players with new hoards. And sometimes people switch hoards; in general, you can tell if a player is still hoarding by noting whether a particular character’s card count far exceeds other cards in a collector’s collection.

If you want to be added to a list, send an email to theludologists AT gmail DOT com. If you really want to be added, include HOARD in the subject line.

Marvel Collect Hoarders

Disney Collect Hoarders

Star Wars Hoarders

Bunt Hoarders