Topps, the manufacturer best known for its production of baseball trading cards, is bringing its baseball collectibles into a more modern era. The company just announced the upcoming launch of digital baseball cards, all of which will be available to collect and purchase as non-fungible tokens (NFTs).

Topps Joins in on the NFT Frenzy

In a blog post on the Topps website, the company unveiled the 2021 Topps Series 1 Baseball NFT collection. The set will be released on April 20, 2021 at 1pm EST, and will be available for purchase through the WAX (Worldwide Asset eXchange) website.

The collection is officially backed by Major League Baseball, and will include art from the physical release of the same set, as well as "iconic throwback card templates, anniversary sets, and more." Topps also notes that the artwork will be "digitally enhanced and creatively reimagined." This may mean animated cards and eye-catching graphics for rarer pulls.

The first 10,000 collectors who sign up for Topps' email alerts will receive a free Topps MLB Opening Day NFT Pack. Unfortunately, all of these slots have since been filled in, but you'll still have a shot to score Standard and Premium packs on release day.

Topps plans on releasing 50,000 Standard packs, each of which cost $5 and contain six cards. The $100 Premium packs will be even harder to get, with only 24,090 packs available and 45 cards per pack. Premium packs also come with a higher chance of getting rarer cards, including Epic Exclusive and Legendary Exclusive cards.

Related: What Do You Actually Own If You Buy an NFT?

If you're interested in getting your hands on a pack from the Series 1 Baseball NFT collection, make sure that you have a wallet on WAX, and have your credit card ready as soon as the digital cards go live.

Topps isn't the first to unveil sports-themed NFTs. The NBA previously unveiled Top Shots, collections of digital video clips that are traded and sold as NFTs. Topps is clearly focusing more on the trading card experience, as Top Shots revolves around the sale of video-based basketball plays.

Will Topps' Baseball NFTs Take Off?

It's up to collectors to decide the success of Topps' NFT-based baseball cards. There are still plenty of collectors that wouldn't trade in the experience of ripping open a fresh pack of cards, and then being able to shuffle through them.

The market for NFTs is still fairly new and unexplored, so it's still unclear whether NFTs will even be valuable in the future. This uncertainty may steer physical card collectors away from digital collections.