Over the last few years, the hobby has increased its digital presence exponentially as the mediums became more accessible. Whether its the market place moving to eBay, the redemption systems moving online to company websites, or even checklists via smartphone, its getting more and more focused on creating online consumers as much as direct consumers.

A few weeks ago, Topps released the first of any card company sponsored apps for the iPad or iPhone, and thought they only have a passive relationship with the hobby, they both are very cool to play with if you are baseball fans. These are most likely gateways to further involvement in this space, and I hope that more will eventually be created to help with the advancement of the hobby.

Topps Bunt is a game based application that I sincerely hope they build out in the next few months. The potential for this to be a game that everyone can play is incredible. Basically, you open a pack of cards and you play fantasy baseball with the players you get. There is trading and rankings against the field of people playing, and I assume there will eventually be ways to get more players to play with. Its like an RPG for people who play fantasy, and I think there is a huge market for getting codes for new packs on cards and wrappers as a relative incentive to purchase. Give out limited edition BUNT cards and all sorts of stuff to get you power ups in the game, and all of a sudden there is a whole new universe to unlock. EA Sports licensed out Madden Football and MVP Baseball on facebook for this type of purpose, but it has no relation to real life stats. Bunt functions on live updates on what happens in the real games, which is truly incredible.

Topps Pennant is a historical look at baseball through the updated daily box scores, something I have had a ton of fun doing over the last few weeks since I bought the app. There is a slew of information, including stats, game media and fun facts that are a huge part of this program, and I think that although its based on more of a game function than a hobby function, I would no doubt expect it to grow as the year moves on. I would guess they have huge add ons for the world series and playoffs, and the more information Topps can load into the app, the better. Baseball is a game of stats and history, and I know a robust app built around both is a great thing to have.

If I am Topps, I have a continued dedication to developing more applications, including ones focused on enhancing consumer content on the cards they buy. If I buy a pack, each card in my pack should have some sort of content built into it. There has been computer based products before, a la Upper Deck Power Deck, but its so old now that Fred Flinstone used it when he got off his dinosaur. Its time to tie in the internet to the hobby, not just for buying and selling, but for added prestige in the products we buy. I want to be known as the greatest collector of “X,” and these types of applications should be build around giving me that capability as a hobby enthusiast. Take a two pronged approach so that the Sports and the Cards can both be a huge part of things. Cards keep the lights on, but sports is where the money is.

Think of this future:

Joe Collector buys a pack of Topps Cards. He pulls a 1/1 autograph patch of Albert Pujols. He takes a picture of it with his iPhone and through the Topps app, it uploads it directly to Twitter with information about the card, verifies the patch is real and where it came from, and enters it into Joe’s personal database. Joe then goes online and posts an eBay auction to sell the card, and Jim Collector, a huge Pujols fan buys it. Card is transferred into his collection, which cements him as the most prolific Albert Pujols collector on the planet. An entry of the two owners of the card is entered onto the product checklist in case someone else is curious of who to contact to buy it.

Its not crazy, because the components of each of the things I just described already exist in other apps. How awesome would that be?