I love the Topps Digital apps because they provide a way to merge my affinity for sports cards with my infatuation with fantasy sports. Mixing the two worlds together has garnered the majority of my attention now for almost two years, and from the looks of the recent checklist for Topps Series 2, Bunt could finally be making a cameo in a physical product. I could not be more excited.

Now, I understand that some of you will never be able to understand the appeal of digital trading cards. Ive given up in trying to convince collectors how fun the apps can be. The fact that you cannot hold the card in your hand, probably brings about a sense of confusion as to why people love it as much as they do. Believe it or not, there is real value to be had in many of these cards, especially rare ones that have high appeal. After all, there are no redemptions, and condition is never a problem. Feel free to purchase and open packs in your underwear at 3am if you would like.

Check out some of the ebay listings to see what I mean:

2015 Topps Bunt Mike Trout Signature Card

2015 Topps Bunt Bryce Harper Signature Gold Card

2015 Topps Bunt Kris Bryant / Anthony Rizzo / Jorge Soler Triple Signature

2015 Topps Bunt Ichiro Limited Series Insert Card

Crazy to think how far these cards have come over the last four years, as I remember back when Bunt was just getting going. Now their autographs are worth more than physical ones on many occasions.

I have said that being able to literally “print” cards on demand is a huge advantage for digital, and it has produced a loyal following of customers who will pay hundreds of dollars a day to have access to their favorite digital sets. Yes, you heard that correctly.

Bringing the phenomenon to the physical side is a bold step, and it might serve as a welcome introduction for a lot of collectors who were not aware of the connection between Topps Baseball and Topps Bunt. It may also bring a lot of Bunt players over to the physical side who may not have bought a pack of cards in many years. Both, im sure, are equally attractive to Topps.

Based on the limited information I have, it looks like a checklist of players will have special cards with codes on the back to redeem for content in the game. Although we dont know what these cards will look like or what they represent in the Bunt lineup, this is a huge deal for Topps in general.

For a very long time, I have pleaded with the guys who make Topps Baseball to involve Bunt into the flagship product in any way they can. Whether it be code cards for packs or coins, or even special codes on the back of the cards that give access to that player in the game. As many times as I made that suggestion, as many times I was told, “sorry, that’s just not something we are looking to do at this point.” Im glad that they were able to work it out, and it makes me that much more excited to see what might be possible in the future.

Not only does it open the door for potential tie ins with the other games in the many Topps Products, but it sure adds a fun chase to Series 2. Now that we see that the physical tie in is possible, will there be other things that you can eventually pull out of packs? I can already imagine similar things for their football and soccer apps, Huddle and Kick. Topps also produces physical packs for Star Wars as well, whose launch has turned into one of the biggest sources of revenue for the digital landscape over the last few months. Endless potential exists, and I might even go as far as saying that this might serve more as a vehicle to put digital closer to the top of the priority list over in New York.

Here is a link to the checklist where you can see the Bunt cards and player list.