Published August 29, 2025 | By Alyx E, Founder of Collectors MD
It finally happened. Topps Chrome SpongeBob. On the surface, it sounds like a joke—a novelty release you’d expect to stumble across in a bargain bin. But it’s not a joke at all. It’s the latest move in Fanatics’ relentless march to turn every franchise, every corner of culture, into a monetized, gamified product.
Just look at the 2025 slate: Topps Mint Disney, Disney Wonder, Disneyland 70th Anniversary, Topps Disney Vault, Topps Chrome Marvel Studios, 1975 Marvel Golden Anniversary, Topps Infinity MCU Phase 1, Topps Chrome Deadpool, Marvel The Collector, Pixar Gold, Toy Story 30th Anniversary, Topps Dune Chrome, Topps Meiyo Star Wars, Smuggler’s Outpost, Topps Chrome Stranger Things, and now SpongeBob 25th. And this is just the short list.
It’s dizzying. Every franchise, every universe, every piece of culture is being pulled into the same machine. What was once the unique language of sports cards—parallels, refractors, numbered inserts, chase hits—has now become the universal template. Movies, cartoons, theme parks, even anniversaries are being packaged into high-risk, high-cost collectibles designed to keep you ripping, chasing, and spending.
And your local breaker? If they make it, they will rip it. They’ll find a way to exploit their customers into buying more junk, dressed up as “generational, can’t miss” products.
This isn’t just diversification. It’s monopolization. Fanatics isn’t testing the waters anymore—they’re flooding the market, colonizing every vertical they can. And while it may look like “fun” at first glance—who wouldn’t smile at a Spongebob Superfractor?—the underlying mechanics are anything but harmless.
They’re the same gambling-coded systems we’ve been warning about: the manufactured scarcity, the lure of “hits”, the dopamine spikes that drive compulsion.
The danger isn’t just in sports or TCG anymore. It’s in everything. If you grew up loving Marvel, Disney Pixar, Star Wars—there’s now a product waiting to turn your nostalgia into a slot machine.
And when the chase ends, it won’t be joy or connection left behind. It’ll be fatigue, debt, and the hollow feeling that comes when a hobby stops being a hobby and becomes a hustle—a relentless gambling machine that will unapologetically rinse you until you’re left with nothing but a hollow collection that cost you quite literally everything.
At some point, we have to ask: where does this end? When every cultural property has been “Chrome’d out”, when every cartoon or franchise is reduced to numbered refractors and short-print inserts, what’s left of the joy of collecting? What’s left of the purity that drew us in the first place?
Not everything needs to be Chrome’d or Prizm’d. Not every memory, character, or story should be refracted into a numbered parallel. The joy of collecting isn’t about chasing scarcity manufactured by corporations — it’s about connection, community, and meaning.
#CollectorsMD
When every corner of culture becomes a casino, protecting your intention as a collector matters more than ever.
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