Meet Topps BUNT: digital baseball cards containing real-time player stats that can be purchased with virtual currency, traded with other fans and played during live games for points. As if all that is not cool enough, virtual currency -- or coins -- can be purchased with real currency. I spent a week with the app, and despite a few bugs, I remain impressed and excited about this concept. Topps BUNT is a free download available on iOS. It was developed by Topps in conjunction with Brooklyn-based Dog on a Horse and introduced to the market in June '12. The latest release occurred in March '14, and the app will launch on Android in the coming weeks. This review was conducted on an iPhone 5 version 7.1.1, with AT&T service.
HOW TO PLAY: Topps BUNT requires users to register, and this can be done with Facebook, Twitter or via e-mail in a simple step. Users are then prompted to select their favorite team. This allows the app to compare user scores by team and promotes friendly competition among fellow fans. The app eases users into different levels of engagement: purchasing packs of cards, making trades and playing their cards. Users are given 2,500 free coins to start, and the app clearly explains how these can be used and earned. For example, a daily reward of 1,000 coins is given for simply signing into the app. Once a pack is purchased, a sortable card collection begins to form, and trading a card is a simple process. Playing cards is the way points are earned, with each card containing stats that update in real time. Points are registered based on player performance, and cards can be swapped in and out of the lineup at any time. Leaderboards measure a user’s points versus their friends, their selected team and everyone in the app. Friends can be added by searching for other users within BUNT, Facebook or Twitter. Invitations can also be sent via text or e-mail.
HOT: Opening a pack of cards looks and sounds like the real thing, as users hear a crinkling wrapper and see a piece of gum flash onto the screen. This is a nice touch by the developers. There are different types of packs, each containing a description of what is inside along with odds of receiving certain players and percentages by card type: super rare, scarce, rare, uncommon and common. Individual cards contain either the final result of the most recent game or the score of a live game and a summary of the player’s point value. Inside the card store, packs can be purchased with coins. Coins can be purchased with real money or earned by taking advertiser-incentivized actions, like starting a free trial of Hulu for 3,060 coins. Other notable features include fan-to-fan competition, action-based rewards and a card-centric news feed.
COLD: A few days into the review, my card collection disappeared and could only be viewed within the Play environment. It reappeared the following day. Within the news feed, videos could not be played. In some instances, free coins could be earned by starting an advertiser action but not completing it, and some actions that should result in coins, like inviting friends, did not deliver coins as promised. Elsewhere, I found the find/add friends function confusing, and would prefer that it held a more prominent position. Also, card-based performance alerts would have brought me back into the app more often. Finally, two lingering questions: What do I win and what happens to retired or injured player cards?
BOTTOM LINE: A virtual card collection tool that generates transactional revenue and creatively integrates advertisers so that they are a benefit to users, this app is a score for Topps. It manages to be forward thinking while bringing back an age-old tradition. The user experience is not without bugs, and the lack of a tangible prize is a letdown, but with over 35 million packs sold and 81% of users between the ages of 13 and 25, this two year-old product is sure to shine as it grows in popularity with fans.
Amie Sheridan (amie.sheridan31@gmail.com) is a freelance writer in Philadelphia.
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