Welcome to the NBA Top Shot January Mailbag!
Since releasing our Holiday Mailbag in December, which provided updates on Top Shot’s Mobile App, Set Rewards, the Captains Program and Net Neutral Circulating Supply, we’ve received more questions from our community that we’re excited to answer today.
In the time between these mailbags, we’ve burned Platinum Ice Moments, introduced auto-playing video to the Marketplace and collections, launched a new Locations feature to connect fans around the world, visited Miami and Paris with our domestic and international communities, and celebrated the first 10 players to secure their spot in the Top Shot 50 with a new voting experience in product.
Let’s dive into January 2023’s NBA Top Shot Mailbag.
Will Rookies with Rookie Debut Moments also have Base Set Moments in Series 4?
No. In Series 4, rookies who appear in the Rookie Debut Set will not appear in the Base Set. They will also not appear in The Challenge Fandom Set or Spotlight Series Common Set.
One of the biggest changes to our core Sets in Series 4 was to introduce a Set exclusively for Moments from rookies’ first NBA appearances (a.k.a. Three-Star Rookies).
That set, Rookie Debut, is the latest iteration of our approach to rookie content at the Common tier. Not all rookies are Three-Star eligible, however, and some have already seen their Top Shot Debuts appear in the Base Set.
Later this season, rookies will appear when appropriate at our Rare and Legendary tiers, including the Rookie Revelation Legendary Set.
Rookies are a critical component of both the NBA story and collector experience, and this Series 4 framework allows us to maintain both.
The majority of Giannis Antetokounmpo’s Series 1 Metallic Gold LE Top Shot Debut Moments are still in NBA Top Shot’s possession. What is the plan to distribute these remaining Moments?
Starting today, NBA Top Shot is launching a first-of-its-kind Challenge to distribute these Moments.
Owners of the Series 1 Giannis Antetokounmpo Metallic Gold LE Top Shot Debut will be able to lock this Moment, and by doing so, earn a second Giannis Metallic Gold LE Top Shot Debut as a free airdrop.
If you are one of the few to own more than one Series 1 Giannis MGLE Top Shot Debuts, you can lock any number of them and earn one Giannis MGLE Reward back for each locked Moment.
While a Challenge will be used to track participation, these Moments will not come with Challenge Reward Badges.
Remaining undistributed S1 Giannis MGLE Moments at the conclusion of this Challenge will be put in our next Locker Pack drop so they are fully distributed as quickly as possible. Read more about the Challenge here, and keep reading for Locker Packs details.
When are Locker Packs coming back?
Locker Packs offer collectors the chance to rip packs with Moments from past and present seasons in exchange for Trade Tickets, which they can acquire by burning or trading in Moments from their collection.
Our most popular version of Locker Packs, containing the chance at a Series 1 Moment, will be available before February 1.
One of the core principles of these packs is that they are helping to distribute unreleased supply of Base Set Moments from Series 1 — and in our upcoming Locker Pack drops, we intend on releasing a large supply of remaining Series 1 Moments through two fun Locker Pack options.
- Hunt for S1 Moments: Locker Pack Drop 1 will offer approximately 1.7 million Locker Packs, each containing 3 Moments for 4 Trade Tickets with a 1% chance at a S1 Base Set Moment.
- The conclusion of Locker Pack Drop 1 will remove 1.7 million Moments from circulation and put 17,000 Series 1 Moments into the hands of collectors.
- Guaranteed S1 Moments: Locker Pack Drop 2 will offer approximately 14,000 Locker Packs, each containing 1 guaranteed Series 1 Base Set Moment or Series 1 Giannis Metallic Gold LE, plus two other Base Set Moments from Series 2-4, in exchange for 40 Trade Tickets.
- The conclusion of Locker Pack Drop 2 will remove approximately 518,000 Moments from circulation and put approximately 14,000 Series 1 Moments into the hands of collectors.
Start getting your Trade Tickets ready now.
What's the best way for the community to ask the team questions?
Office Hours were a staple of Top Shot’s origins, with weekly or monthly conversational sessions between Top Shot’s community and leadership occurring in Discord and Twitter Spaces.
Recently, we have adopted this Mailbag approach as a team, so we can provide a centralized, consistent, and formal response to the questions we see in our community across Discord, Twitter, Email and Reddit.
We’re always listening to the community and recording feedback, and by no means will we stop doing that — but we believe this written format allows us to more clearly say what we mean and provide easy to digest answers to very important questions and topics.
If you have a question, please shoot us a line at mailbag@nbatopshot.com.
After a series of “Pro” tier Challenges to start Series 4, Challenges have gotten more difficult. Can we expect easier Challenges to return in the future?
We believe it's important for fans to find ways to engage with their Moments and with the NBA on a frequent basis.
The recently completed Top Shot Tour: Paris Challenge proved and reinforced that our community still has an appetite to participate in accessible and affordable Challenges.
We will be iterating on Challenges for the remainder of the regular season, using tiers and other recent developments to provide more variety for our community while continuing to offer difficult Challenges with scarce Rewards.
What updates can you provide around Set Rewards and the way Airdrops are delivered in Series 3 vs. Series 4?
During Series 3, Set holders sporadically received airdrops tied specifically to pack drops.
In Series 4, our goals have been (and continue to be):
- To give all collectors the opportunity and choice to earn Rewards with clearly defined packages and qualifications.
- To distribute the vast majority of Moments from Sets in Hot Packs as the season progresses.
These two goals drove a defined approach to Set Rewards, which was published on July 29, 2022 and has been delivered throughout Series 4. By locking any completed NBA Set on NBA Top Shot from Series 1, Series 2, Summer ‘21, and/or Series 3, you are guaranteed to earn a Set Rewards Package.
- For collectors who locked their first Set by January 5, their Set Reward Package is coming. For collectors who did not lock their Sets by January 5, or who completed additional Sets since then, the next and final window to lock and earn during Series 4 is May 30, 2023.
- Metallic Gold LE airdrops will be delivered in full before the end of January for all of those who locked either an NBA Legendary or Metallic Gold LE complete Set.
- To ensure that the Rewards Packages specific to “Boosted Hot Packs” meet the expectations of our community, we are designing custom Set Reward Boosted Hot Packs to be delivered as Set Rewards to qualified participants.
Guaranteed Rewards did not exist in Series 3, and in Series 4, it’s important that you know what the Rewards are and how to earn them so you can choose to earn them or skip them based on your own personal strategy and preferences.
Completing Sets is a natural behavior for any collector, and we expect Set collecting and completing to continue to be a part of the NBA Top Shot collector experience for years to come. Going forward, we will continue to build on this program.
What are the plans around Top Shot Score? What are the benefits to having a high Top Shot Score?
Top Shot Score is essential to the Top Shot experience in Series 4. It has been used to:
- Determine winners of Top Shot Experiences with Magic Johnson, Klay Thompson, and Cade Cunningham, along with future experiences with athletes.
- Create the rankings of every Team Leaderboard and Player Leaderboard.
- Set expectations, goals, and milestones around Team Leaderboard Rewards, including Dynamic Duos, Clamps, and two more rounds of future Rewards as the season unfolds.
- Lay a foundation for upcoming Player Leaderboard Rewards specific to this season’s MVP, Rookie of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year, All-NBA, All-Rookie, and All-Defense.
- Foster healthy competition and fun amongst collectors vying for the bragging rights of who is the biggest fan of specific players and Moments.
- Unlock access to purchase higher quantities of packs in previous drops, and will be used to provide exclusive layers of access to upcoming drops.
With Metallic Gold LE Rare drops available this week and again later this season, along with Rookie Revelation and Top Shot 50 Legendary Drops in 2023, you can expect Top Shot Score to play an essential role in the distribution and access of these packs — and future highly scarce Rare and Legendary packs.
What’s the latest on Net Neutral Circulating Supply?
An update on the concept of Net Neutral Circulating Supply, what it means, and how it is calculated was shared in our December 2022 Holiday Mailbag. As a refresher, in Series 4, NBA Top Shot has committed to remaining Net Neutral with circulating supply, which means that for all Moments that are introduced into circulation in Series 4, we expect to have at least as many Moments burned, traded-in, or locked for the year.
With more than 6 million Moments removed from circulation so far (not including an additional 2.5+ million burned Moments that weren’t in circulation), we are well on track to hit this goal. This does NOT, however, mean that we will revise any minting plans upwards or otherwise release more Moments simply because we have exceeded net neutral circulating supply in this Series.
To be super clear: we are unequivocally not minting more Moments because collectors have locked Moments, are redeeming Trade Tickets, or because Moments have been burned.
Since June 7, 2022 (start of Series 4) to January 25, 2023 (10:30am ET):
- Moments Put Into Circulation (non-Locker): 2,497,837 Moments
- Locked Moments: 3,232,383
- Trade Tickets Spent: 5,222,160
- Moments Distributed via Trade Ticket Packs: 3,227,352
- Net Trade Ticket Spend: 1,994,808
- Total Moments Burned: 3,769,694
- Moments Burned By Top Shot (Big Burn + Platinum Ice): 2,579,210
- Moments Burned by Collectors: 1,190,484
- Moments Traded In Then Burned: 715,333
In the Set Rewards Blog from July 2022, NBA Top Shot said packs would be “much more desirable in Series 4 than in Series 3.” Can you explain the strategy behind releasing so many Hot Packs and when we can expect less accessible packs?
The most exciting pack drops of the 2022-23 season are about to hit over the coming months: we expect Metallic Gold LE, Rookie Revelation, and Top Shot 50 packs in particular to be in high demand.
Having a great collection and Top Shot Score will be the best way to ensure you get the packs you want.
Meanwhile, Hot Packs and low cost entry level packs are available for new collectors, those who enjoy ripping packs for fun and entertainment, and to set us up for effective acquisition campaigns as well as the kind of experience necessary for Mobile.
Our two best days with regard to new collector signups in the last two months were directly tied to our last two Hot Pack drops (in December with Holiday of Hoops and last week with NBA Top Shot 50 Reveal packs).
Importantly, our product experience and onboarding will get much better soon at guiding collectors to and through the Marketplace to find Moments they love to build up their Top Shot Score for the hard-to-get packs later on.
Why do Parallels exist?
The concept of Parallels is very popular in the physical sports collectibles space. At Top Shot, we looked at Parallels as an awesome opportunity to create more variety and personalized collectibility in the Base Set in Series 4, while also building a bridge to a community we intend on making part of Top Shot’s future.
We believe Parallels add more dynamic ways to collect and give Top Shot opportunities to reward and excite collectors with limited run editions of different Moments, as shown with Clamps Team Leaderboard Rewards.
That being said, we acknowledge that the product and Marketplace experience around how Parallels are visualized and showcased need to be improved in the spirit of a more simple and clean experience with Top Shot. In addition, rarity of Parallels needs to be tuned. Expect upgrades here iteratively.
Is a Pack Marketplace still on the product roadmap for 2023?
Yes. The Pack Marketplace is on track to be delivered and launched in Series 4, and all the details about how it works and how you can participate will be shared when it’s launched.
When can we expect Top Shot to have a presence at NBA games?
Connecting with fans at NBA games has always been part of the big picture. Whether it’s offering real-time access to limited edition collectibles in-arena, or capturing the best Moments from a game you attend live and offering it to you in the future, it’s clear that there are many ways we can elevate the fan experience and make a special event even more memorable.
On January 19, 2023, NBA Top Shot worked with our partners at the NBA to offer every fan at Accor Arena for the NBA Paris Game between the Chicago Bulls and Detroit Pistons a free collectible, accessible via QR code, commemorating this historic game.
On January 25, 2023, NBA Top Shot and the Portland Trail Blazers have partnered to offer every fan at Moda Center the opportunity to redeem a free digital collectible celebrating their franchise’s all-time leading scorer while they’re at the game.
In the coming days, NBA Top Shot Tour Souvenir Packs will become available for a limited time, offering fans the opportunity to purchase a pack with unique Team Moments from 4 different games that were heavily attended by Top Shot’s community during our NBA Top Shot Tour.
As 2023 continues, we will look to continue offering new and innovative ways to improve the fan experience at NBA games with our community and partners.
Thank you for reading. If you have additional questions, let us know by emailing mailbag@nbatopshot.com for the February edition of this Mailbag.
