Topps Trading Cards Contests “No Purchase Necessary” Rules Class Action

The Topps Company, Inc. sells trading cards, some of which are valuable. This class action centers on its “redemption cards,” which allow holders to use a code to get a specialty card. The complaint alleges that redemption cards must be available on a “No Purchase Necessary” basis, in order for the cards to be offered as a (legal) contest and not as a(n illegal) lottery.

Two classes have been defined for this action:

• The District of Columbia Class is all persons in Washington, DC who bought the product during the applicable statutes of limitations.
• The Consumer Fraud Multi-State Class is all persons in New York, Arkansas, Iowa, Utah, and Montana who bought the product during the applicable statutes of limitations.

According to the complaint, trading cards have been increasing in value: “For example, Michael Jordan’s rookie card was valued at $39,600 in January 2020, and within one year, the value had skyrocketed to $720,000.”

Redemption cards are “wild cards” that allow buyers to use a redemption code to get random specialty cards. The complaint alleges that the specialty cards can be worth anywhere from $1 to $50,000.

The complaint claims, “Federal and state law require that a contest which offers a chance at winning a thing of value permit any person to enter, regardless of whether they purchased the item in question (“No Purchase Necessary” or “NPN”).” If a contest does not provide for NPN entries, the complaint claims, then it is deemed a lottery and is not legal under federal and state law.

According to the complaint, NPN instructions “are required to be equally prominent to other methods of entry and cannot place a non-purchaser at a disadvantage relative to a purchaser.”

However, the complaint reproduces an image of a trading card pack offering buyers to “1 Autograph or Relic Card.” Below it, in a much smaller font, are the words “No Purchase Necessary” and “See Pack for Details.” But neither the front nor the back of the box gives details for NPN entries; those instructions, the complaint alleges, are inside the box, on the wrapping around the cards. People thus cannot enter without buying a box of cards, the complaint claims.

Sometimes the instructions do appear outside the box, but the complaint claims that the requirements for NPNs may be difficult or impossible. For example, the complaint claims that the Bowman Platinum Cards were released on October 15, 2021, but the deadline for NPN entries was in the previous month, with entries having to be postmarked by September 12 and received by September 19, 2021.

The complaint alleges that customers therefore believe they must buy the products for a better chance at winning valuable redemption cards, thus allowing Topps to sell more cards at a higher price than it would otherwise have been able to.

Article Type: Lawsuit
Topic: Consumer
Tags: Contest Rules, Illegal Lottery, No Purchase Necessary