Full Team Sets and Collector Score

Back in May, Top Shot unveiled one of the best and most important additions to the platform, Collector Score. The idea behind Collector Score was to reward users that continued to build their collection while disincentivizing rent seeking and quick flips. Each Moment was assigned a point value depending on Series and rarity, and bonuses were unlocked for reaching specific collection achievements, including a Set Completion Bonus, a Series Team Bonus, a Full Team Bonus, and cumulative marketplace spend. For example, an S1 Base Set Common is worth 25 points, an S2 Base Set Common is worth 10 points, and an S3 Base Set Common is worth 2 points. The importance of strategically building your collection and maximizing bonuses became an integral part of Top Shot, as pack drops had Collector Score thresholds which determined eligibility. We recognized the importance of maximizing Collector Score and built our Collector Score Calculator to help users achieve their desired Collector Score in the most cost-efficient way possible. As Top Shot has evolved, so has Collector Score and the corresponding strategies used by the community to maximize their budgets.

One thing that has become apparent is the difficulty in completing Full Team Bonuses, which requires users to collect at least one Moment from each player ever to be featured on a specific team.

From the onset, the Full Team Bonus was meant to be the most difficult to achieve, as the screenshot above illustrates. Sets like Run It Back make completing certain team sets extremely difficult, as many of these players are retired and only have one Moment. For example, Carmelo Anthony’s Run It Back from S1 is required to complete the Knicks Full Team Bonus, but the low ask here is $2,799 as there are only 275 total in circulation. While Carmelo has Moments from his days in Denver, Portland, and now Los Angeles, his one Knick Moment is very restrictive due to the circulation size. For Carmelo’s time with the Lakers, even though he only has one Momemt, a Fresh Threads Challenge Reward, it is an S3 Moment with a mint size of 4,514 and a floor price of $129, making that team set far more attainable.

This level of scarcity is not inherently a bad thing. In fact, it’s a good thing, especially as we’ve seen what happens when the market is flooded with Moments. Rare Moments are supposed to be rare and Legendary Moments are supposed to be legendary. They are supposed to be difficult to obtain and valuable to hold.

But, it may be time for a change to Team Sets, especially on the heels of last Thursday’s pack drop. Similar to the Carmelo example above, two new Moments were dropped that have major ramifications for Team Sets and Collector Score – the Jeff Hornacek Utah Moment and the Vince Carter Toronto Moment. Before yesterday, Carter had five Moments, two from Atlanta and three from New Jersey. The most expensive Moment out of the bunch was his S1 Cosmic Legendary, with an monstrous low ask of $28,999. However, this Moment also had a common S1 counterpart, at a much more obtainable $494 current low ask. The formula worked perfect – an incredible Legendary for a first ballot Hall of Famer, coupled with a still valuable but not unobtainable Common Moment. While Collector Score didn’t exist back in S1, the pairing worked to perfection. His Nets Moments were from the Summer Series and ranged from $24 – $320.

The problem lies with his Toronto Moment, dropped yesterday. Let’s be clear – the Moment itself is amazing and iconic, truly legendary from an NBA historical perspective. However, if you previously had the entire Toronto Full Team Set, you’re now one very important piece short – and it’ll run you $12,500 at current low ask. The Hornacek scenario for the Utah team set represents the exact same scenario, though the price tag is “just” $3,100.

So, is it time for a tiered Team Set approach? Here at OTM, we think so, especially with the introduction of tiered Flash Challenges, which have been well received. But our team had varying opinions on what the best approach would be to achieve the optimal outcome. Below are two of the ideas that were discussed during an impassioned weekend Slack session, but we’d really like to hear from the community on what you think!

Option 1

– Common, Rare, and Legendary Full Team Set Completions

– Legendary Status = you hold one of each player, regardless of Moment tier

If you currently have a Full Team Set completed, that would count as “Legendary” status

– Rare Status = you hold one of each player, *with the exception of Legendary bottlenecks*

If you previously had completed the Utah or Toronto Full Team Sets but do not have the Hornacek/Carter Legendary Moments, that would count as “Rare” status

– Common Status = you hold one of each player, *with the exception of Rare and/or Legendary bottlenecks*

If you had all players from a given team minus those with Rare and/or Legendary bottlenecks (like the Carmelo and Stoudemire Rare Knicks bottlenecks), that would count as “Common” status

Option 1 would help alleviate the existing bottleneck issues that Full Team Sets currently face, ensuring that collectors that worked hard to complete these sets aren’t suddenly left with nothing if a new Legendary Moment is added to the equation, something that could be out of the price range for plenty of users. But, what if it’s time for an even larger shakeup, and like regular sets, Teams become tier-based rather than Series-based? Option 2 provides that shakeup:

Option 2

– Common, Rare, and Legendary Full Team Set Completions

– Legendary Status = you hold a Legendary Moment for every player on the team that has one

– Rare Status = you hold a Rare Moment for every player on the team that has one

– Common Status = you hold a Common Moment for every player on the team that has one

This option may seem very simple, which is a good thing, but there are a few important notes and added benefits that we want to highlight in order to contextualize this option.

Common Full Team Sets would be reasonably priced. At current low asks, prices would range from $171 – $805 depending on the team, which is in line with a typical S2 Team Set
Common sets encourage collecting across all series (S3 rookies, S1 debuts, S2 Common LE Moments etc.) breathing new life into this tier and potentially boosting the floor and liquidity of these Moments.
For new users, completing the Common set option from their favorite team would be an affordable, guided start on the platform.
Rare sets would give new utility to Rare Moments that are often stuck in limbo, with limited direct utility (e.g. MGLE Moments)

Below is a look at how how much sets would cost in this new Tiered Teams world, based on current low asks. For Common sets, the prices range from $170 to $806 to complete a team.

Also a view of completion numbers – keep in mind they are baselined lower because collectors are not intentionally pursuing them. One interesting callout is the Legendary completions for the Suns and Bucks due to those that have completed the NBA Finals Set.

These two scenarios are far from exhaustive. The first option would be a simple revamping of the existing structure, with a primary focus of alleviating the bottleneck concerns. This would ensure that Collector Score bonuses are not stripped from collectors that had completed the Full Team Set, only for an expensive new (and possibly unattainable) Legendary Moment to drop, leaving them one Moment short. The second option would be a larger shift, completely revamping the Team Set experience. Not only would the Common tier be attainable to the majority of users, but Rares that are currently caught in no-man’s land would also be rejuvinated with new forms of utility, while Legendary tier would have the most bragging rights and utility. Much of the viability of any form of tiered system depends on the utility that comes along with the accomplishment – for example, Option 2’s Rare and Legendary tiers would need to be accompanied by some serious utility – would exclusive in-arena experiences (tickets, suites, transportation etc.) be in the works for this level of commitment? We’ve had plenty of lively internal discussions about what approach might work, what issues could arise, and what form of utility might be appropriate at each tier, but now we’d love to hear from you! Got an idea you think would work? Think the current system works just fine? See some pitfalls a tiered system might not solve? Let’s hear it!