Trading Cards for Archers

People collect stuff. This is probably down to shared ancestry. 150 million years ago (somewhere between the late Triassic and early Jurassic period), we share an ancestor with squirrels. Probably as a consequence, we both collect. While squirrels collect nuts and acorns, human collecting went in a different direction. It could be plush toys. Its could be model cars. Or it could be the very popular trading card sets ... sports, trading card games (like Pokemon or Magic the Gathering) or entertainment trading cards (like Pixar or StarWars). Its no exaggeration to say the collectible card market in the USA is huge ($5 billion per year). Yes, there is a point to this. We're setting the scene.

Of course, as archers we collect archery kit (world wide market about $4.5 billion annually). Bows, arrows, tools, quivers, tabs, spares. Its rare that a dedicated archer doesn't have, (to a greater or lesser extent), a room in their house dedicated to their growing collection of Toxophilia related items. In some extreme cases it fills the entire house including small shrines to Korean lady archers! Some of the collectible card people have noticed archer's tendency to collect and have decided to dip their toes into this as yet untapped market with collectible trading cards FOR ARCHERS!

The company taking this bold step is Titan Sports SHQ. They are a new NFC‑enabled* sports‑collectible brand that produces officially licensed digital–physical hybrid trading cards. To explain what that means .. they are marketing collectible cards but cards which can unlock extra digital material when you tap it with your phone. All the traditional fun of collecting sports themed cards but with content for the internet age. This is how it works:

• The trading card contains a tiny NFC chip (the same tech used in contactless payments).
• You tap the card with an NFC‑enabled phone.
• Your phone instantly opens a secure web page or app tied uniquely to that item with the digital content stored online, not on the chip itself.

Neat huh? Officially licensed by World Archery, Titan have made the first-ever trading card series for our sport. In the Series One launch set, each pack contain 4 cards, with 1 guaranteed diamond-tier card. The cards link to exclusive athlete stories, stats, gear insights, bios, achievements, quotes, equipment details, and videos although several of these categories are only available on diamond-tier cards (the rare ones).Collectors who gather all 8 base cards unlock a secret 9th card, described as "highly desirable for archery fans". (If this secret 9th card isn't Ki Bo Bae our editor is going to be PISSED!)

Sample from the new upcoming card game - Archery the Blathering

However, with 21st century technology comes 21st century prices. Each pack of 4 cards cost £20 and there's no guarantee that simply buying 2 packs will get you all the cards in the set. In fact to get all eight diamond cards (we assume there's a normal and diamond version of each card) might take 12-16 packs ... and here we see card collecting's "monkey on your back". Archers already can have horrible OCD. Add to that the completionist quirk and all hell is about to hit your wallet. The cost of a dozen packs to get all the cards would buy you an extremely nice flat bow or a very spiffy riser or a good set of arrows. We're not sure that fomo, while very effective in driving collectors, is going to come between an archer and their relentless desire to add to their archery kit mountain.We are a doing sport after all, unlike the vast majority of baseball, football and basketball fans who express their love for their sport buying memorabilia.

Will this new venture take off? We're not so sure. These prices in the current economic climate are not going to vibe with people who may prefer to save for increasingly expensive archery kit. The cards are nice but they seem to have been priced for an American market where disposable income is higher and they aren't looking at endless tax hikes, insane energy costs or rampant inflation on food. Additionally, in the UK we don't have the same history for collectible sports cards. Still it was nice to see someone do something different in the archery space .. question is, will some of our more "committed" archers dip a toe in the water. Watch this space to find out.

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* Near Field Communication (NFC) is a short-range, wireless technology that enables secure, contactless communication between devices—such as smartphones, payment terminals, or tags—within a close proximity of 4 cm or less. Operating at 13.56MHz, it is primarily used for rapid data exchange, mobile payments, and access control.

Club Chair Michael has already predicted one GA member will buy. We cant decide who he means ... can you guess?

Titan's face book page can be found here
Titan Sports SHQ's shop front can be found here
Stocked at Merlin