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A Dive Into the Bar Chart Race Data and How It Was Tracked

2024 was another exciting year in sports and entertainment and Topps, as always, offered us the opportunity to rip into the memories. We can also re-live many of those memories digitally on the Topps Instagram account. This is where I found myself one day when a thought occurred to me: “I wonder how often certain players get featured in Topps’ Instagram posts.” 

I truly was a bit curious how 2024 played out, although I would quickly be reminded that players might not be the correct word to track. Topps features more than just players as they seek to appeal to a wide range of interests.

Entertainment brands such as Star Wars and Garbage Pail Kids continued to flourish in 2024, while Disney Chrome was all the rage here at Mill Creek Sports. Sports cards such as Formula 1’s Max Verstappen, UEFA’s Erling Haaland, and UFC’s Alex Pereira offered elite players for everyone to collect. On the basketball court rookie phenoms Caitlyn Clark and Victor Wembanyama were the ultimate chase cards.

The baseball diamond is where Topps truly excels though and they didn’t disappoint. MLB had an exciting rookie class with plenty of amusing storylines. For example, not only did Pittsburgh flamethrower Paul Skenes’ live up to his billing on the field, but his relationship with influencer/gymnast Livvy Dunne captured our hearts. In Baltimore, Topps capitalized on Jackson Holliday’s much-anticipated debut by releasing a “fun face” variant in Series 2 - a play on a 1989 Billy Ripken card. 

I joined the team here at Mill Creek Sports last summer and am getting back into cards after 40+ years (really!?! I’m old). I was introduced to Allen & Ginter with their release in October, which was a hit. It quickly became my favorite due to its blend of sports and entertainment, as well as the historical aesthetic that respects the tradition of the game. 

Finally, all eyes were on MLB’s Aaron Judge as he racked up home runs and, even more so, Shohei Ohtani as he strove to become the first member of the 50 Home Run/50 Stolen Base Club. As if that wasn’t enough, seeing the two face off in the World Series continued to drive up the value of their cards!

With all of that in mind, I soon found myself soaring down a rabbit hole counting every player mentioned in December 2024. Was it time consuming? A bit. Should I have given up? Probably. Did I? Nope. I had already done one month, what was 11 more? Yes, it would be time consuming, but I could simply tackle it in my downtime and it would ultimately make for a pretty solid bar chart race for social media and our blog. (Is it? Is it feeling solid?) Plus, being fairly new to the industry I saw this as a great way to further my education in trading cards, as well as learn how to make an animated bar chart race, which you can view on our Mill Creek Sports Instagram (vertical) or YouTube (horizontal) accounts.

So with that, I scrolled all the way back to January 2024 and continued tracking each day’s Instagram posts. (FYI, the original animated bar chart race showed a daily progression but the bars moved so fast you could barely keep up! So, I switched it to weekly.)

I recorded a number of notes along the way, so the easiest way to write this blog - and probably the easiest way to read it as well - is to simply share those notes as bullet points. The most important thing to understand however, is that this was a highly unscientific research project with many of the decisions about who to include and who not to include often decided on a whim. Why? Mostly because many of the posts are videos where speakers might rattle off a number of players, but really only key in on a few. So yeah, please don’t come at me questioning the data. Just have fun with it and know that even if it’s not perfect, it’s probably pretty close and surely offers enough to drive some fun conversations. Here are some examples.

CONVERSATION STARTERS

1. How awesome was it to see the WNBA’s Caitlyn Clark and Angel Reese setting the pace early in January? 
2. Was Ronald Acuna Jr. worthy of multiple months at the top or was it simply due to being the face of Topps Series 1 2024?
3. As you watched Tom Brady and Ken Griffey Jr. battle up and down the chart, who do you think was most deserving of being included?
4. How did Steph Curry not make the Top 20? (He missed by one, tied with Wyatt Langford at 22 mentions.)

…And with that, our bullet point lists are underway. Next up, are the rules.

I referred to these regularly while documenting the mentions in Topps’ Instagram posts, though there are still a ton of gray areas so I definitely leaned on #6 a few times. Also, of the 3,240 mentions, there were 1,089 unique individuals mentioned. Given that I only included the top 20 in the bar chart, the final results surely represent the most talked about characters of the year (different rule interpretations would’ve only resulted in a couple point changes here and there). 

THE RULES

1. Only count those included on cards.
1. 12/20: Roman, a sports photographer, is the focus of the post as he can be seen in Nelson Velazquez' baseball card, but only Nelson gets a point (okay, that’s a total bummer so I should rethink that one). 
2. 4/16: Changed “players” to “those included on cards" since youth ballplayer Rowan Watkins won the opportunity to be on his own card
3. 5/1 Beekeeper Matt Hilton scored his own card as well (plus there are plenty of other non-players such as historical figures, Star Wars characters, etc. in other posts).
2. Count the featured speaker if they are notable (which, of course, is a judgement call).
1. 12/20: UFC CEO Dana White is featured on #RipItFriday so I included him. 
2. 6/19: Bob Kendrick, President of Negro Leagues Baseball Museum earned a point, but I debated and ultimately didn’t award one to Marc Cheatham of Black Baseball Mixtape. What do I know though? Marc may be more famous than Bob (very well may be if he’s fronting a media channel).
3. If you can't pin the post on one individual, just call it Other (Description).
4. Only count main individual(s) discussed, unless others were included intentionally.
1. 12/13: Will Clark was the most highlighted player in the video featuring pulls from a vintage quarter vending machine. 
2. 7/25: Video revolves around an Ohtani card, but does briefly show Skenes and Witt Jr. who I chose to include because I know the director put them there intentionally. 
   
   

    

    

    

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3. 7/25: The post highlights the "last card in the stack" and the video highlights Adley Rutschman at the end, but it shows others which weren’t randomly pulled from a pack. They are encapsulated so they were intentionally included and therefore earned a point. 
4. 8/18: In the video of Tom Brady buying cards, the post is all about him, but they DID take the time to show one particular card - a dual with him and Joe Montana - so I'm giving Joe a point. 
5. 9/18: Video with Karl Anthony-Thomas is all about the final CJ Stroud card, but the video is edited to specifically include a few others so I counted them as well.
6. 9/19: Jerry Rice pulls 4 cards, but the video editor only took the time to flash three of them on the screen (Bryce Young, Joe Montana, Steve Young). Jerry mentioned Troy Aikman’s name when he saw his card, but the editor didn’t cut away to a closeup of it so, sorry Troy, you didn't make the cut.
5. When revealing a pack, only count the main card that drove the post. (I know this seems a bit redundant to the last one, but it’s different, okay? You just have to trust me!)
1. 12/7: In this video, @hitmanrips reveals a handful of solid cards, but it's the Elly De La Cruz at the end that truly shines. 
2. 5/31: Another video example, numbered relics from Machado, Alvarez, and Boggs, but Ohtani gets the solo nod here.
6. If it's too complicated, move on.
1. 12/6: Yup, lazy man's strategy here. There is a video promoting the new MLS Debut Patch Autograph Cards and a handful of cards are featured for a split second, but while some are fully displayed, others only show a fraction of the card. It's kind of complicated to determine who should and shouldn't earn points in this post so, heck with it, no soup for any of you! Moving on...
7. Players can only earn a point once per post.
1. 12/3: Multiple players were featured in a post about 2024 Bowman Draft "Variety Packs." Jac Caglianone and Travis Bazzana each had two cards featured, but they only earned one point for the post itself.
8. If multiple players are discussed, only count the players featured most.
1. 12/2: Paul Skenes mentions in the video that he'd like to have the MLB Debut Patch cards of Jared Jones, Elly De La Cruz, Shota Imanaga, but only Imanaga is highlighted in the main graphic. (Yes, there’s a gray area here and it’s similar to #4 and #5, but again, it’s different. You just gotta trust me!)
9. (Pertains to spreadsheet) Bold non-athletes.
1. 12/1: Amelia Earhart is bold. 
2. 1/23: Competitive Eater Joey Chestnut and Skateboarder Tony Hawk are considered athletes since they compete. 
3. 8/19: Is Livvy Dunne more of an athlete or an influencer? Tough call here (for me anyway because I don’t really follow college gymnastics), so I played it safe, asked Google if she was an “elite” gymnast, and Google said yes. Good enough for me so I considered her an athlete and didn't bold her name. 
   
   

    

    

    

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4. 10/21: This includes dogs. Sorry dogs, competing in the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show doesn't make you an athlete. (I'm gonna get destroyed by dog lovers for this.)
10. (Pertains to spreadsheet) Bold and italicize fictional characters and general things.
1. 4/22: Example, the cards for characters from the movie Dune. 
2. 10/25: Example, Inca Tern - a type of bird x-rayed in the Allen & Ginter 2024 set.
11. If there's a fictional character, but also an autograph from the actor, count both names.
1. 8/14: Star Wars cards show the character, but are signed by the actor so both get a point.
12. Don't count a player if they are simply featured on a box's logo (part of the set's brand) unless they are specifically recognized in the post.
1. 1/16: The video shows DJ Wagner on the Bowman U Chrome box so he doesn’t earn a point however he is in the graphic post on 1/19 when he appears to be highlighted along with others so he does earn a point there.
13. Use full names if possible. Wait, nevermind… UPDATE: Use the name on the card.
1. 3/21: Xavi has a card that just says Xavi. Ichiro Suzuki's often just say Ichiro as well, but I don't want to decide who gets to go by just one name so requiring full names frees me from having to decide. 
2. 3/22: UPDATE!!! Gavi's card is displayed. Upon further research, his full name is Pablo Martín Páez Gavira. So uh, yeah, Gavi's good. (I switched all the Ichiro Suzuki’s back to Ichiro as well.)
3. 4/22: This post promotes cards from the movie Dune. Instead of listing the actor's names (Timothée Chalamet and Zendaya) the cards display their characters (Paul Atreides and Chani) so it’s their characters that get the point (no autograph so #11 doesn’t apply).
14. If a character (ie. Garbage Pail Kid) represents a real person, use the real person.
1. 11/20: Never Outman represents James Outman so James gets a point. I'm a little worried though as I'm 11 months in and feel like I've encountered this before, however when I searched my records for the GPK for Shohei, Elly, and Skenes I didn't get any results. I'm sure we've seen GPK's before so I must've used the player’s real name previously without making a rule.

Finally, a quick peek inside my head with some…

RANDOM NOTES:

1. 5/25: Would probably be nice if I gave an extra point for appearing in the main photo when there are multiple photos in the post. I mean, there's surely a reason Paul Skenes is in the main photo compared to the other players in this particular MLB Debut Patch post. Hmmm…makes you wonder how much a casual marketing decision (such as who to feature in the main image on a post) can influence the value of a card.
2. While Topps' Marketing team surely has a content calendar and a basic sense of who will be featured at what times throughout the year, there are many times when a player randomly makes an appearance in a post. For instance, when a handful of cards are randomly selected to be featured (or not so randomly selected, but selected at the last moment none the less). Tracking these next level details here brings attention to some of the players who might not have been planned for, but did ultimately leave their mark in the sports card community.
3. 7/19: Thanks to this video, I was today years old when I learned that Ronaldo and Cristiano Ronaldo are two different players. (I then had to double-check what I wrote in 7.5 months of previous records. And no, I’m obviously not the biggest soccer fan, but I do enjoy it and this project has opened my eyes to the game even further.)
4. These rules are being made up along the way and, while I'm doing my best to remember if they contradict any previous rules or decisions, I can't be 100% sure without going back through every single post again every time I make a rule...and that ain't happenin'. Plus, again, I think different rule interpretations would’ve only resulted in a couple point changes here and there.
5. Trying to remember what I've been calling people can be challenging. I'm always wondering, for example, "Am I tracking both Steph Curry and Stephen Curry?" There isn't always consistency in the naming on the cards. I did go back and make that particular record consistent, opting for Stephen. Why Stephen? I dunno.
6. 9/2: Debut patch players aren't always the easiest to identify. The soccer post wins for the most time-consuming research effort. Maybe players should have their last names on the front of their jerseys too?
7. 9/28: Kevin Hart wore a Jimi Hendrix shirt that is visible throughout the video. No, it's not a card. No he didn't discuss Jimi. But dang it, I make the rules here and if I have an opportunity to include Jimi, I'm gonna include Jimi!
8. Kills me that Instagram videos don’t have a forward and reverse slider like YouTube. I miss a name, I gotta watch the whole video again! At least you can pause it. That helped immensely, especially on those autograph booklets.
9. Non-athletes were mentioned on 58 separate days and here are more useless statistics (first number is Total Mentions, second number is Unique Mentions):
1. 20/14 Musicians (John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Ringo Starr, Mick Jagger, Ludwig van Beethoven, Taylor Swift, Kanye, DJ Khaled, Bad Bunny, Jay-Z, Frank Sinatra, Travis Scott, Quavo)
2. 24/16 Founding Fathers and/or Presidents (George Washington, John F. Kennedy, Abraham Lincoln, Thomas Jefferson, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Chester A. Arthur, John Adams, Grover Cleveland, Theodore Roosevelt, Andrew Johnson, William H. Taft, Harry Truman, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Calvin Coolidge, Lyndon B. Johnson, Ulysses S. Grant)
3. 7/7 Comedians (Spencer Mumford, Sal Vulcano, Brian Quinn, Joe Gatto, James Murray, Coach Al, Tim Robinson)
4. 3/3 Star Wars (Han Solo, Chewbacca, Darth Vader)
5. 2/2 Dune (Paul Atreides, Chani)
6. 10/10 Dinosaurs (Triceratops, Brachiosaurus, Pterosaur, Mosasaur, Dimetrodon, Triceratops, Tyrannosaurus, Raptor, Pterosaur, Stegosaurus)
7. 8/8 Dogs (Uno, Trumpet, Josh, Daniel, Betty, Micah, Monty, Sage)
8. 3/3 Birds (Bald Eagle, Inca Tern, Turkey)
9. 1/1 Horned Horses (Unicorn)

That about wraps things up. Did the bar chart race video exist well enough on its own? I mean, did I even NEED to write a blog to accompany the post? Probably not, but I figured there were probably other data geeks out there like me that would enjoy a deeper dive. 

Congratulations to our 2024 Topps Instagram Champion, Shohei Ohtani!!! 

(We welcome you to come do a signing here at Mill Creek Sports and you can pick up your trophy.)