Fanatics Collectibles isn’t just the world’s largest trading card company — it’s also one of the most creative, continually finding new ways to enhance the digital collector experience. Built on a legacy of creativity and innovation, Fanatics Collectibles aims to provide a global digital collecting experience that is rewarding, immersive, and interactive.

Today, via the Topps Now digital card product line, major sports moments are transformed into shareable experiences quicker than ever. Powered by Adobe Firefly Services, a collection of generative and creative APIs, the goal is to capture these moments — be it a 10-strikeout performance from MLB All-Star Shohei Ohtani or an unprecedented triple-double from NBA superstar Luka Dončić — and turn them into digital trading cards within 24 hours.

That means accelerating how quickly moments transform into digital cards and streamlining production so new content can be created in hours. The faster these cards reach the app, the sooner collectors can discover them, trade them, and celebrate the stories that make sports unforgettable.

“As a sports fan, nothing beats the excitement of seeing history in the making and sharing that experience with friends, family, and fellow collectors,” says Andrew Chan, vice president of Topps Digital at Fanatics Collectibles. “By helping our development team create these moments more efficiently with Firefly Services, we are able to accelerate how quickly these moments reach digital collectors globally.”

Creating moments that capture fan excitement.

Trading cards aren’t just collectibles. They’re also conversation starters. When someone pulls a rare Topps Now digital card, offers from fellow collectors immediately come in. To capitalize on these moments of connection, Fanatics Collectibles needs to capture major sports moments and make them shareable while excitement is at its peak.

Fanatics Collectibles’ digital designers must meet the content needs of multiple leagues and entertainment partners, including Disney, Marvel, MLB, MLS, NBA, Premier League, Star Wars, UEFA, and WWE. Each demands precise work, requiring designers to spend up to weeks converting physical cards into digital formats.

Realizing a manual process would not match demand, the Fanatics Collectibles team partnered with Adobe to transform its end-to-end approach to digital card creation and web promotion.

AI automation with real human impact.

Fanatics Collectibles focused on two use cases for Firefly Services: converting physical sports cards into digital collectibles and automating in-app web banner production. These workflows previously required manual clipping, cropping, masking, asset isolation, and repeated PSD updates — often performed thousands of times per set.

The impact was immediate. Since automating the conversion of printed sports cards into digital collectibles, Fanatics Collectibles has accelerated its workflows by six times and reduced its content creation time from weeks to hours. During the 2024-2025 MLB season, for instance, Fanatics Collectibles leveraged Firefly Services to create digital cards within hours of historic in-game moments.

Fanatics Collectibles’ transformation with Adobe has also spurred a creative renaissance for its designers. Freed from repetitive production work, they’ve started experimenting with new content types to reach a wider audience, from anime-inspired cards to bobblehead-style animations to themed art drops for specific fan subcultures — expansions that were previously impossible at their old pace.

“We’re not just using AI to be more efficient. We’re using it as a collaboration tool to iterate in real time,” Chan says. “It has unlocked mindshare to innovate new art styles and designs for our collectors.”

Driving deeper fan engagement.

Thanks to the Adobe Photoshop APIs within Firefly Services, Fanatics Collectibles has automated creative tasks across content formats, from in-app product banners to digital trading cards.

The Remove Background API, for example, streamlines removing background elements from player images, cutting hours off the process. Meanwhile, the Product Crop API helps designers ensure consistent framing across thousands of visuals without manually adjusting each asset.

​​​Today, Fanatics Collectibles relies on Firefly Services to accelerate image production, removing backgrounds from more than 30,000 images and automating assembly of over 12,000 banner templates. Together, the company’s automated workflows have helped Fanatics Collectibles’ designers regain more than 60% of their time, allowing them to dedicate more energy to new franchise partners, innovate card design, and value-adding work.

Fanatics Collectibles’ operational gains weren’t just about speed — they helped improve its cost structure. By automating its digital content supply chain with the solution and minimizing its reliance on external creative resources, the business has improved production efficiency. As importantly, Fanatics Collectibles’ growing digital portfolio has positioned the company to drive new levels of engagement and bring its fan community closer together.

Rethinking personalization for the AI age.

Fanatics Collectibles continues to scale its content production with Firefly Services improving speed and quality while enabling more personalized experiences for collectors.

A key part of that evolution is happening through co-innovation with Adobe’s forward-deployed engineers and applied AI scientists. Together, the teams are exploring what the next generation of card creation could look like in the AI era.

The goal is simple — help collectors discover and engage with cards seamlessly, especially as search and commerce shift toward AI-powered experiences.

“The foundation we’ve built with Firefly Services has positioned us to further enhance our digital product offering for our collectors,” Chan says. “Our AI journey with Adobe is just getting started.”

https://business.adobe.com/fragments/resources/cards/thank-you-collections/firefly