I think they are coming close to refining the distribution model which allows a particular set to be easy to get into and therefore good for new players and also valuable enough to have wide appeal so that it's not just garbage long term.

One of the overall things you seem to touch on is too many variants, too many cards in those series etc. I'm right there with you on this one. I've been there since week 1 and the game was, frankly, a lot more fun then, with free credits you could maintain a number of marathons, have trader dupes, and maybe touch into one of the 5k pack side sets, which hooked people into buying credits.

This obviously sucked for Topps, they were way off optimizing revenue and handing out too much free stuff. They have swung right into it being difficult to do anything significant with a free account, or even modest credit purchases. There's a balance to be struck where a free player can have a reasonable expectation of getting something to get the hook in and go from there. Imo this should be better odds and/or lower counts than what they're doing with shadowbox and other intro sets. A free player gets 5 packs a day, and that does nothing with 1:15 posters or 1:20 Space Art or 1:20 brown Dagobah or whatever else dropping every (other)day. The sets that are aimed at these guys aren't really catching (I don't think) with the community at large; Granite dark side, Shadowbox, teals etc are terrible traders. I think they could bridge the gap here and have an entry level with wider appeal.

The new user experience in this game needs work or too many won't stick around long enough to get to the point where they drop $100 repeatedly to grab that exclusive variant and chase multiple/harder variants. Not only is the community horrible and predatory, there is no guidance on what to do. Bunt, kick and huddle are similar, so I guess Topps doesn't really care or they have data that shows that I'm wrong and what they're doing is the right way.