It’s summer and Topps Series 1 & 2 Baseball have both been set loose. Obviously, the next step for the Topps Flagship line is the release of the 2021 Topps Baseball Complete Factory Set.
Buying this set is sort of like investing in index funds. It is sort of boring but all your basic needs are filled. When you rip packs you have the ability to get lots of inserts, parallels, short prints and even autographs. On the other hand, with the complete set you get every base card which includes all the stars and rookies released in Series 1 and 2. You don’t have to worry about getting duplicate cards nor do you have to continue to buy packs to fill the holes in your collection.
As a bonus Topps usually adds a handful of extra cards. This year will be no exception because the set will again contain a pack of five photo variation cards or parallels. Other than that, you will get all 660 base cards from Series 1 and 2. It is possible there will be additional variations but we will need to wait until the checklist is made available.
You have a few different options as in years past. There will be Retail (Blue) and Hobby (Red) versions. As in previous years there will also be Walmart (Green) and Target (Purple) versions. You should note that the exclusive cards will be different based on the version that you buy.
- Retail Set (Blue Box) includes 660 base cards plus the 5 card Rookie Variation Set
- Hobby Set (Red Box) includes 660 base cards plus 5 Hobby Foilboard parallels. These parallels are numbered to 310.
- Target Retail Set (Purple Box) includes 660 base cards plus the 5 card Rookie Variation Set and also 1 Chrome Rookie Variation Card. (The Chrome card is at one end of the base cards. It is a loose card and not in a wrapper.) These sets have been selling on the Target website for $50 with free shipping.
- Walmart Retail Set (Green Box) includes 660 base cards plus the Rookie Variation Set and also a pack of 5 Retail Foilboard Parallels. These parallels are numbered to 790. There is also a 1 in 3 chance that your whole set will be parallels. You could get a Gold Star parallel set, a Blue Star numbered to 299, an Orange Star numbered to 99 or the Foil Fractor number 1/1. The two packs are placed on top of the base cards rather than next to them. These have been available at Walmart stores for $59.99.
- Topps 582 Montgomery Club sets have a Montgomery stamp. These sets are exclusive to 582 Montgomery Club members.
The Rookie Variation Set includes:
(Note that the Target set will also have one of these same players as a Chrome card.)
- 12 Joey Bart
- 43 Jo Adell
- 187 Cristian Pache
- 277 Alec Bohm
- 285 Dylan Carlson
These do not replace the base cards with the same numbers; they are second cards with different photos.
Listed below are the Key Cards of the set. Prices are the High price taken from the August 2021 issue of Beckett Baseball. These prices are considered the Full Retail Selling Price. You may be able to buy at lower prices but it is unlikely that you could sell to a dealer at these prices. Note that Print Prices will change over time and there is a lag compared to current prices. Rookie card prices can change very quickly based on how well the player is doing and also because of injuries. This list has Rookie cards first and then selected Veterans. Note that at this time, only series 1 cards are included in this list.
Key Cards:
Rookies
- 12 Joey Bart $6
- 25 Sixto Sanchez $6
- 26 Bobby Dalbec $5
- 43 Jo Adell $8
- 143 Ryan Mountcastle $6
- 151 Evan White $4
- 187 Cristian Pache $6
- 197 Nick Madrigal $5
- 239 Ian Anderson $4
- 277 Alec Bohm $8
- 285 Dylan Carlson $5
- 321 Casey Mize $5
Veterans
- 1 Fernando Tatis Jr $3
- 27 Mike Trout $3
- 99 Aaron Judge $1.50
- 150 Shohei Otani $1
- 224 Vladimir Guerrero Jr $1
- 263 Ronald Acuna Jr $2.50
- 330 Juan Soto $2
Years ago you could have bought an armful of complete baseball sets from different companies. However, at this time, this is the only way to get a factory sealed complete baseball set. It is a fabulous gift option for birthdays, Christmas and as a birth year set.
The set was released on July 28th.
There will be 12 sets per case.
The best deal I see on eBay right now is for about $68 including shipping. This is for the Retail Version. The price and availability can change. Here is a link:
2021 Topps Baseball Retail Complete Set
Last Updated September 4, 2021