I used to think of the return of baseball as starting with Pitchers and Catchers reporting for Spring Training. (This year it will be Feb 15) But for me now the harbinger of Baseball is when Topps releases Series 1 of their flagship product.
Surprisingly there will be a change in the number of base cards. Even stranger it is a reduction to 330 cards from the 350 in the 2020 Series 1. Series 2 is expected to also have 330 cards. The last time Topps had a 660 card set was in 2014. This will be the 70th set of Topps Baseball cards which started with their iconic 407 card 1952 release that was designed by Sy Berger. The 1952 set paved the way for all modern sports card releases.
This issue will have the return of white borders and will have a 70th anniversary stamp in one of the top corners.
Parallels will include:
- Advanced Stat (1-300)
- 70th Anniversary (1/1)
- Black (1-70 Hobby/Jumbo)
- Clear (1-10 Regular Hobby Only)
- Father’s Day Blue (1-50)
- Gold (1-2021)-The number available matches the current year of the set.
- Gold Foil (1 in 2 jumbo packs)
- Green (1-499 Unannounced)
- Independence Day (1-76)
- Memorial Day Camo (1-25)
- Mother’s Day Pink (1-50)
- Orange (1-299 Unannounced))
- Platinum (1/1)
- Platinum Anniversary (New, 1-70)
- Printing Plates (1-10 Hobby?)
- Purple (Meijer)
- Rainbow Foil (1 in 10 packs)
- Red (1-199 Unannounced)
- Royal Blue (Walmart)
- Vintage Stock (1-99)
- Yellow (Walgreens)
Subseries will include the usual Future Stars, League Leaders and World Series Highlights.
Inserts will include the next edition of the 35th Anniversary of Topps, (100). These will emulate the 1986 Topps cards. 70 Years of Topps Baseball (70), the History of Topps (10) and Topps Through the Years (25) will also be included.
Topps Platinum Players Die Cuts will have the 70 greatest players that appeared on Topps cards. Series 1 will have the first twenty five in this set. Other inserts will include:
- Stars in Service (25)
- Topps Double Headers (25)
- 1952 Topps Redux (50) 1 per retail pack
The checklist was released on Feb 1, 2021.
Fernando Tatis Jr was named as being #1 on Jan 28, 2021 after a fan vote. Tatis said “It’s a great feeling You know, I’m part of a pretty special group up there and just the fact that I’m up there with them is just a special moment”. Since fans started voting in 2016, the following have been the #1 card:
- 2016 Mike Trout
- 2017 Kris Bryant
- 2018 Aaron Judge
- 2019 Ronald Acuna Jr
- 2020 Mike Trout
- 2021 Fernando Tatis Jr
There are 50 Rookies in the set. Notable rookies include:
(All ages based on highest age during the 2021 Season)
- Alec Bohm 3B- Phillies #277, Age 25. (**Exceeded Rookie Limit in 2020)
- Joey Bart C Giants #12, Age 24. (MLB Ranking # 23)
- Jo Adell OF- Angels #43, Age 22 (**2020)
- Deivi Garcia P – Yankees #41, Age 22
- Dylan Carlson OF – Cardinals #285, Age 22. (MLB # 13)
- Ryan Mountcastle OF – Orioles #143, Age 24. (MLB # 77)
- Cristian Pache OF – Braves #187, Age 22. (MLB # 12)
- Bobby Dalbec 1B/3B- Red Sox #26, Age 26. (MLB # 93)
- Luis Garcia 2B- Nationals #298, Age 21. (**2020)
- Sixto Sanchez P – Marlins #25, Age 23. (MLB # 15)
- Ian Anderson P- Braves #239, Age 23 (MLB # 18)
- Brady Singer P- Royals #169, Age 25 (**2020)
- Casey Mize P – Tigers #321, Age 24. (MLB # 11)
- Tarik Skubal P – Tigers #92, Age 24 (MLB # 24)
- Evan White 1B – Mariners #151, Age 25 (**2020)
Base Card Checklist, (Code 213):
1 Fernando Tatis Jr
2 Roberto Osuna
3 Matt Chapman
4 David Both
5 Julio Urias
6 Jutus Sheffield
7 Dab on ‘Em. (This is the first time in recent years that #7 was not a NY Yankee)
8 Mauricio Dub-on
9 Max Fried
10 Daulton Varsho RC
11 Max Kepler
12 Joey Bart RC
13 Mookie Betts
14 Do it for the Fans
15 Mookie Betts WSH
16 Patrick Sandoval
17 Sean Doolittle
18 Shun Yamaguchi
19 Jakob Junis
20 JD Martinez
21 Eric Sogard
22 Pedro Severino
23 Nomar Mazara
24 Nolan Arenado
25 Sixto Sanchez RC
26 Bobby Dalbec RC
27 Mike Trout
28 Luke Weaver
29 Chris Davis
30 Miguel Andujar
31 Brandon Kintzier
32 Edward Olivares RC
33 Yonathan Daza
34 Roberto Perez
35 Danny Santana
36 Charlie Morton
37 Jose Quintana
38 Mitch Moreland
39 New York Yankees Team Card
40 Joc Pederson
41 Deivi Garcia RC
42 Kyle Lewis CUP
43 Jo Adell RC
44 Walker Buehler WSH
45 Wade LeBlanc
46 Jesus Luzardo FS
47 Ketel Marte
48 Maikel Franco
49 Starling Marte
50 Cody Bellinger
51 Sean Manaea
52 Archie Bradley
53 Andres Gimenez RC
54 Joakim Soria
55 Nick Senzel
56 Steven Matz
57 Will Smith
58 Washington Nationals Team Card
59 Milwaukee Brewers Team Card
60 Yu Darvish LL
61 A Playful Bout of Juniors
62 Stephen Vogt
63 Ronald Guzman
64 Chris Taylor
65 Isaac Paredes RC
66 Ryan Brasier
67 Clayton Kershaw
68 Charlie Blackmon
69 Gio Gonzalez
70 Detroit Tigers Team Card
71 Randy Dobnak
72 Shane Bieber LL
73 Colorado Rockies Team Card
74 Byron Buxton
75 Kolten Wong
76 Jon Gray
77 Jack Flaherty
78 David Peterson RC
79 Roman Quinn
80 Liam Hendriks
81 Brett Gardner
82 Michael Lorenzen
83 Galvin Lux FS
84 Pete Alonso
85 Brusdar Graterol FS
86 Austin Meadows
87 Jorge Alfaro
88 Albert Abreu RC
89 Lucas Giolito
90 Shane Bieber LL
91 Orlando Arcia
92 Tarik Skubal RC
93 Hunter Harvey
94 Josh Donaldson
95 Gerrit Cole
96 Brian Goodwin
97 Niko Goodrum
98 Lourdes Gurriel Jr
99 Aaron Judge
100 Christian Yelich
101 Travis d’Arnaud
102 Paul DeJong
103 Daniel Johnson RC
104 Kenta Maeda
105 Shane Bieber LL
106 Brandon Nimmo
107 David Dahl
108 DJ LeMahieu LL
109 Jean Segura
110 Ian Happ
111 Austin Riley
112 Justin Verlander
113 Nate Pearson RC
114 Colin Moran
115 Willie Calhoun
116 Nico Hoerner FS
117 Gio Urshela
118 Carter Kieboom
119 Dee Strange-Gordon
120 Freddie Freeman
121 Matthew Boyd
122 Nick Health RC
123 Beau Burrows RC
124 Amir Garrett
125 Adalberto Mondesi
126 Monte Harrison RC
127 Wilson Ramos
128 Dylan Bundy
129 Daniel Murphy
130 Josh Bell
131 Joey Gallo
132 Marwin Gonzalez
133 Mitch Keller
134 Jose Urena
135 Brandon Woodruff
136 Marco Gonzales
137 Trevor Bauer LL
138 Tim Anderson
139 Humberto Mejia RC
140 Garrett Richards
141 Caleb Smith
142 Jake Odorizzi
143 Ryan Mountcastle RC
144 Anderson Tejeda RC
145 Kodi Whitley RC
146 Patrick Corbin
147 Yuli Gurriel
148 Chris Archer
149 Mitch Haniger
150 Shohei Ohtani
151 Evan White RC
152 Motor City Mashers
153 Tyler Stephenson RC
154 Andrew Benintendi
155 Seth Lugo
156 Minnesota Twins Team Card
157 Aroldis Chapman
158 Buck Farmer
159 Post Game Hand Wash
160 Brandon Workman
161 Lewis Brinson
162 Rhys Hoskins
163 JD Davis
164 Jesus Aguilar
165 Willson Contreras
166 Elbows Only
167 James Kaprielian RC
168 Max Stassi
169 Brady Singer RC
170 Jacob deGrom LL
171 Hector Neris
172 Miami Marlins Team Card
173 Evan Longoria
174 Raisel Iglesias
175 Brad Hand
176 Jake Bauers
177 Ryan Castellani RC
178 Albert Pujols
179 Clayton Kershaw WSH
180 Jose Abreu LL
181 Miles Mikolas
182 Eduardo Rodriguez
183 Cristian Javier RC
184 Tyler Chatwood
185 Amed Rosario
186 Luke Voit
187 Cristian Pache RC
188 Brandon Drury
189 Adam Plutko
190 Sonny Gray
191 Wilmer Flores
192 Manny Machado
193 Brandon Bielak RC
194 Atlanta Braves Team Card
195 Baltimore Orioles Team Card
196 Ryan Yarbrough
197 Nick Madrigal RC
198 Corey Seager WSH
199 Trevor Williams
200 Jacob deGrom
201 Los Angeles Dodgers Team Card
202 Howie Kendrick
203 Trea Turner
204 Kyle Seager
205 Luis Patino RC
206 Wade Davis
207 Yadier Molina
208 Griffin Canning
209 Mike Foltynewicz
210 Get Up!
211 Salvador Perez
212 Robbie Ray
213 JaCoby Jones
214 Alex Verdugo
215 Justin Dunn (FS)
216 Adam Frazier
217 Jeimer Candelario
218 Matt Olson
219 Nelson Cruz
220 Marcell Ozuna (LL)
221 Chadwick Tromp RC
222 Tampa Bay Rays Team Card
223 Luis Robert CUP
224 Vladimir Guerrero Jr
225 Juan Soto LL
226 Rafael Devers
227 Mike Yastrzemski
228 Blake Taylor RC
229 Paul Goldschmidt
230 Tony Gonsolin CUP
231 Dane Dunning RC
232 Albert Almora Jr
233 Dansby Swanson
234 Lorenzo Cain
235 AJ Pollock
236 Ian Kennedy
237 Willy Adames
238 Kris Bubic RC
239 Ian Anderson RC
240 Jose Urquidy (FS)
241 Anthony Rizzo
242 Gleyber Torres
243 Santiago Espinal RC
244 Spencer Howard RC
245 Aristides Aquino (FS)
246 Cavan Biggio
247 Mallex Smith
248 Francisco Mejia
249 Trent Grisham (FS)
250 Bryce Harper
251 Pittsburgh Pirates Team Card
252 Luke Voit (LL)
253 Carlos Correa
254 Zack Britton
255 Austin Hays
256 Keibert Ruiz
257 Brendan McKay (FS)
258 Walk-Off Apart
259 Chris Paddock
260 Eduardo Escobar
261 Blake Snell
262 Mark Canha
263 Ronald Acuña Jr.
264 Leody Taveras (RC)
265 Mike Clevinger
266 Jurickson Profar
267 Kirby Yates
268 Johnny Cueto
269 Jesus Sanchez RC
270 Mitch White RC
271 Luis Castillo
272 John Means
273 Oliver Perez
274 Freddy Galvis
275 Joey Votto
276 Marcus Semien
277 Alec Bohm RC
278 Jon Lester
279 Danny Mendick
280 Kevin Kiermaier
281 Jesse Winker
282 Omar Narvaez
283 Texas Rangers Team Card
284 Eloy Jimenez
285 Dylan Carlson (RC)
286 Harrison Bader
287 Arizona Diamondbacks Team Card
288 Miguel Rojas
289 Josh Reddick
290 Josh Harrison
291 Miguel Cabrera
292 Oscar Mercado
293 Rougned Odor
294 Leury Garcia
295 Hunter Renfroe
296 Joey Wendle
297 Alex Bregman
298 Luis Garcia RC
299 Teoscar Hernandez
300 Yordan Alvarez
301 Buster Posey
302 Max Muncy
303 Hands Up! Masks Up!
304 Danny Duffy
305 Tony Kemp
306 Michael Taylor
307 Avisail Garcia
308 Jay Bruce
309 Francisco Lindor
310 Bo Bichette (FS)
311 Codi Heuer
312 Marcell Ozuna (LL)
313 Matt Shoemaker
314 Tommy Edman
315 Brandon Crawford
316 Alex Gordon
317 Jake Arrieta
318 Chicago White Sox Team Card
319 Triston McKenzie (RC)
320 Anthony Santander
321 Casey Mize (RC)
322 Javier Baez
323 Slam Diego
324 Nick Neidert (RC)
325 Max Scherzer
326 Eddy Alvarez (RC)
327 Whit Merrifield
328 Kevin Gausman
329 Mike Minor
330 Juan Soto
Short Print Variations
In this set they have three levels of short prints:
Short Prints (SP) Regular Retail Packs 1:69 Odds
Hobby Packs 1:79
Fat Packs 1:33
Super Short Prints (SSP) Regular Retail Packs 1:2,049 Odds
Ultra Short Prints (Ultra) Regular Retail Packs 1:74,986 Odds
Short Prints can be a photo variation or when the current player is replaced with a Legendary one, (i.e. Babe Ruth etc)
Codes refer to the CMP Code on the bottom of the card’s back. Base cards have Code 213.
Short Print (SP) Checklist:
75 Cards/Code 230
1 Fernando Tatis Jr
3 Matt Chapman
4 Ernie Banks
10 Daulton Varsho
12 Joey Bart
13 Mookie Betts
24 Nolan Arenado
25 Sixto Sanchez
26 Bobby Dalbec
27 Mike Trout
29 Cal Ripken Jr (?)
41 Deivi Garcia
42 Kyle Lewis
43 Jo Adell
50 Cody Bellinger
53 Andres Gimenez
65 Isaac Paredes
67 Clayton Kershaw
81 Babe Ruth
84 Pete Alonso
92 Tarik Skubal
95 Gerrit Cole
99 Aaron Judge
100 Christian Yelich
112 Justin Verlander
113 Nate Pearson
120 Hank Aaron
130 Roberto Clemente
143 Ryan Mountcastle
150 Shohei Ohtani
151 Evan White
153 Tyler Stephenson
154 Ted Williams
169 Brady Singer
186 Lou Gehrig
187 Cristian Pache
192 Manny Machado
197 Nick Madrigal
200 Jacob deGrom
205 Luis Patino
207 Yadier Molina
223 Luis Robert
224 Vladimir Guerrero Jr
226 Rafael Devers
227 Willie Mays
229 Stan Musial
231 Dane Dunning
239 Ian Anderson
240 Nolan Ryan
241 Anthony Rizzo
242 Derek Jeter
244 Spencer Howard
247 Ken Griffey Jr
250 Bryce Harper
256 Keibert Ruiz
263 Ronald Acuna Jr
265 Mike Clevinger
266 Tony Gwynn
269 Jesus Sanchez
275 Joey Votto
277 Alec Bohm
285 Dylan Carlson
291 Miguel Cabrera
297 Alex Bregman
298 Luis Garcia
301 Buster Posey
302 Jackie Robinson
309 Francisco Lindor
310 Bo Bichette
319 Triston McKenzie
321 Casey Mize
322 Javier Baez
325 Max Scherzer
327 George Brett
330 Juan Soto
Super Short Prints (SSP)
25 Cards/Code 231
1 Fernando Tatis Jr
12 Joey Bart
13 Mookie Betts
27 Mike Trout
43 Jo Adell
84 Pete Alonso
92 Tarik Skubal
99 Aaron Judge
100 Christian Yelich
112 Nate Pearson
143 Ryan Mountcastle
187 Cristian Pache
197 Nick Madrigal
223 Luis Robert
239 Ian Anderson
250 Bryce Harper
263 Ronald Acuna Jr
277 Alec Bohm
285 Dylan Carlson
297 Alex Bregman
298 Luis Garcia
319 Triston McKenzie
321 Casey Mize
322 Javier Baez
330 Juan Soto
Ultra Short Prints
5 Cards/Code 232
224 Vladimir Guerrero Jr
227 Mike Yastrzemski
246 Cavan Biggio
247 Ken Griffey Jr
266 Roberto Alomar
Topps 1952 Redux Checklist:
(These are all current players and are 1 per retail pack)
T52-1 Aaron Judge
T52-2 Miguel Cabrera
T52-3 Yordan Alvarez
T52-4 Javier Baez
T52-5 Josh Donaldson
T52-6 Mookie Betts
T52-7 Casey Mize
T52-8 Buster Posey
T52-9 Juan Soto
T52-10 Francisco Lindor
T52-11 Alex Bregman
T52-12 JD Martinez
T52-13 Max Scherzer
T52-14 Alec Bohm
T52-15 Jacob deGrom
T52-16 Justin Verlander
T52-17 Evan White
T52-18 Nate Pearson
T52-19 Luis Robert
T52-20 Pete Alonso
T52-21 Bryce Harper
T52-22 Cody Bellinger
T-52-23 Josh Bell
T-52-24 Manny Machado
T-52-25 Gerrit Cole
T-52-26 Jo Adell
T52-27 Mike Trout
T52-28 Bo Bichette
T52-29 Rafael Devers
T52-30 Yadier Molina
T52-31 Paul Goldschmidt
T52-32 Fernando Tatis Jr
T52-33 Dylan Carlson
T52-34 Albert Pujols
T52-35 Nolan Arenado
T52-36 Blake Snell
T52-37 Eloy Jimenez
T52-38 Gleyber Torres
T52-39 Kris Bryant
T52-40 Clayton Kershaw
T52-41 Stephen Strasburg
T52-42 Freddie Freeman
T52-43 Shohei Ohtani
T52-44 Matt Chapman
T52-45 Ronald Acuna Jr
T52-46 Vladimir Guerrero Jr
T52-47 Sonny Gray
T-52-48 Joey Votto
T52-49 Joey Bart
T52-50 Christian Yelich
1986 Topps Baseball 35th Anniversary Checklist (100):
86B-1 Mike Trout
86B-2 Willie Mays
86B-3 Brady Singer
86B-4 Clayton Kershaw
86B-5 Gerrit Cole
86B-6 Austin Meadows
86B-7 Hank Aaron
86B-8 Ryan Mountcastle
86B-9 Blake Snell
86B-10 Joey Gallo
86B-11 Cody Bellinger
86B-12 Freddie Freeman
86B-13 Mookie Betts
86B-14 Joey Bart
86B-15 Ryne Sandberg
86B-16 David Ortiz
86B-17 Christian Yelich
86B-18 Walker Buehler
86B-19 Yadier Molina
86B-20 Bryce Harper
86B-21 Josh Bell
86B-22 Shohei Ohtani
86B-23 Eddie Murray
86B-24 Jose Altuve
86B-25 Greg Maddux
86B-26 Miguel Cabrera
86B-27 Josh Donaldson
86B-28 Xander Bogaerts
86B-29 Trevor Story
86B-30 Alex Bregman
86B-31 Keston Hiura
86B-32 Andrew McCutchen
86B-33 Anthony Rendon
86B-34 Nolan Ryan
86B-35 Vladimir Guerrero Jr
86B-36 Javier Baez
86B-37 Shane Bieber
86B-38 Jesus Luzardo
86B-39 Tyler Stephenson
86B-40 Roger Clemens
86B-41 Cal Ripken Jr
86B-42 Starling Marte
86B-43 Alec Bohm
86B-44 Kris Bryant
86B-45 Whit Merrifield
86B-46 Andres Gimenez
86B-47 Don Mattingly
86B-48 George Brett
86B-49 Johnny Bench
86B-50 Frank Thomas
86B-51 Will Clark
86B-52 Eloy Jimenez
86B-53 Justin Verlander
86B-54 Randy Johnson
86B-55 Bo Bichette
86B-56 Brooks Robinson
86B-57 Nolan Arenado
86B-58 Buster Posey
86B-59 Rafael Devers
86B-60 Ken Griffey Jr
86B-61 Roberto Clemente
86B-62 Jacob deGrom
86B-63 Mike Clevinger
86B-64 Chipper Jones
86B-65 Pete Alonso
86B-66 Francisco Lindor
86B-67 Kirby Puckett
86B-68 Vladimir Guerrero
86B-69 Nate Pearson
86B-70 Cristian Javier
86B-71 Gleyber Torres
86B-72 Sonny Gray
86B-73 Jack Flaherty
86B-74 Matt Chapman
86B-75 Luis Robert
86B-76 Mark McGwire
86B-77 Tony Gwynn
86B-78 Ichiro
86B-79 Barry Larkin
86B-80 Rickey Henderson
86B-81 Joey Votto
86B-82 Evan White
86B-83 Dylan Carlson
86B-84 Stephen Strasburg
86B-85 Casey Mize
86B-86 Kyle Lewis
86B-87 Mike Piazza
86B-88 Jackie Robinson
86B-89 Ketel Marte
86B-90 Jo Adell
86B-91 Anthony Rizzo
86B-92 Giancarlo Stanton
86B-93 Albert Pujols
86B-94 Ronald Acuna Jr
86B-95 Max Scherzer
86B-96 Juan Soto
86B-97 Paul Goldschmidt
86B-98 Derek Jeter
86B-99 Aaron Judge
86B-100 Fernando Tatis Jr
Stars in Service Checklist:
(25 Cards)
SIS-1 Christian Yelich
SIS-2 Clayton Kershaw
SIS-3 Aaron Judge
SIS-4 Adam Wainwright
SIS-5 Cal Ripken Jr
SIS-6 Anthony Rizzo
SIS-7 Mookie Betts
SIS-8 Carlos Carrasco
SIS-9 Pete Alonso
SIS-10 Albert Pujols
SIS-11 Derek Jeter
SIS-12 Yadier Molina
SIS-13 Don Mattingly
SIS-14 Roberto Clemente
SIS-15 Pedro Martinez
SIS-16 CC Sabathia
SIS-17 Sean Doolittle
SIS-18 Jon Lester
SIS-19 Ken Griffey Jr
SIS-20 David Ortiz
SIS-21 Andrew McCutchen
SIS-22 Francisco Lindor
SIS-23 Mike Piazza
SIS-24 Justin Verlander
SIS-25 Edgar Martinez
This insert has the following Parallels:
Blue
Black (1-299)
Gold (1)
Platinum Anniversary (1-70)
Red (1-10)
The History of Topps Checklist:
HOT-1 Topps is founded by the Shorin Family
HOT-2 First Baseball Playing Cards are sold
HOT-3 Sy Berger creates the first complete set
HOT-4 First Topps All Rookie Team
HOT-5 Garbage Pail Kids Introduced
HOT-6 Topps Re-Introduces Bowman
HOT-7 Topps Receives MLB Exclusive
HOT-8 Topps Digital Apps Launched
HOT-9 Topps Now Introduced
HOT-10 Project 2020 Takes Off
There are also Blue, Black, Gold, Platinum Anniversary and Red Parallels.
Home Run Challenge Checklist:
(30 Cards)
HRC-1 Mike Trout
HRC-2 Ronald Acuna Jr
HRC-3 Freddie Freeman
HRC-4 JD Martinez
HRC-5 Rafael Devers
HRC-6 Javier Baez
HRC-7 Kyle Schwarber
HRC-8 Eloy Jimenez
HRC-9 Francisco Lindor
HRC-10 Nolan Arenado
HRC-11 Yordan Alvarez
HRC-12 Alex Bregman
HRC-13 Jorge Soler
HRC-14 Mookie Betts
HRC-15 Cody Bellinger
HRC-16 Christian Yelich
HRC 17 Josh Donaldson
HRC-18 Pete Alonso
HRC-19 Aaron Judge
HRC-20 Gleyber Torres
HRC-21 Bryce Harper
HRC-22 Giancarlo Stanton
HRC-23 Fernando Tatis Jr
HRC-24 Paul Goldschmidt
HRC-25 Joey Gallo
HRC-26 Vladimir Guerrero Jr
HRC-27 Juan Soto
HRC-28 Eugenio Suarez
HRC-29 Kris Bryant
HRC-30 Matt Chapman
Topps Platinum Players Die Cut Checklist:
(25 Cards)
PDC-1 Mike Trout
PDC-2 Hank Aaron
PDC-3 Cal Ripken Jr
PDC-4 Pedro Martinez
PDC-5 Jackie Robinson
PDC-6 Johnny Bench
PDC-7 Nolan Ryan
PDC-8 George Brett
PDC-9 Clayton Kershaw
PDC-10 Frank Thomas
PDC-11 Reggie Jackson
PDC-12 Derek Jeter
PDC-13 Willie Mays
PDC-14 Ken Griffey Jr
PDC-15 Ichiro
PDC-16 Mariano Rivera
PDC-17 Justin Verlander
PDC-18 Mike Piazza
PDC-19 Brooks Robinson
PDC-20 Wade Boggs
PDC-21 Ozzie Smith
PDC-22 Robin Yount
PDC-23 Willie McCovey
PDC-24 Ernie Banks
PDC-25 Albert Pujols
Release Date: February 10th 2021
Cards per pack: Hobby 14, Hobby Jumbo 46, Retail 16, Blasters 14, Fat Packs 40, Hanger 67, Mega 16, Tins 75
Packs per box: Hobby 24 + 1 silver, Retail 24, Blasters 7, Hanger 1
Boxes per case: Hobby 12, Retail 12, Blasters 40, Tins 40
In the Trenches
The past twelve months have been a little difficult finding product so let me talk about my experiences with retail products. I do have a card store in my town but I don’t really buy new product from that location. Actually, I haven’t been there since National Baseball Card Day. I rarely buy Hobby packs/Boxes. I do have a local Target and Walmart. In the last 10 years almost all my in store purchase were from the Target. However, my recent trips there always had me come home empty handed. The last product I bought from Target was in May/June 2020. All they really had at that time was Topps Opening Day and Heritage. The last few years I bought a lot from Amazon.
I have been able to find 2021 Topps at Walmart this year. Let me give you a breakdown of what I have purchased.
First off I have obtained a few Hanger Boxes. These cost $11.98 (plus tax if applicable). Cards come in a single clear pack of 67 cards. This comes to about 17.88 cents per card.
Most of my purchase have been from Blaster Boxes. These have 7 packs of 14 cards. There is also 1 pack that has a single Patch Card. Excluding the patch cards, that totals 98 cards. This comes out to about 20.39 cents per card.
At this point, the Hanger Boxes seem a better deal. It all depends on if you covet the Patch Cards. I personally am not a fan of manufactured relics. A card that has a piece of Mickey Mantle’s uniform form the 1962 World Series would be great but something created just for a new card, not so much. You shouldn’t overlook the fact that the blaster box contains a bunch of coupons that can be used on other Topps products. I’ve taken $1.50 coupons from here and applied them toward Hanger Box purchases.
I think overall that the best deal is the Mega Box. This costs $44.98 and has 16 packs of 16. This is a total of 256 cards which is about 17.57 cents each.
I also preordered 4 Retail Boxes on Ebay during the last week of January. These boxes have 24 packs of 16 for a total of 384 cards. This comes to about 19 cents per card. This is cheaper than the Blasters and ensured that I would have the product if I could find it in stores.
The coupons can really save you money if you can use them. I accidentally used a $1.50 Hanger Box coupon on a Blaster and it wasn’t rejected. I’m pretty sure the cashier could not tell a Hanger from a Blaster.
I had not seen any single or fat packs at Walmart in 2021. I had last bought fat packs of 2020 Topps Update at $5.98 each.
I’m hopeful that I will able to find Retail Series 2 product as well.
**Update 3/24/21-I stopped in my local Walmart yesterday around 2 PM and noticed they had a few Fat Packs. I bought two of these. It seems like the price has increased because they cost $6.98 each. Since they have 40 cards; this means this is the best value purchase with the cards costing about 17.45 cents each. I was able to use $1 off coupons for both packs which gave me about a 14% discount. In reality, the coupons just wiped out the price increase from last year.
Last Updated: March 27th 2021