2022 Topps Baseball Series 1

2022.S1.Ohtani     

The Topps Baseball Series 1 cards have now been released to kickoff the start of the collecting year.

This is the set that I collected when I was 12 and I’m certain to still be doing so when I’m 90. I collect other sets but this is the cornerstone of the hobby for me. I like the look of this year’s offering because they are easier to read and have full borders. I don’t understand why they have dropped the size of series 1 to 330. Up to 2019, series 1 & 2 totaled 700 cards and now we’re down to 660. I think the 700ish size should be standard. Of course, many players end up in the update set that could be moved to an earlier release. One drawback is that cards in the update set are not included in the factory complete set.


     I’m not a fan of cards that have a horizontal photo. I’d be ok with a few but I loath it when I open a pack and there are like five in a row. Normally, you can just flip a card over and rotate it to have the stats showing horizontally. This is perfect for me. However, for some cards when you do that; the back is then upside down. I’m not sure if that was planned or if it is a printing error. I believe all the base cards should have the same format.
I love opening packs. Right off the bat, I’ll be putting aside cards of my favorite team, and random stars while trying to comprehend the year’s rookie class. Various inserts and parallels mix things up a bit and it is always great to find a serial-numbered card or even better an autographed one. From time to time I’ll have an ‘I’ve never seen one of these before’ moment. Of course, short prints can be exciting but sometimes they can be overlooked until more research is done. My goal is always to complete the set but sometimes this can take a lot of time and money.


     On the other hand, as much as I love the treasure hunt of ripping wax; I also have an affinity for just buying the factory complete set which usually includes a bonus cello pack of key rookies. But that’s another story.

     Topps organized a fan vote again for the number one card and the winner was Shohei Ohtani. He was selected from a list of 20 choices that included 10 from each league. The last three number one cards were Tatis, Acuna, and Trout.


     Series Two contains about fifty Rookie cards. There are also 3 ultra-rare ‘Salute to the Mick’ cards which of course honor Mickey Mantle. There will end up being nine cards divided evenly between the three parts of the flagship set.


     The two most common inserts are, first of all, the Topps 35th anniversary cards which emulate those from the 1987 season. This was a beloved set of cards from the earlier days of the junk wax era that had the simulated wood grain borders. The second most common insert is the ‘Stars of MLB’ subset. To give you an idea of possible inserts, I opened a Blaster box, ($20). It contained 8 Stars of MLB including 1 Chrome, 2 35th anniversary cards, 1 Home Run Challenge, 1 Generation Now, 1 Royal Blue Parallel, and the Commemorative Relic card. So no signed cards and no numbered cards.

Release date: February 16, 2022

Cards per pack: Retail 16, Blaster 14, Hobby 14
Packs per Box: Retail 16, Blaster 7, Hobby 24

2022 Topps Series 1 Checklist

Series One has 49 rookies. 

Key:

FS = Future Star
LL = League Leader
RC = Rookie Card
CUP = Rookie Cup

1 Shohei Ohtani

2 Craig Kimbrel

3 Huascar Ynoa

4 Travis d’Arnaud

5 Rougned Odor

6 Jazz Chisholm Jr (FS)

7 Bobby Dalbec (FS)

8 Xander Bogaerts 

9 Elieser Hernandez

10 Archie Bradley

11 Jesus Luzardo

12 Gavin Sheets (RC)

13 Freddy Peralta

14 Amed Rosario

15 Jose Iglesias   

16 Tommy Pham

17 Gregory Soto

18 Emmanuel Rivera (RC)

19 Brian Anderson

20 Jake Cousins (RC)

21 Shane Bieber

22 Bryan De La Cruz (RC)

23 Gio Urshela

24 Trevor Rogers (CUP)

25 Vidal Brujan (RC)

26 Devin Williams

27 Mike Trout

28 Cesar Hernandez

29 Jose Berrios

30 Kyle Muller (RC)

31 Matt Manning (RC)

32 Taylor Rogers

33 Danny Jensen

34 Adam Wainwright

35 Gerrit Cole

36 Jorge Alfaro

37 Michael Conforto

38 Mason Thompson (RC)

39 Andrew Miller 

40 David Price

41 Clayton Kershaw

42 Mitch Moreland

43 Josiah Gray (RC)

44 Didi Gregorius

45 Sonny Gray

46 Raimel Tapia

47 Alex Reyes

48 Guerrero Jr/Perez/Ohtani AL HR LL

49 Bret Gardner

50 Mookie Betts 

51 Zack Greinke

52 Greg Holland

53 Hanser Alberto

54 Lourdes Gurriel Jr

55 Robbie Grossman

56 Ke’Bryan Hayes (FS)

57 Kyle Gibson 

58 Lars Nootbaar (RC)

59 Turner/Soto/Harper NL AVG LL

60 Mike Moustakas 

61 Jakson Reetz (RC)

62 Luke Williams (RC)

63 Christian Vazquez 

64 Tim Anderson 

65 Austin Hedges

66 Connor Wong (RC)

67 Freddy Galvis 

68 Alex Bregman

69 Corey Kluber

70 Ryan Weathers

71 Ernie Clement (RC)

72 Pedro Severino 

73 Johnny Cueto 

74 Merrill Kelly

75 Christian Walker

76 Nicky Lopez

77 Josh Naylor

78 Aaron Ashby (RC)

79 Trey Mancini

80 Mitch Haniger

81 Jesse Winker

82 Charlie Morton

83 Will Smith

84 Jose Abreu

85 Rodolfo Castro (RC)

86 Kris Bryant

87 Nolan Arenado

88 Travis Shaw

89 Jorge Mateo

90 Enrique Hernandez

91 Kyle Seager

92 Avisail Garcia

93 Isiah Kiner-Falefa

94 Cedric Mullins

95 Chad Pinder

96 Cincinnati Reds Team Card

97 Curtis Terry (RC)

98 Francisco Lindor 

99 Aaron Judge

100 Fernando Tatis Jr

101 Clint Frazier

102 Ian Kennedy

103 Mike Yastrzemski

104 Nelson Cruz

105 Urias/Wainwright/Buehler NL Wins LL

106 Pavin Smith

107 Luis Robert

108 Zach Pop (RC)

109 Toronto Bluejays Team Card

110 Yordan Alvarez 

111 Tony Santillan (RC)

112 Marco Gonzales

113 Brock Holt 

114 Tony Kemp

115 Austin Riley

116 Alcides Escobar

117 Brandon Crawford

118 Alex Wells (RC)

119 Gleyber Torres 

120 Andrew Vaughn (FS)

121 New York Yankees Team Card

122 Shohei Ohtani 

123 Miguel Sano

124 San Diego Padres Team Card

125 Fernando Tatis Jr (Combo)

126 Bo Bichette

127 Wheeler/Scherzer/Burnes NL Strikeouts (LL)

128 Matthew Boyd 

129 Max Fried 

130 Tyler Gilbert (RC)

131 Luis Gil (RC)

132 Ryan McMahon

133 Zac Lowther (RC)

134 Tylor Megill (RC)

135 Chas McCormick (RC)

136 Houston Astros Team Card

137 Anthony DeSclafani 

138 Ray/Cole/Cease AL Strikeout (LL)

139 Omar Narvaez

140 Ivan Castillo (RC)

141 Yermin Mercedes 

142 Aroldis Chapman

143 Ian Happ

144 Arizona Diamondbacks Team Card

145 Joey Wendle

146 Tatis Jr/Duvall/Alonso NL HR (LL)

147 Wilson Contreras

148 Zack Short (RC)

149 Matt Olson 

150 Juan Soto 

151 Kwang-Hyun Kim

152 Austin Meadows

153 Eddie Rosario

154 Jared Walsh

155 Mike Minor

156 Logan Gilbert (FS)

157 Bruce Zimmerman

158 Riley Adams (RC)

159 Los Angeles Angels Team Card

160 Anthony Bender (RC)

161 Jon Gray

162 Spencer Howard

163 Stuart Fairchild (RC)

164 Atlanta Braves Team Card

165 Gurriel/Brantley/Guerrero AL AVG (LL)

166 Patrick Mazeika (RC)

167 Daniel Bard

168 Kyle Hendricks 

169 Kyle Freeland

170 KevinPillar

171 Kurt Suzuki

172 Nick Solak

173 Raisel Iglesias

174 Hunter Renfroe 

175 Tyler Stephenson (CUP)

176 Matt Chapman

177 Carson Kelly

178 Jean Segura

179 Zach Eflin

180 JT Realmuto

181 Duvall/Riley/Abies NL RBI (LL)

182 JD Martinez 

183 Ji-Man Choi

184 Hoy Park (RC)

185 Justin Dunn

186 Jake Burger (RC)

187 Jarren Duran (RC)

188 Ha-Seong Kim

189 Michael Pineda 

190 Emmanuel Clase (CUP)

191 Willi Castro

192 Eduardo Rodriguez

193 Dom Nunez

194 Miguel Cabrera

195 Drew Smyly

196 Randy Arozarena (CUP)

197 Alex Kirilloff (FS)

198 Jake Rogers

199 Michael Brantley

200 Ronald Acuna Jr

201 Reid Detmers (RC)

202 Perez/Abreu/Hernandez AL RBI (LL)

203 Wade Miley

204 Burnes/Scherzer/Buehler NL ERA (LL)

205 Yadier Molina

206 Kyle Lewis 

207 Eduardo Escobar

208 Jorge Soler

209 Buster Posey

210 Oakland As Team Card

211 Cristian Javier

212 Martin Perez

213 Jon Lester

214 Jake Arrieta

215 Wander Franco (RC)

216 Kyle Schwarber

217 Eli Morgan (RC)

218 Washington Nationals Team Card

219 Salvador Perez

220 Gerardo Parra

221 Max Kepler

222 Colorado Rockies Team Card

223 Mike Brosseau 

224 Martin Maldonado

225 Harrison Bader

226 Josh Donaldson

227 Zach Thompson (RC)

228 Spencer Turnbull

229 Xander Bogaerts (Combo Card)

230 Jonah Heim 

231 Ronnie Dawson (RC)

232 Brenda Rodgers

233 Cristian Pache (FS)

234 Garrett Hampson 

235 Jarred Kelenic (FS)

236 Freddie Freeman

237 Albert Pujols

238 Chris Taylor (Combo Card)

239 Garrett Crochet 

240 Corbin Burnes

241 Tommy La Stella

242 Anthony Rizzo 

243 Brandon Marsh (RC)

244 Shane McClanahan (FS)

245 Whit Merrifield 

246 Mauricio Dubon

247 St Louis Cardinals Team Card

248 Alek Manoah (FS)

249 Zack Wheeler

250 Bryce Harper

251 Mitch Keller

252 Victor Reyes

253 John Means

254 Chris Archer 

255 Chicago White Sox Team Card

256 James McCann 

257 Justin Turner 

258 Andre Jackson (RC)

259 Marcus Stroman

260 Trevor Story

261 Framber Valdez

262 Tom Murphy

263 Trey Amburgey (RC)

264 Jackson Kowar (RC)

265 Keston Hiura

266 Joe Musgrove

267 Edwin Diaz

268 Liam Hendriks

269 Jose Ramirez

270 Cole/Flexen/Matz AL Wins (LL)

271 Patrick Wisdom (CUP)

272 Eric Hosmer

273 Luke Weaver 

274 Tampa Bay Rays Team Card

275 Ketel Marte 

276 Steven Matz

277 Cal Raleigh (RC)

278 Jose Altuve

279 Adam Duvall

280 John Gant

281 Sean Manaea

282 Carlos Rodon

283 Ray/McCullers Jr/Cole AL ERA (LL)

284 Yasmani Grandal

285 Ben Gamel

286 Jacob Stallings 

287 Andrew Heaney

288 Christian Yelich

289 Nate Pearson

290 Joey Votto

291 Lucas Giolito

292 Kyle Higashioka

293 Mike Foltynewicz

294 Yan Gomes

295 Jake Meyers (RC)

296 Ryan Zimmerman 

297 Hyun-Jin Ryu

298 Drew Ellis (RC)

299 Julio Urias 

300 Vladimir Guerrero Jr

301 Corey Seager

302 Tyler Glasnow

303 Matt Barnes

304 Adam Frazier

305 Starling Marte

306 Andrelton Simmons

307 Steven Brault

308 Sammy Long (RC)

309 Yu Darvish

310 Max Scherzer

311 Chris Flexen

312 Taijuan Walker

313 Brady Singer

314 Eugenio Suarez

315 Pete Alonso

316 Matt Vierling

317 Colin Moran

318 Josh Reddick

319 Kyle Tucker

320 Vladimir Guerrero Jr (Combo Card)

321 Bryce Harper (Combo Card)

322 Joey Gallo

323 Jason Heyward

324 Mike Zunino

325 Max Kranick (RC)

326 Miami Marlins Team Card

327 Ty France

328 Keegan Akin

329 Wander Franco (Combo Card)

330 Jacob deGrom 

Stars of MLB Checklist (30)

These are Retail exclusives. There is one in every pack. Since it is only 30 cards and the most common insert; it is the easiest subset to assemble. 

One out of ten will be Chrome. The Chrome will be SMLBC-#.

Parallels:

Red 1-70

Black 1-25

Platinum 1 of 1

 

SMLB-1 Mike Trout

SMLB-2 Ronald Acuña Jr

SMLB-3 Freddie Freeman

SMLB-4 Rafael Devers

SMLB-5 Javier Baez

SMLB-6 Luis Robert

SMLB-7 Jose Ramirez

SMLB-8 Alex Bregman

SMLB-9 Mookie Betts

SMLB-10 Jazz Chisholm Jr

SMLB-11 Christian Yelich

SMLB-12 Byron Buxton

SMLB-13 Jacob deGrom

SMLB-14 Aaron Judge

SMLB-15 Bryce Harper

SMLB-16 Ke’Bryan Hayes

SMLB-17 Fernando Tatis Jr

SMLB-18 Buster Posey

SMLB-19 Yadier Molina

SMLB-20 Wander Franco

SMLB-21 Joey Gallo

SMLB-22 Vladimir Guerrero Jr

SMLB-23 Juan Soto

SMLB-24 Shohei Ohtani

SMLB-25 Nolan Arenado

SMLB-26 Gerrit Cole

SMLB-27 Kris Bryant

SMLB-28 Clayton Kershaw

SMLB-29 Pete Alonso

SMLB-30 Bo Bichette

Salute to The Mick Checklist

STM-1 Mickey Mantle

STM-2 Mickey Mantle

STM-3 Mickey Mantle






 

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