Happy Topps Baseball Day!
Topps Baseball Series 1 always brings a sense of nostalgia, hope and connection
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Happy Topps Baseball Series 1 Day!
This is the day baseball card collectors look forward to every year.
Maybe there is a product you like more than Series 1 or you’re not a set collector. It doesn’t matter how you collect because today is our holiday.
What makes Topps Baseball so special?
It’s the longest running continuous flagship product in any sport, dating back to 1952.
Just about every baseball star from the mid-1950s on has had a Topps rookie card or at least an insanely popular first Topps card – sorry Mickey Mantle, no matter how popular 1952 is, it’s not your rookie card.
This is the day that makes it feel like baseball season is finally here. Even though it’s been snowing for weeks across the northeast, it feels like Spring and baseball are right around the corner. And it’s because Topps Baseball Series 1 has hit the shelves.
Last night, Topps had a virtual rip party where several special guests opened packs from throughout the decades as Topps celebrated its 70-year anniversary. Packs were opened from each decade by a number of former players and well-known figures.
The common theme from the likes of Albert Pujols or Mariano Rivera or regular collectors on social media – baseball cards hold a special place. Opening a pack of cards from the 1980s or a new pack from 2021 brings forth a sense of nostalgia.
You’re transported back to when you first started collecting. Maybe you collected with family or traded cards with friends. Maybe you only got your start in collecting a year ago and are building your collection as you meet new collectors. Flagship’s release brings forth a slew of memories.
Series 1 also provides a sense of connection. Thousands of collectors look forward to this day and share in the excitement by opening the first packs of of the year. It’s the one day where we can pretty much all agree on the same thing.
It also brings a sense of hope. Maybe this is going to be your team’s year. And maybe you'll pull that hot rookie or autographed card.
Which brings us to just how much cards have changed over the years. Rookie cards are still the gold standard for Series 1 and there are rookies galore in this year’s set. However, hits are also one of the biggest things people are chasing – namely autographs.
Many collectors and flippers are ripping packs looking for the big hits because cards are hot right now, selling for crazy prices. Retail has been difficult to find for months now with so many stories of flippers lining up at Target and Walmart waiting for the distributor to put cards on shelves.
Flippers are chasing retail in large part due to the price and availability because 2021 Topps Baseball Series 1 hobby boxes are running around $150 while Jumbo boxes are north of $250 – both more than double the usual MSRP.
So, there is that hope that maybe you can find a box at retail for MSRP or hope that the extra money you are shelling out this year for Series 1 will deliver the feeling that you got your money’s worth.
As much as things have changed over the last year, so much has stayed the same. There’s still nostalgia, hope, and connections.
It’s time to enjoy a new season of baseball cards.
Get ripping and enjoy our holiday!
Topps partners with Budweiser
Topps announced during its Series 1 rip party it had partnered with Budweiser to offer special cards in the future. There wasn’t much more info than that, but Topps and Budweiser both posted about in on their respective social media channels.
This announcement seemed to bother some collectors as Budwesier is an adult brand and obviously doesn’t cater to kids. Many still feel like trading cards should be marketed to children — and they are to a degree. However, children haven’t been the major focus for the hobby for a very, very long time. And let’s not forget that cards have been tied to adult brands in the past.
Back in the 1980s and 1990s when it seemed more kids were collecting, this kind of partnership would have raised some eyebrows. However, it’s those kids from the 1980s and ‘90s, now in their 30s and 40s, who are still collecting. Putting cards on the back of a cereal box might not work as well for them.
The reality is adults collect cards. Gone are the days when kids are going to the corner to buy packs of cards with leftover milk money. That doesn’t mean card companies should stop creating product and marketing to kids, but the reality is that is not their major demographic.
So why shouldn’t they spend money where the people are?
PSA: 2021 Topps Through the Years inserts are not original autographs
One of the inserts in 2021 Topps Baseball Series 1 has garnered a lot talk, and not for good reasons. The Through the Years insert features 25 cards showing images of cards from various baseball brands that Topps has made, well, throughout the years. It shows cards or relics from the likes of Topps Dynasty or Clearly Authentic (with some old school cards thrown in the mix).
Some of the original cards featured autographs or relics, and it seems many people think these reprinted images are actually real autographs (which is understandable at first glance because the picture of the original card may include the guaranteed autographed wording from the original card).
Topps states on the backs of the cards in all caps that the autograph or relic on the front of the card is NOT an original.
Collectors may be disappointed to see the small print if they initially think they pulled a Mike Trout or Derek Jeter autograph. Please be careful when buying these cards on eBay. There are a number of listings stating these cards are autographs and they are not.
There is no autographed version of this card that exists. It it just an insert.