The 2008 Topps Baseball Card set was released in February 2008 and contained a total of 700 cards. The checklist included current stars, rookie cards, league leaders, Topps All-Star Rookies cards and autographed memorabilia cards. Some of the major highlights of the 2008 Topps Baseball Card set include:
Base Cards (1-669) – The base card checklist featured all 30 MLB teams including current players, prospects and coaches/managers. Notable rookie cards included Evan Longoria (Tampa Bay Rays), David Price (Tampa Bay Rays), Colby Rasmus (St. Louis Cardinals), Josh Johnson (Florida Marlins) and Jon Lester (Boston Red Sox). Top young stars featured on base cards included Ryan Braun, Evan Longoria, Adam Wainwright, Daniel Hudson and Jon Lester. Franchise player base cards included Derek Jeter, Chipper Jones, Albert Pujols and Ichiro Suzuki.
Traded/Update/Variation Cards (670-697) – The traded portion of the set included mid-season additions or players that were traded to new teams. There were also some variations where players were photographed wearing different uniforms from their base cards. Notable traded/update/variation cards included CC Sabathia (traded from Cleveland Indians to Milwaukee Brewers), Akinori Iwamura (traded from Tampa Bay Rays to Pittsburgh Pirates) and Mike Mussina (signed with New York Yankees as a free agent).
World Baseball Classic Inserts (698-701) – Four World Baseball Classic sticker parallel cards honored the stars of the inaugural international tournament held in 2006. The WBC insert parallel cards featured Daisuke Matsuzaka of Japan, Albert Pujols of the Dominican Republic, Adam Jones of the United States and Michael Young of Canada. The cards had foil World Baseball Classic logos on the uniform and were inserted one per box on average.
Topps All-Star Rookie Cup Autographs (702-709) – Continuing its long-running Topps All-Star Rookie subset, this set included eight memorabilia cards featuring rookie stars from the 2007 season. The autographed memorabilia cards honored prospects Jake Peavy, Josh Hamilton, Ian Kinsler, Troy Tulowitzki, David Wright, Matt Cain, Francisco Liriano and Joey Votto. The relic cards featured game-used pieces of jersey or bat with on-card autographs.
Topps ’52 Design (710-715) – Paying homage to one of Topps’s most classic card designs, six Topps ’52 parallel inserts featured Ichiro Suzuki, Alex Rodriguez, Troy Tulowitzki, Prince Fielder, Chase Utley and CC Sabathia. The parallel cards emulated the classic look of the 1952 Topps set with a yellow and red color scheme. They were inserted regularly throughout hobby boxes.
League Leaders (716-720) – Highlighting offensive leaders from the 2007 season, five League Leaders parallel inserts recognized Josh Hamilton of the Texas Rangers for American League Batting Average, Magglio Ordonez of the Detroit Tigers for American League Home Runs, David Wright of the New York Mets for National League Batting Average, Prince Fielder of the Milwaukee Brewers for National League Home Runs and Brad Lidge of the Houston Astros for National League Saves. The parallel versions had foil accents drawing attention to the stats categories.
All-Time Fan Favorites Autographs (721-726) – Six highly coveted autographed memorabilia cards remembered some of the sport’s most cherished living legends. The relic autograph cards included Mike Schmidt, Tom Seaver, Carl Yastrzemski, Reggie Jackson, Rollie Fingers and Yogi Berra. Every card featured unique on-card autograph relic memorabilia from the stars’ illustrious careers.
Stars of the Game Autographs (727-732) – Continuing Topps’s popular Stars of the Game autograph parallel insert, six relic cards honored young MLB stars from the previous season. The autographed memorabilia cards featured Dustin Pedroia, Ryan Howard, Carlos Zambrano, Justin Verlander, David Wright and Chase Utley. Like the All-Time Fan Favorites, the Stars of the Game parallels contained game-used, on-card autographed relics from jerseys or bats.
Sterling Singles (733-738) – Introducing an all-new parallel insert design for 2008, six Sterling Singles cards spotlighted active stars in elegant black and white “Sterling” photo variations of their base cards. Featured stars included Alex Rodriguez, Chipper Jones, Derek Jeter, Albert Pujols, Ichiro Suzuki and David Ortiz. Inserted one-per hobby box on average, the simplified black and white photos created a vintage player portrait look.
Lastly, the 2008 flagship set also featured parallel variants including Gold parallel /2008 cards (#1-669), Silver parallel /2008 cards (#1-669) and Chrome parallel/refractor cards (#1-669). The Gold and Silver parallels mimicked the look of similar parallel sets from past years while the Chrome/refractor parallels contained player photos with ultra-refracting surfaces adding to their appeal.
The 2008 Topps Baseball set checklist offered fans a bounty of base stars, rookies and inserts honoring the past and present of America’s favorite pastime. With its variety of inserts, parallels and autograph/relic cards of both modern heroes and legends, the set created many opportunities to build or supplement baseball card collections with some of the sport’s most iconic and rising talents. It remains one of the most comprehensive and sought-after Topps releases in modern years.
