The 2017 Topps Baseball card set is one of the most highly anticipated releases each year. Topps has been the leading baseball card manufacturer since 1952 and their flagship set is considered the standard in the hobby by collectors.
The 2017 Topps Baseball card base set contains 570 total cards and focuses on players and key moments from the 2016 MLB season. Some of the top rookies and stars featured include Corey Seager, Gary Sanchez, Trevor Story, Noah Syndergaard and Kris Bryant. The base cards feature vibrant photography of current players in action shots on the field.
In addition to the base set, Topps includes several insert sets highlighting different themes. One of the most popular is the ‘Topps Now’ program where they produce limited run cards featuring iconic performances and milestones from that current season. Players like Jackie Bradley Jr.’s walk-off homer or Kyle Schwarber returning from injury are captured through these quick-printing inserts.
Another insert set collectors seek out is the ‘Hit Parade’ which honors batting champions from throughout baseball history. Players depicted range from historical greats like Honus Wagner, Ted Williams and Rogers Hornsby to modern day talents like Miguel Cabrera and Joey Votto. These retro-styled cards with player stats summarized at the bottom are highly regarded.
Topps also includes an ‘All-Star’ subset highlighting the top players voted as starters and reserves to the Midsummer Classic. Rookie relievers like Trevor Rosenthal making their All-Star debuts alongside perennial veterans like Clayton Kershaw make for interesting subjects in this insert set.
To commemorate historic milestones, Topps offers a ‘Hall of Fame’ insert highlighting notable inductions into Cooperstown each year. The 2016 class of Ken Griffey Jr., Mike Piazza and Jeff Bagwell are among those featured. With career stats and accomplishments listed on the back, these serve as a nice tribute for baseball immortality.
Topps tries to include one rookie card for every player that debuted in the big leagues that season. With the wave of young talent rising to stardom lately, the 2016 rookie class was no exception with names like Alex Bregman, Dansby Swanson and Andrew Benintendi gaining their first MLB card in this set. Collectors hope to land these early issues of future Hall of Famers.
The Flagship set also features ‘Traded’ variations highlighting players that switched teams via trade over the winter. With higher player movement in today’s game, Topps produces swapped team logo and uniform shot parallels for notable trade acquisitions like Aroldis Chapman going to the Cubs.
Topps pulls out all the stops for their chase parallel inserts as well. The ‘Gold Label’ parallel features premium foil etching and numbering out of just 50 copies. At the top of the food chain is the elusive 1/1 ‘Gold Label Prizm’ parallel combining rare refractors with the premier parallel designation. Hitting one of these single print gems can defined a collector’s year.
In addition to the standard retail boxes and packs filled with the base issues, Topps rolls out several high-end exclusive products. ‘Topps Chrome’ is the most coveted which features a refractive parallel of the entire base set with slick refractors replacing the standard cardboard. ‘Bowman Sterling’ is a luxury release focused on top prospects and young stars with embossed signatures and autographs galore. These products really allow collectors to chase after the elite parallel versions of the year’s top cards.
As baseball’s largest card company, Topps always strives to innovate and one of their more experimental innovations in recent years has been the ‘3D’ baseball card. By utilizing special lenses inside plastic holders, these attempt to make cards literally pop off the page. While a novelty, they demonstrate Topps’ ambition to continually reimagine the baseball card experience.
Whether collecting for investment, enjoyment or to remember a specific season, the 2017 Topps Baseball release continues the tradition as the foundation that drives the modern baseball card market. With over half a century of experience, Topps captivates collectors yet again with theplayers, parallels and production feats found within the year’s flagship baseball checklist.
