The 2017 Topps Chrome baseball card set was another highly anticipated release from trading card giant Topps. As one of the premiere modern Chrome baseball card products on the market, 2017 Topps Chrome did not disappoint fans and collectors. The base set consisted of 175 total cards, including short prints and insert cards. Some of the biggest rookies and stars of the 2017 MLB season were featured prominently in the design, photography and chase inserts that made 2017 Topps Chrome a collector favorite.
Topps Chrome has risen to unprecedented popularity since its debut in the late 1990s by employing cutting-edge technology and photography to produce cards with dazzling, reflective designs unlike any other baseball card on the market. For 2017, Topps once again delivered glossy, high-quality images encapsulated in protective plastic coating that brought the players to life like never before. Vivid team logos and uniform colors practically jumped off the cards. Backgrounds provided interesting scenes from ballparks or actions shots that placed each player perfectly in context.
Some of the brightest young stars in baseball dominated the base set and short prints of 2017 Topps Chrome such as Cubs third baseman Kris Bryant, Dodgers outfielder Cody Bellinger, Astros second baseman Jose Altuve and Yankees pitcher Luis Severino. Veterans like Clayton Kershaw, Mike Trout and Noah Syndergaard also received prominent base card placements. The design featured mostly headshots of players against solid color backgrounds with team logos above their names. Statistics were placed on the bottom border along with copyright info. Parallels and serial numbering added to the nostalgia of the classic Chrome look.
Collector chase cards in 2017 Topps Chrome included the usual assortment of popular inserts such as All-Star, Diamond Kings and Galactic parallels. Two exciting new insert sets highlighted the player of the year candidates – Rookie Crusade and Postseason Performers. Rookie Crusade featured the top MLB rookie position players and pitchers vying for Rookie of the Year honors in photo collages from their debut seasons. Postseason Performers highlighted clutch playoff heroes from the 2016 season in posed action shots and team logo backgrounds harkening back to their October heroics. Both sets ended up eerily predicting the actual award winners like Bellinger and Corey Seager on the Rookie Crusade cards.
Perhaps the most notable short prints in 2017 Topps Chrome were the prized Retired Numbers parallels featuring MLB legends from every team who had their jersey retired like Derek Jeter, Hank Aaron and Nolan Ryan. These SPs placed the iconic stars in unique photographic poses and treatments befitting their hallowed status. Other popular parallel subsets included Stars of the Game, Gallery of Stars, Rainbow Foil and Frozen FX Frozen Moments captures. Serial numbering was kept tight on most parallels to keep collector demand high for the premier “hits” in the set.
Topps also flexed its creative muscle with fun oddball inserts in 2017 Topps Chrome. Players were reimagined as superheroes on the Comic Cuts cards with logos from DC and Marvel imprinted opposing. Kershaw even donned a Superman inspired costume fitting of his dominant abilities on the mound. Stranger Things premiered its second season in the fall of 2017 and Topps capitalized with Stranger Players mashups of stars photographed in the eerie Upside Down alternate dimension featured in the hit Netflix series.
On the secondary market, 2017 Topps Chrome packs initially sold for around $4-5 MSRP at release but singles, hits and parallels steadily appreciated as the season unfolded. Hall of Fame rookie cards and serial # parallels for stars like Aaron Judge routinely command $50-100 raw with higher grades bringing several hundreds. The full base set can be completed for under $50 but unique inserted parallel cards remain the real prizes. Several years after release, 2017 Topps Chrome endures as one of the finestChrome issuesdue to its stunning photography, accurate players checklist and fun theme inserts capturing the excitement of MLB’s 2017 season. Whether completing a base set or chasing after coveted short prints,2017 Topps Chrome provided a unique collecting experience that remains a favorite among baseball card aficionados to this day.