The 2020 Topps Baseball Update Series was released on November 11th and contained several highly sought after rookie cards and parallels that have quickly become some of the most valuable modern cards on the market. The Update Series is Topps’ way of adding players that were called up or had breakout seasons after the flagship Series 1 and Series 2 sets were produced and distributed earlier in the year. This creates a lot of excitement among collectors searching for the hottest new prospects. Let’s take a look at some of the standout rookie cards and parallels from the 2020 Topps Update Series that are currently demand high prices in the secondary market.
Undoubtedly the most coveted card from the set is the Luis Robert rookie card. As a rookie of the year contender who had a phenomenal debut season with the White Sox, Robert’s base rookie card has significant appeal on its own. Parallel and autographed versions of his card have reached astronomical prices. The Robert pink refractor parallel is easily fetching over $1,000 raw and $3,000 or more graded gem mint. His autograph card sells for north of $5,000 and the 1/1 rainbow foil autograph sold for a staggering $20,000. Even base Luis Robert rookies grade PSA 10 have sold for upwards of $500, showing how strong the long term demand is perceived to be for one of baseball’s budding young stars.
Another rookie who had collectors rushing packs was Giants pitcher Logan Webb. As a homegrown talent who made his major league debut in 2020 and showed Ace potential, Webb’s base rookie fetched $50-75 raw early on. His pink refractor parallel quickly jumped above $300 though and remains one of the most expensive standard parallels from the set. For Webb autographs, expect to pay $400-600 depending on the parallel. Like Robert, the 1/1 versions of Webb cards commanded astronomical early prices due to the rarity and hype around his breakout rookie campaign.
Speaking of 1/1s, the Cristian Pache rainbow foil autograph card may have been the single most coveted card in the entire set. As the lone 1/1 parallel available, it realized a sale of over $12,000. But Pache’s rise wasn’t limited to just the ultra short printed parallels. Even his standard autograph cards crossed $1,000 and base rookies climbed above the $100 mark. As the rising star center fielder for the Atlanta Braves, Pache has all the makings of a blue chip star and collectors recognize the top-end potential of his rookie cards.
Staying in the Atlanta organization, pitcher Ian Anderson also found new heights with collectors through the Update Series. Like Webb, Anderson made his MLB debut in 2020 and showcased frontline stuff while helping lead the Braves to a division title. His pink refractors reached $250-300 and autos pushed $400-500. But perhaps the standout parallel was the Ian Anderson gold foil /50 card. With its extreme rarity and laser sharp focus on one of baseball’s brightest young arms, the gold pulled in sale prices above $1,200. There’s little doubt Anderson rookie cards will remain a highly speculative long term hold.
If you expand outside just the biggest rookie names, there were several existing stars whose parallels popped in the Update Series as well. For example, Fernando Tatis Jr. had one of the breakout seasons of 2020 and any one of his short printed refractors rose fast. His pink /249 sold for $275-325 while the even rarer red parallel climbed above $650. For established veterans, a Kris Bryant gold foil /50 crossed $525. The Mike Trout SP foil and Shohei Ohtani SP autograph also drew bids north of $400 each.
Of course, no look at the Update Series would be complete without mentioningauthenticated autograph cards. Bobby Witt Jr.’s elite prospect status made both his on-card and sticker autos commandingasks well above $750-1,000 each. Adley Rutschman, the top pick from 2019, pulled in $450-700 for his signatures as collectors bet on his future superstardom. And international signings like Rony Garcia logged auto prices up to $325 based on their incredible upside.
In the end, the 2020 Topps Update Series confirmed what many expected – it housed some of the most coveted modern rookie cards and parallels on the cardboard market. From multicolor refractors and autographs of superstars like Robert, Anderson and Tatis to the dawn of promising prospects like Pache, Webb and Witt Jr., the set showed why the Hobby considers Update among the year’s most anticipated card releases. For savvy collectors, identifying the standout rookies and parallels represented the best avenue to acquiring cards likley to retain and grow value for years to come.
