The 2022 Topps Series 1 Baseball card release featured several insert sets and parallel card variations that collectors chased after starting with its initial release in late March. This year’s flagship Topps release had many different parallels and short printed cards along with popular insert sets that kept collectors on their toes trying to complete sets.
One of the most popular subsets featured several Stadium Club parallels paying homage to the classic card design used in the 1990s Stadium Club set. The parallels included Gold Frame, Diamond, Atomic Refractor, and Superfractor versions of the retro design with refractors being the biggest chase cards. Another popular insert series was the Rainbow Foil parallel cards available in Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, and Purple color variations. These parallel inserts featured vibrant foiling across player photos and were popular for team set collectors to track down in all the color variations.
A new insert set introduced this year were Sepia Toned Variation cards with an aged look and feel to them reminiscent of the sepia tone photos from early 20th century baseball images. These vintage styled inserts were popular with collectors looking for something original outside of the typical parallels. Another new idea was Diamond Anniversary parallel cards commemorating great players hitting career milestones multi colored diamond design on an otherwise standard base card.
One of the biggest chases for collectors of the 2022 Topps Series 1 release were the incredible short printed veteran autograph and relic cards. Top veterans like Albert Pujols, Clayton Kershaw, Yadier Molina, Mike Trout and others had absurdly low printed autographed and memorabilia cards that were nearly impossible to pull from packs. Some estimates put the print runs on these rare SP Veteran cards in the single digit range, creating frenzies online when one would hit the market.
A popular veterans insert set paid tribute to veteran players who had retired after the 2021 season included Fernando Tatis Jr Father/Son cards that were highly sought after by Padres fans. Additional inserts sets included Topps Birthday parallel cards in Red, Blue and Gold colors celebrating player birthday months. Plus 50 Years of Topps parallels honored the 50 year anniversary of Topps’ 1972 design with foil refractors of current players in the classic 1972 uniform color scheme.
Another major highlight were the super short printed autographed Rainbow Foil parallels featuring big name players like Shohei Ohtani, Ronald Acuña Jr. and Juan Soto. With print estimates under 10 copies each, these 1/1 style refractors were nearly impossible to acquire outside of incredible pack luck or deep pocket collectors willing to spend thousands in the secondary market.
The card design itself was a clean and classic look for the 2022 Topps Series 1 release with photo variants for base cards adding to team set variability. Plus photographic variations on parallels and inserts as well kept things interesting for collectors. The checklist also featured exciting new rookies like Bobby Witt Jr. and fan-favorites like Mike Trout who still excite collectors with each new release.
The 2022 Topps Series 1 release had a nice mix of classic designs, popular inserts like Stadium Club and parallels with various colors and refractors. But the biggest draws were undoubtedly the ultra-short printed autograph and memorabilia parallels from veteran stars which created a huge frenzy both in packs and online. While hits were still tough to acquire, collectors enjoyed chasing all the different variations across what was another solid flagship Topps series release to start the 2022 season. The many parallels and inserts certainly kept things interesting for set builders trying to complete their collections.
