The 2018 Topps baseball card series featured some of the most valuable modern rookie cards and parallels on the market. While retail boxes of 2018 Topps featured mainstream base cards of current stars, it was the rare parallels and short print variations that fetched enormous prices at auction over the past few years. Let’s take a look at some of the most expensive 2018 Topps baseball cards that have changed hands.
Heading the list is perhaps the single most coveted modern card – the Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Superfractor parallel. Only 5 of these 1/1 parallels exist featuring the Blue Jays phenom. With his hype continuing to build after breakout seasons in 2019 and 2021, one of these extremely rare Guerrero Jr. Supers sold for a staggering $459,000 in a December 2021 Goldin Auctions sale. It’s hard to fathom any standard base rookie cardfetching this kind of money, but Guerrero Jr.’s talents and the sheer scarcity of the parallel make it one of the true crown jewels in the hobby.
Another extremely expensive 2018 Topps card is the Ronald Acuña Jr. Superfractor parallel, of which only 5 also exist. Considered one of the top young players in the game along with Guerrero Jr., an Acuña Jr. Super sold for $350,000 in January 2022 through the same Goldin Auctions. It’s truly remarkable two cards from the same series sold for north of $350K within a month of each other. Acuña Jr.’s superstar talent and 5-card print run make this one of the most iconic and investment-worthy cards on the vintage market.
Moving beyond Supers, another hugely valuable 2018 parallel is the Juan Soto Rainbow Foil parallel numbered to /5. Soto’s ascension into one of baseball’s best hitters after winning the NL Rookie of the Year in 2018 has only increased demand for his scarce parallels. One of these ultra-short print Soto rainbows from 2018 Topps changed hands for an astounding $249,950 in a Goldin sale in May 2021. With Soto entering his prime, cards like this securing a quarter million dollars show no signs of his collectibles market cooling off.
The 2018 Topps retail release also featured several popular short prints that can fetch big money in the right graded gem grades. Heading the short prints is the Christian Yelich Pink parallel numbered to /150. One BGS-graded Yelich Pink gem mint 9.5 sold for $19,200 on eBay in October 2021. Yelich’s 2018 MVP season and the rarity of finding these ultra-short printed pink parallels so high-graded make it a true treasure for baseball collectors.
Other expensive 2018 Topps short prints include an Acuña Jr. red parallel numbered to /5 that sold for $15,650 through Goldin in January 2022 and a BGS 9.5-graded Fernando Tatis Jr. Orange Velocity parallel /150 that hit $15,375 in a November 2021 Goldin sale. Both Acuña Jr. and Tatis Jr.’ highly-regarded prospects at the time coupled with their even scarcer paper colors demand top dollar from voracious vintage collectors.
Perhaps the most famous and iconic short print variation from 2018 Topps are the gold foil labels featuring numbering instead of the standard Topps player design. Numbered to an extremely low /10 each, graded examples of these labels featuring superstars like Mike Trout ($6,300), Christian Yelich ($4,600), and Mookie Betts ($4,000) routinely sell for thousands. The treasure hunt aspect of finding these elusive variations encased and preserved at gem quality adds tremendously to their collector appeal.
While flagship parallels and short prints garnered the biggest prices, 2018 Topps Chrome also featured certain cards that broke records. Headlining was a Juan Soto Chrome Refractor Superfractor /1 that crushed estimates, selling for a world record $350,100 through Goldin Auctions in August 2020. Soto mania knew no bounds as collectors clamored for any pieces of the phenom they could get their hands on. Additionally, Ronald Acuña Jr.’s 2018 Topps Chrome Superfractor changed hands for $198,000 that same August month. With the highest end-label chrome parallels numbered to an ultimate one, prices truly had nowhere to go but up for specimens so rare.
The 2018 Topps baseball release stands out as one of the most defining modern issues, featuring generational talents just entering the league like Acuña Jr., Soto, Vlad Jr., and more. Their continued successes at the MLB level synchronized perfectly with the collectibles market hunger for their earliest certified rookies. With the sheer volatility in prices some 2018 Topps parallels and short prints have achieved reaching above six figures, it’s clear this series launched icons whose cards will be prized holdings for years to come.
