The 2018 Topps Baseball Cards Opening Day set is the latest release from Topps celebrating the start of the Major League Baseball season. The Opening Day set has become an annual tradition from Topps, providing baseball card collectors with updated base cards of every MLB player for the upcoming season shortly before opening day. The 2018 installment continues this tradition with updated photography and designs across 334 total cards in the base set.
The photographer for the 2018 Topps Opening Day set was John Iacono, who has been capturing MLB players for Topps card releases since 2015. Iacono is known for his crisp, well-lit photography that really captures the action and excitement of America’s pastime. His shots for the 2018 Opening Day set maintain this high standard, with many including players swinging, fielding, or executing other baseball movements. The clean, sharp photography provides collectors with some of the best imagery of their favorite players at the start of the season.
Topps has included a variety of designs across the 334 base cards in the 2018 set. Around half utilize a vertical Action Shot design, showing players in motion with team wordmarks at the top. The other half go with a more traditional horizontal Portrait design with the team logo above the photo and stats below. Rated rookies and other young stars are highlighted with special parallels or photo variations to draw additional collector interest. Veterans and superstars like Mike Trout and Clayton Kershaw can also be found with silver signatures on their base cards.
Organizationally, Topps has arranged the 2018 Opening Day set with teams in alphabetical order. Within each team section, players are ordered alphabetically by their last name. This standard organizational structure makes it easy for collectors to find specific players they want. Numbers on the front of each card correspond to the player’s uniform number, a helpful identifier at a glance. Beyond the base set, Topps also included promotional cards featuring MLB mascots and retired player throwbacks that added to collector checklists.
In addition to the base cards, Topps offered several insert and parallel card variations to insert chase and premium elements into hobby box and pack releases of the 2018 Opening Day set. The Top Prospects insert set focused on some of the best young minor leaguers expected to debut in the upcoming season such as Shohei Ohtani and Juan Soto. Silver Pack parallels presented a 1-in-10 odds alternative design for base cards. Gold parallels took it a step further as ultra short printed premium versions at 1-in-100 odds.
Topps also released Opening Day boxes and packs through mass retail at major outlets like Walmart, Target, and hobby shops. The mass retail releases allowed casual collectors and fans a chance to participate, offering the base cards and some inserts at reasonable price points outside of traditional hobby boxes. Opening Day has grown to be one of Topps’ biggest annual release in terms of total print run and distribution volume each year through these mass channels.
On the authenticated memorabilia card front, Topps provided several different Hit Parallels inserts featuring game used and worn materials for the true high-end collector. Bat and Patch cards showed off game used pieces of lumber and jersey swatches. Autograph cards delivered signatures from the games biggest names on-card. Numbered parallels and parallel signatures added scarcity. Topps Museum Collection pieces pushed the premium factor even further with 1/1 cards crafted from game used equipment encased in plastic presentation boxes.
Leading up to release date, Topps built hype by providing periodic team-by-team portfolio reveals on their website and through social media. This allowed fans to get a first look at stars on their favorite clubs and generate buzz. Hobby shops and online breakers also fueled anticipation by promoting their pre-sales offerings of hobby boxes, players, and teams to sort after release day. The official street date finally arrived in late February as Opening Day kicked off the 2018 MLB season.
Collectors far and wide were out hunting packs and assembling their entire 334-card sets over ensuing weeks as the season got underway. Key rookies like Juan Soto’s decorated rookie debuts added even more interest. Several months after release, complete 2018 Topps Opening Day sets can still be found on the secondary market between $80-$120 depending on condition as one of the more affordable high-end annual releases in the modern era of baseball cards. With updated photography, competitive parallels, and mass retail distribution, Topps continues delivering their popular Opening Day tradition each year to mark baseball’s return. The 2018 installment proved another successful large-scale set release that baseball card collectors could enjoy as a new season began.
