The 2020 Topps baseball card set was one of the most anticipated releases in recent years. After decades of dominance in the baseball card industry, Topps continues to be the premier brand for collectors both young and old. Their 2020 offering featured a return to classic designs along with several inserts focused on milestone cards that captured the essence of the game.
While the season was cut short due to the Covid-19 pandemic, many rookies and veterans had breakthrough campaigns in the shortened 60-game schedule. Stars like Fernando Tatis Jr., Jacob deGrom, and Mookie Betts reminded fans of their greatness. Veterans like Albert Pujols and Adrian Gonzalez achieved career milestones worthy of commemoration. These storylines translated well to the collector market and certain parallel and serially numbered cards from Topps’ 2020 release have surged in demand and value since last summer.
For the base set, Topps returned to using team logo designs on their cardboard fronts similar to the 1990s styles that are still fondly remembered by many in the hobby. While most base cards are worth around a quarter in near mint condition, short printed cards of star players continue to command higher prices. Examples include serially numbered parallels of Tatis Jr., Juan Soto, Ronald Acuna Jr. and others that are still in demand and fetch $10-20 raw depending on the parallel. Rosters also featured key additions like Yu Darvish, DJ LeMahieu and Mike Clevinger who switched teams in the 2020-2021 offseason and their base cards in new uniforms are particularly sought after.
More valuable are the autographed and memorabilia cards Topps inserted throughout packs and hobby boxes at much lower print runs than the base cards. Fernando Tatis Jr. rookie autographs were highly hittable early in the season but secondary prices have skyrocketed to hundreds or even over $1000 for top parallels as his stardom has shined through. Other high value autographed rookies include Gavin Lux, Alec Bohm and Logan Gilbert who made their MLB debuts in 2020 and their autograph cards trade hands for $50-150 based on parallel. Veterans with strong fanbases like Buster Posey, Clayton Kershaw and Jacob deGrom routinely pull $100+ for low-numbered autographs as well.
In terms of memorabilia cards, coveted “hit” patches or bat knob relics of stars will demand premium prices compared to the base cards. Full uniform swatch cards of established superstars like Mike Trout, Christian Yelich and Mookie Betts routinely sell for $200-500 raw depending on the team and parallel design. Rookie swatch cards of prospects who debuted in 2020 and showed promise like Luis Robert, Dylan Carlson and Cristian Pache can still be had for under $100 in most cases but their values are on the rise. Autographed memorabilia cards which combine hit material with an auto naturally rank among the rarest and most valuable insert cards from 2020 Topps.
Topps also included several special inserts in 2020 highlighting career milestones and career-spanning “then and now” photo comparisons. These special inserts proved quite popular for collectors seeking nostalgia and appreciation of the history of the game. A popular insert set focused on players reaching 3,000 career hits. Miguel Cabrera and Albert Pujols highlights their achievement with dynamic bordered images sure to gain value as they near retirement. Pitching milestones like reaching 2500 strikeouts were also included for Max Scherzer and others still producing at an elite level in their 30s.
Perhaps the most coveted 2020 Topps insert features an “At the Top” design with a current photo of the player flanked by a rookie card-style pic from their earliest season. Stars included are Trout, Kershaw, David Ortiz and more. The scarcer parallels number to just /10 copies making them extremely difficult to find on the secondary market. Typical prices approach $100-300 based on the player featured alone but serial numbers below /5 escalate values significantly higher. Overall the Topps 2020 baseball release was a commercial and critical success that has energized collectors with exciting new rookies, established stars and nostalgic throwbacks to simpler designs of the 1990s. Many high value cards will undoubtedly gain in desirability as future Hall of Famers like Tatis Jr. continue to shine.
