The 2017 Topps Baseball Card complete set marked another iconic year for the hobby’s leading brand. For over 65 years, Topps has defined the baseball card collecting landscape and in 2017 they released their signature annual flagship set featuring all 30 MLB teams. The complete set contains over 700 cards packed with colorful photography, detailed stats, and all the star players fans look forward to adding to their collections each season.
The design of the 2017 Topps set pays homage to classic Topps cards of past decades with a clean and simple layout. On the front of each card is a large vertical photo of the player surrounded by a white border. Their name, team, and position are printed above the photo while career stats and fun facts are featured below. The back of the cards contain more in-depth stats tables as well as career highlights. Many veteran collectors appreciated Topps returning to a more traditional aesthetic compared to some of the highly stylized and graphic-heavy designs of recent years.
Rookies and prospects were highly anticipated components as always. Potential future stars like Dansby Swanson, Andrew Benintendi, and Austin Meadows made their Topps debut. The coveted Update Series released half-way through the season as usual to add any new players who made an impact after the initial checklist was finalized in spring training. Notable call-ups like Cody Bellinger and Aaron Judge got their first flagship cards in the Update.
Insert sets within the 2017 Topps product line added variety for collectors. The ‘Topps Now’ cards were extremely popular with fans. These captured noteworthy MLB moments within the previous month through storytelling photography on the fronts of the cards. Topps introduced some new insert sets as well like ‘1957 Throwbacks’ and ‘Minis’ which featured 50 players across 5 mini card sheets per pack. Veteran players also received tribute cards highlighting their careers through unique retrospective photography.
Parallels and serial-numbered variations of regular base cards increased the excitement of the hobby box experience. Refractors, like the popular Topps Chrome set, featured select players with a refractive coating to make their images shine. Numbered parallel subsets within certain designated odds gave collectors a chase for even rarer finds. Gold foil parallels /50 or less were true chase cards. Autograph and memorabilia cards of the game’s biggest stars especially boosted the prestige of retail hobby products.
The 2017 Topps set had 525 base cards forming the backbone of the complete master set. Over 180 additional inserts, parallels, and variations filled out the rest. In total, the checklist contained over 700 unique cards when accounting for serial numbered variations. For dedicated collectors, acquiring the entire collection presented quite a task. Commons were readily available through value packs while chase cards required sorting through many expensive hobby boxes or buying singles online. Still, for many fans the journey was part of the fun of pursuing a complete 2017 Topps baseball set.
Secondary market popularity for the flagship release was robust. With increased collector demand combined with limited print runs, vintage Topps sets from the 1960s through 1980s have skyrocketed in aftermarket value in recent years. The modern era flagship sets including 2017 are establishing themselves as long-term classics that will retain collector interest decades from now. Already within just a few years of its release, high-grade 2017 Topps rookies and stars command respectable resale prices online. This bodes well for the set’s preservation as a historical account of that memorable 2017 MLB season.
In summary, Topps baseball cards continue delighting fans old and new with the timeless tradition of their annual flagship release. The 2017 edition showcased the cream of that year’s crop of MLB talent through a classic yet modern design aesthetic. Between the dynamic rookie class, fun inserts, and parallel chasing thrills – the complete 2017 Topps set delivered everything collectors look forward to each spring. With its place securely within the legendary lineage of Topps sets before it, the 2017 offering is undoubtedly already considered a prized collection among today’s dedicated baseball memorabilia enthusiasts.
