The year 2020 brought new heights in the collectibles world, as people spending more time at home sought hobbies and ways to occupy themselves. Vintage sports cards in particular saw massive spikes in value, driven by a combination of increased interest, scarcity of coveted items, and disproportionate spending power among deep-pocketed collectors. When it comes to the flagship brand of baseball cards, Topps, several specimens from 2020 sales shattered records and set new standards for the collecting community.
Among the most valuable rookies from 2020 Topps series are cards featuring emerging young stars like Fernando Tatis Jr., Luis Robert, and Bo Bichette. Tatis’ base rookie card from the original 2020 series sold for over $800 raw, an astronomical price for a modern card in its most basic form without special autographs or parallels. Tatis has quickly become one of the faces of Major League Baseball, and collectors recognize his potential to become one of the game’s all-time greats, hence their considerable investment in a long-term hold of his rookie debut. Tatis cards commanded eye-popping five-figure prices for special parallels and autographs from 2020 Topps.
Similarly, White Sox rookie Luis Robert was among the most productive hitters in the shortened 2020 season and debuted with significant fanfare. Robert’s Topps rookie card regularly traded hands for $300-500, not too shabby for a modern common base card. Blue Jays star Bo Bichette also broke out in his first full MLB season and had rookie Topps cards in the $100-200 range. These prices would have been unthinkable just a couple years ago for modern commons. Dozens of other young talents from the 2020 rookie class saw their early Topps cards double, triple, or appreciate even more in value as their potential became realized on the field.
From the 2020 Topps Series 1 release alone, seven cards eclipsed the $10,000 price point in PSA 10 gem mint condition. This included Kyle Lewis’ Red Border Parallel (/150 print run) at $11,000, Gavin Lux’ Cyan Border Parallel (/25) at $10,200, and Nico Hoerner’s Yellow Border Parallel (/10) skyrocketing above $25,000 as one of the scarcest serial-numbered inserts from the subset. Mike Trout continued to reign as one of the most expensive modern players, with his Topps base card rising above $900 in a PSA 10 grade to set a new record. Even commons like Trout and Ronald Acuña Jr. parallels and autographs brought five figures on the secondary market.
Perhaps the most astonishing cards from 2020 Topps stemmed from autograph parallels with extremely low print runs. Washington Nationals superstar Juan Soto, just 21 years old at the time, had autographs available in Green Parallel (/25), Gold Parallel (/10), and Superfractor 1/1 versions. Amazingly, Soto’s Topps 1/1 Superfractor auto changed hands for a staggering $450,000, the highest publicly reported price yet for a card from the 2020 series and a record for Soto himself. Other young sluggers like Vladimir Guerrero Jr. also had autograph parallels, like Topps Gold (/10), bring nine-figure sums.
Veteran superstars maintained monster valuations as well. A Mike Trout Topps Chrome Superfractor refractor parallel 1/1 from 2020 sold for a cool $396,000. Even Trout’s base Topps autographs reached $50,000+ for high grades. A rare Tom Brady Topps card showing him as a minor leaguer with the Montreal Expos before turning to football sold for north of $100,000. Such astronomical prices suggest speculators foresee further growth as these players’ legends are forged over the next decade plus.
Outside of singles, the 2020 Topps Series 1 and Series 2 hobby boxes also gained immense value on the secondary market. With each box containing only 12 packs and yielding on average 1-2 star rookie cards or bigger hits, intact boxes multiplied in demand. Popular breakers ripped cases of Topps 2020 live on YouTube for thousands of viewers, further fueling interest. In PSA 9 condition, a sealed Topps Series 1 box reached $9,700 last December – over 10x its original $99 January 2020 price tag. And those returns are expected to keep growing for years to come as fans continue chasing the next generational talents featured in the latest Topps releases fresh off the MLB diamond.
The 2020 Topps card releases sparked a modern collectibles renaissance driven by perfect storm circumstances and untapped enthusiasm during the pandemic era. Cards of stars like Tatis Jr., Robert, Soto, Trout and more established new value thresholds that will likely stand for a long time. Low serial-numbered parallels and 1/1 refractors commanded previously unthinkable prices in the high five and six figures. Topps 2020 overall pushed the entire collecting industry to embrace burgeoning demand that shows no signs of slowing down. For years to come, these cards should retain strong secondary value as long-term investments in the brightest young players just starting to make their mark.
