Topps has long been the dominant force in the baseball card industry, producing high quality cards and holding exclusive rights to include photos and stats of MLB players each year. Their 2020 printing continued this tradition while also highlighting the growing secondary market values certain special cards can command from collectors.
An overview of the 2020 Topps base set shows prices remain quite reasonable for the standard rookie and star player cards that make up the bulk of any series 1-4 releases. Base rookie cards for top prospects like Gavin Lux and Bo Bichette can typically be found for $5-10 in near mint condition. Established young stars like Ronald Acuña Jr. and Juan Soto check in a bit higher between $10-15. Veteran superstars on winning teams like Mike Trout, Christian Yelich, and Cody Bellinger usually fall in the $15-25 range.
It’s the short printed parallels, autographed cards, and memorabilia relic inserts that really drive the high-end prices in modern Topps sets. The flagship Chrome and Allen & Ginter products led the way with several six-figure hits in 2020. A Topps Chrome Yu Darvish green parallel serial numbered to just 5 copies exploded in value after selling for over $125,000. An extremely rare 1/1 Mike Trout autograph card from Allen & Ginter pulled in a winning bid north of $350,000 as well.
Topps 2020 Update Series also carried plenty of demand and value at retail due to its late-season rookie additions. New star call-ups like Jake Cronenworth and Max Fried saw their base rookies list around $50-75 upon release. But it was Padres shortstop Fernando Tatis Jr. who continued to amaze collectors with outrageous prices for his parallels. A serial numbered /5 purple refractor parallel from Update sold privately for a staggering $220,000 last fall.
Perhaps most surprisingly of all was the performance of Topps 2020 Series 1 in the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic. With sports on hiatus and collectors itching for new product, the retail blasters and hangers saw intense competition and frenzied breakers online. As a result, cards of budding superstars like Tatis, Acuña, and Game 5 NLCS hero Howie Kendrick skyrocketed. Kendrick’s base was fetching $75-100 raw while high-end Tatis numbered parallels brought 4 figures.
The growing memorabilia relic market also thrived within 2020 Topps sets. Multi-swatch exquisite patches of Mike Trout and Christian Yelich exceeded $2,000 each. Rainbow foil autograph relics of rookies Robert Hassell III and Max Meyer realized over $500 a piece as well. But no rookie came close to Fernando Tatis Jr., whose spectacular on-card autograph patch relic from Series 1 soared past $12,000. The Tatis craze showed no signs of slowing either, as he continued racking up big hits throughout the flagship releases.
Despite the economic hardship of the pandemic, the strength and loyalty of collectors ensured that shining gems within Topps’ flagship MLB offerings maintained tremendous value throughout an unprecedented 2020 season. Companies like PWCC and SteinerSports broke numerous auction records for the highest priced modern baseball cards ever sold as interest surged. Whether chasing parallels, autos, or relics, smart investors recognized Topps as the safest long-term holdings in the hobby. Names like Trout, Acuña, and especially Tatis proved they could carry investment-grade prices for years to come straight out of the current year sets. The future remains bright for both Topps and the collectors who supported baseball cards through one of its most uncertain periods.
