2025 Topps Baseball Design Revealed

[ThoseBackPages]

there is no "return"

once the chain is broken, its done.

i could see Fanatics saying "WE'LL BRING IT BACK IN 2026!" that would be typical of them for sure.

its like toothpaste, once its out of the tube theres no putting it back in

[ThoseBackPages]

and i get what people are saying about unifying the color parallels
to make things easier for the newbs.

i also get i am old and they dont care about us oldheads anymore

[jmboehm33]

Originally Posted by ThoseBackPages

there is no "return"

once the chain is broken, its done.

i could see Fanatics saying "WE'LL BRING IT BACK IN 2026!" that would be typical of them for sure.

its like toothpaste, once its out of the tube theres no putting it back in

Yeah, but what if they could get them all in 2025 Series 2, even the Series 1 guys?

Originally Posted by ThoseBackPages

and i get what people are saying about unifying the color parallels
to make things easier for the newbs.

i also get i am old and they dont care about us oldheads anymore

THIS is the most disappointing. And the reason I don't begrudge anyone for considering leaving or threatening to leave the hobby over these seemingly "insignificant" changes.

[ThoseBackPages]

Originally Posted by jmboehm33

Yeah, but what if they could get them all in 2025 Series 2, even the Series 1 guys?

Yes, that would be fine. Topps did just that in 2012 with the Topps Golds after those failed Gold Shimmer looking Foils were in S1

[Cracktoast]

2 questions

1. Most people who are upset seem to be so because there was no heads up. If they had announced last year that starting in 2025 that all the parallels would be reset to match across all products. Would that have made anybody less moody about it ? I highly doubt it

2. Is it possible they actually do know how important they are and are planning on releasing a special online only unnumbered complete master set including Update say around Christmas that are only Black bordered ? If so will people still complain because it just won't feel the same because they aren't numbered or pack pulled ?


Topps is like the IRS it doesn't matter what they do it's always going to be wrong. Everyone was happy to get those stimulus checks until it caused massive inflation. Topps could easily have continued making Black Parallels and just not numbered them and people would have complained anyhow so in their eyes why not just do away with them all together as the backlash wouldn't be any less. Topps got the hobby in the mess it's in now by serial numbering everything under the sun to produce a false sense of scarcity and IMO Fanatics it's just trying to put some order to the chaos by making the chaos consistent across all brands.

[NYRE2PECT]

Originally Posted by jmboehm33

Yeah, but what if they could get them all in 2025 Series 2, even the Series 1 guys?



THIS is the most disappointing. And the reason I don't begrudge anyone for considering leaving or threatening to leave the hobby over these seemingly "insignificant" changes.

That's where they are showing themselves to be the most tone deaf.

Traditions have been a HUGE part of the backbone of this hobby/business/collective.

[swabie2424]

My favorite Topps Flagship year in the modem era 2018. The Independence Day parallels in 2018 are fine wine. The black parallels in 2018 get a chef’s kiss.

This 2025 design is boring and forgettable. It’s hard for me to hate a baseball card so I don’t use that word. But when this year is over nobody will think twice about this design ever again.

[Poorboy]

Originally Posted by ThoseBackPages

there is no "return"

once the chain is broken, its done.

i could see Fanatics saying "WE'LL BRING IT BACK IN 2026!" that would be typical of them for sure.

its like toothpaste, once its out of the tube theres no putting it back in

ahhhh new brand
topps classic in 2026
same great taste .....
to make it authentic?
poor collation,every card off center,miscut,ect ect

[here2havefun]

Originally Posted by Cracktoast

1. Most people who are upset seem to be so because there was no heads up. If they had announced last year that starting in 2025 that all the parallels would be reset to match across all products. Would that have made anybody less moody about it ? I highly doubt it

Don't think anyone is mad simply because they didn't give a heads up. Flagship Black is one of the most beloved, collected, and sought after Flagship parallels. It's pedigree and linage make it highly collectible. The fact that they are cutting the Black, but leaving in the green/purple/orange ice foilboards (and other nonsense parallels), is why everyone is mad.

Originally Posted by Cracktoast

2. Is it possible they actually do know how important they are and are planning on releasing a special online only unnumbered complete master set including Update say around Christmas that are only Black bordered ? If so will people still complain because it just won't feel the same because they aren't numbered or pack pulled ?

Yes of course people would be mad at that. "Unnumbered and in a different distribution" would get black boarded cards in the hands of collectors, but that only satisfies the aesthetic portion of the equation. That's only part of what makes the Black parallel collectible. The history and lineage, the serial numbering, the limited supply, and being distributed in packs....all this stuff is important to _why_ these things are desirable and collectible.

[fabiani12333]

Originally Posted by jmboehm33

There is a concerted effort by Fanatics to get some continuity through product lines to make it easier for those entering the hobby, especially as it relates to colored/numbered parallels. I think most of us can agree that there is the germ of a worthy idea there, but beginning it with getting rid of the black numbered to the year is an incredible misstep.

I don't understand this logic. They want continuity between products, even though each product is meant to offer distinctly different attributes to keep customers interested in buying the newest thing?

Are they going to make Heritage black refractors serial numbered to ten copies now?

Is the popular flagship gold parallel now going to be serial numbered to fifty copies to match Topps Chrome?

[fabiani12333]

Originally Posted by ThoseBackPages

there is no "return"

once the chain is broken, its done.

i could see Fanatics saying "WE'LL BRING IT BACK IN 2026!" that would be typical of them for sure.

its like toothpaste, once its out of the tube theres no putting it back in

The OCD collectors will have their collecting routine broken. At that point, why would they start it up again? They'll likely have gotten fixated on something else by that point and have moved on.

[Drew3000]

The black chain is already broken when Topps screwed up 2019 and repeated /67.

[jmboehm33]

Originally Posted by fabiani12333

I don't understand this logic. They want continuity between products, even though each product is meant to offer distinctly different attributes to keep customers interested in buying the newest thing?

Are they going to make Heritage black refractors serial numbered to ten copies now?

Is the popular flagship gold parallel now going to be serial numbered to fifty copies to match Topps Chrome?

These are all excellent questions and ones we have been asking as well. Heritage Golds to /50 now? If they changed the Blacks, why didn’t they change the Golds /2025 this year?? They can have consistency and still have the occasional, necessary exception to the rule based on long-term hobby collectibility.

There is nuance to what Fanatics is using a bulldozer for and it’s just going to keep backfiring on them as they alienate long-term collectors.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[ThoseBackPages]

Originally Posted by fabiani12333

The OCD collectors will have their collecting routine broken. At that point, why would they start it up again? They'll likely have gotten fixated on something else by that point and have moved on.

sure, the "They" being Fanatics

[ThoseBackPages]

i am completely aware that i am an old man yelling at the clouds.
long ago i accepted it, thats fine

but i am not alone in the "we dont forget" crowd.

at the show they have had an annual "Topps Q&A" since 2017 i think it was.
each year since 2019 we have asked them "where are the 2018 wood minis?"
in 2023 they finally asked us to please stop asking about them.

we dont forget.

[NYRE2PECT]

Originally Posted by fabiani12333

I don't understand this logic. They want continuity between products, even though each product is meant to offer distinctly different attributes to keep customers interested in buying the newest thing?

Are they going to make Heritage black refractors serial numbered to ten copies now?

Is the popular flagship gold parallel now going to be serial numbered to fifty copies to match Topps Chrome?

I dislike most of what you just wrote…just started a Bobby Gold vertical because they were still in reach.

How far do they take it!?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[ThoseBackPages]

if Fanatics thinks that "we'll just replace Topps Black with Topps Black Foil and make them /10, the folks wont care". theyd be wrong

[rfgilles]

Originally Posted by jmboehm33

Appreciate the confidence, fellas! �� It's such a tone-deaf decision that it's almost impossible to believe, even for me hearing it first-hand.
Jeff ('Blabbin' 'Bout Slabbin')

Same here. I didn't even consider it an option.

[glassofwater]

Originally Posted by ThoseBackPages

if Fanatics thinks that "we'll just replace Topps Black with Topps Black Foil and make them /10, the folks wont care". theyd be wrong

They been very consist with he numbering now for 2 years? Black is now to # /10 in all sports and products. Hell they even erased the black shimmer/mojo 1/1

[ThoseBackPages]

Originally Posted by glassofwater

They been very consist with he numbering now for 2 years? Black is now to # /10 in all sports and products. Hell they even erased the black shimmer/mojo 1/1

terrible

[Drew3000]

Originally Posted by glassofwater

They been very consist with he numbering now for 2 years? Black is now to # /10 in all sports and products. Hell they even erased the black shimmer/mojo 1/1

Love that black /10 in chrome but foil in flagship is just meh

[OhioLawyerF5]

Still waiting to hear why Jeff has a source nobody else has access to, why they chose you to reveal this news, and who this mysterious source is.

[jmboehm33]

Originally Posted by OhioLawyerF5

Still waiting to hear why Jeff has a source nobody else has access to, why they chose you to reveal this news, and who this mysterious source is.

When you go to enough card shows in Southern California, and talk cards with a lot of folks on a live show every week, you meet people. Many people have access to this source, they just may not pay as close attention to every product checklist as a couple guys who collect and enjoy black parallels.

And there was no big "revealing" -- we simply looked at the checklist when it came out, noticed the absence of the black parallel and asked the person we know the question. They responded. We're passing along that info -- and actively trying to get the decision-makers to pay more attention to the collectors and hobbyists.

[KhalDrogo]

Originally Posted by Cracktoast

2 questions

1. Most people who are upset seem to be so because there was no heads up. If they had announced last year that starting in 2025 that all the parallels would be reset to match across all products. Would that have made anybody less moody about it ? I highly doubt it

2. Is it possible they actually do know how important they are and are planning on releasing a special online only unnumbered complete master set including Update say around Christmas that are only Black bordered ? If so will people still complain because it just won't feel the same because they aren't numbered or pack pulled ?


Topps is like the IRS it doesn't matter what they do it's always going to be wrong. Everyone was happy to get those stimulus checks until it caused massive inflation. Topps could easily have continued making Black Parallels and just not numbered them and people would have complained anyhow so in their eyes why not just do away with them all together as the backlash wouldn't be any less. Topps got the hobby in the mess it's in now by serial numbering everything under the sun to produce a false sense of scarcity and IMO Fanatics it's just trying to put some order to the chaos by making the chaos consistent across all brands.

You are special.

[jmboehm33]

Originally Posted by ThoseBackPages

if Fanatics thinks that "we'll just replace Topps Black with Topps Black Foil and make them /10, the folks wont care". theyd be wrong

Yes, I believe this is what they thought. (Possibly even that the hobby at large would be EXCITED by this change!) And they are seeing how wrong they were. Whether that actually motivates them to A) Try to rectify this black parallel situation by putting them in Series 2 or B) Avoid similar issues with products like Heritage parallels or Golds/Numbered to the year in flagship going forward or C) Ignore the noise completely -- remains to be seen.