Preliminary product information has been released for 2018 Topps Finest baseball, which makes its return in early June.
Topps is touting a couple of fresh insert sets and some additional low-numbered parallels to complement a roster of on-card autographs, but the Finest formula otherwise remains much the same. Collectors will also be able to chase the 10-card Finest Careers Die-Cut set honoring the accomplished career of Baltimore Orioles® legend Cal Ripken Jr.
Each pack of 2018 Topps Finest will hold five cards with 12 packs per master box at a retail cost of somewhere around $110. Each master box will have two autographs.
One of those new insert sets is called Sitting Red, which will be centered on the game’s power hitters (who sit “dead red” on fastballs in baseball parlance). Also new is Finest Cornerstones, which will be designed in a fashion similar to the 1994-95 Finest Basketball Cornerstones set. There will be autograph variations of both new insert sets.
Autograph subsets include Finest Autographs with a checklist that includes veterans, All-Stars and Rookies; Firsts Autographs, focused entirely on the 2018 rookie class and Finest Hour Autographs which will include active veterans, rookies and retired greats.
This 2018 release will feature a new Orange Wave Refractor Autograph Parallel card sequentially numbered to 25.
The popular Finest Careers Die-Cut set will return in 2018 with the aforementioned tribute to Cal Ripken Jr. Two cards will fall in every case. Limited issue autograph parallels will also be randomly inserted. There will be Gold Refractor parallels numbered to 50 and 1/1 Superfractors.
Finest Originals autographs will be Finest buybacks from previous years that have had on-card autographs added to them.
2018 Topps Finest baseball is due out the week of June 6.
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