Nolan Ryan was still pitching. George Brett was still hitting. Sparky Anderson was still managing.
Yes, it’s been a long time since the first edition of Topps Finest baseball cards was introduced. Twenty-six years later, the latest edition of the long-running brand will arrive June 5.
2019 Topps Finest will be released in the now traditional format of two mini boxes per master box with a pair of autographs hiding somewhere inside the Chrome-style, colorful cards. This year, Topps has added some fresh insert sets and added more low-numbered parallels to Finest.
2019 Topps Finest Base Set
Veterans and rookies will be featured in the base set once again. The list of parallels will include unnumbered Refractors and these:
• Purple Refractor Parallel: sequentially numbered to 250.
• Blue Refractor Parallel: sequentially numbered to 150.
• Green Refractor Parallel: sequentially numbered to 99.
• Gold Refractor Parallel: sequentially numbered to 50.
• Orange Refractor Parallel: sequentially numbered to 25.
• Red Refractor Parallel: sequentially numbered to 5.
• SuperFractor Parallel: numbered 1-of-1.
There’s also an “Extended Set Base Cards Insert” that includes 25 veterans not represented in the base set. They’ll be somewhat tough to pull with Gold Refractor parallels (# to 50), Red (# to 5) and 1/1 SuperFractors.
Autograph Cards
Topps promises that all autographs will be signed on-card. Finest Autographs and Finest First Autographs will have a bunch of parallels including:
• Blue Refractor Parallel: sequentially numbered to 150.
• Green Refractor Parallel: sequentially numbered to 99.
• Green Wave Refractor Parallel: sequentially numbered to 99.
• Gold Refractor Parallel: sequentially numbered to 50.
• Orange Refractor Parallel: sequentially numbered to 25.
• Orange Wave Refractor Parallel: sequentially numbered to 25.
• Red Refractor Parallel: sequentially numbered to 5.
• Red Wave Refractor Parallel: sequentially numbered to 5.
• SuperFractor Parallel: numbered 1-of-1.
Finest Origins Autographs will showcase the top moments from the early stages of a player’s career. Limited to one per case, they’ll have these parallels:
• Gold Refractor Parallel: sequentially numbered to 50.
• Orange Refractor Parallel: sequentially numbered to 25.
• Red Refractor Parallel: sequentially numbered to 5.
• SuperFractor: numbered 1/1.
Buybacks will be part of 2019 Topps Finest with autographs added to original Finest cards from the product’s 26-year run.
Once again, there will be Finest Mystery Redemption Cards, which are redeemable for a signed card from a player whose identity will be revealed after the product’s release.
Insert Sets
New this year is Blue Chips, a recreation of the 1997 Finest Baseball ‘Finest blue Chips’ design. Look for young stars to be featured. Also new is Prized Performers, which will “draw inspiration from the 1994-95 Topps Finest Basketball Lottery Prize set,” according to Topps. Finest Firsts will be centered on 2019’s top rookies. Again, look for Gold (# to 50), Red (# to 5) and 1/1 SuperFractors for each set.
Finest Careers Die-Cut is a ten-card set focused on an individual player. This year, the subject is Mariano Rivera. There will be only two cards per case (8 master boxes will make up a case). Gold, Red and SuperFractor versions will again be in the mix.
There will be autographed versions of all three insert sets with the Rivera die-cuts numbered to 10.
You can see Topps Finest boxes on eBay here.
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