2019 Topps Transcendent Baseball to Include Griffey Meet and Greet

Topps has landed Ken Griffey Jr. for its annual Transcendent party, the culmination of an annual ultra-limited baseball card release.

Griffey, who first appeared on baseball cards as a Seattle Mariners rookie 30 years ago, will appear at the event attended by those who acquire an invitation through the release of 2019 Topps Transcendent.  Details on the party will be announced later this fall.

Invitations will be found in each box of Transcendent, which is set for release November 27.  Topps says 100 boxes will be produced this year, a few more than during the first three years of the release.

Typically priced in the neighborhood of $20,000 per box, Transcendent offers the chance to rub elbows with Griffey (past guests have included Kris Bryant, Hank Aaron and Mike Trout), plus a box full of autograph and serial-numbered cards.  There will be 54 signed cards in each box.

In addition to the VIP invitation, here’s what a box break of 2019 Topps Transcendent will look like:

• 1 Complete Set of 50 Transcendent Icons Base cards
• Two – 50-Card Sets of Franchsise Favorites Reproductions
• 50 Transcendent Collection Autograph cards. Past and present players join 2019’s top rookies on the list of signers. Each card will be hard-signed and encased in a metallic gold frame and numbered to 25 with Emerald (# to 15); Purple (# to 10); Red (1/1) and Platinum parallels. There will also be image variations for each card on the Transcendent Collection autograph checklist, all on a new design. They’ll also be framed and sequentially numbered to 25 with the same parallels above.
• At least two 1-of-1 autograph cards
• 1 1-of-1 Derek Jeter autograph card on a design from past Topps issues (1952-2019)
• 1 Autographed Patch card, Autograph Bat Knob or Nameplate Book card. The Bat Knob cards will include a cut signature and be produced in a booklet-style card. All will be 1-of-1.
• 1 1-of-1 Transcendent Franchise Favorites Sketch card
• 1 1-of-1 Oversized Cut Signature card or Oversized Letter Autograph card. The checklist will include sports stars from the past as well as historical figures and entertainers. Numerous U.S. presidents are on the checklist (see below).
• 1 1-of-1 Autographed 1953-style SuperFractor

Cut Signature and Letter Patch card checklist to include:

Andre the Giant – Wrestler

Andrew Jackson – 7th President of the U.S

Andrew Carnegie – Industrialist

Anthony Bourdain – Chef

Babe Ruth – MLB Great

Barack Obama – 44th President of the U.S.

Benjamin Harrison – 23rd President of the U.S.

Bill Clinton – 42nd President of the U.S.

Branch Rickey – Baseball Executive

Brigham Young – Religious Leader & Politician

Burt Reynolds – Actor

Calvin Coolidge – 30th President of the U.S.

Charlie O. Finley – Baseball Executive

Cy Young – MLB Great

Dwight D. Eisenhower – 34th President of the U.S.

Florence Griffith Joyner – Track & Field Athlete

Frank Robinson – MLB Great

Franklin Pierce – 14th President of the U.S.

Franklin D. Roosevelt – 32nd President of the U.S.

George H.W. Bush – 41st President of the U.S.

George W. Bush – 43rd President of the U.S.

Gerald Ford – 38th President of the U.S.

Gil Hodges – MLB Great

Gordie Howe – Pro Hockey Great

Grover Cleveland– 22nd and 24th President of the U.S.

Harry S. Truman – 33rd President of the U.S.

Herbert Hoover – 31st President of the U.S.

Honus Wagner – MLB Great

Jackie Robinson – MLB Great

James Buchanan – 15th President of the U.S.

James Garfield – 20th President of the U.S.

Jane Goodall – Primatologist

Jesse Owens – Track & Field Athlete

Jimmie Foxx – MLB Great

Joan Rivers – Comedian

Joe Tinker – MLB Great

Joe DiMaggio – MLB Great

John Adams – 2nd President of the U.S.

John Tyler – 10th President of the U.S.

John Hancock – Statesman

John D. Rockefeller – Business Magnate

John Quincy Adams – 6th President of the U.S.

Kid Nichols – MLB Great

Kirby Puckett – MLB Great

Kurt Vonnegut – Writer

Lefty Grove – MLB Great

Leo Fender – Inventor

Lou Gehrig – MLB Great

Lyndon B. Johnson – 36th President of the U.S.

Mel Ott – MLB Great

Mel Blanc – Voice Actor

Nap Lajoie – MLB Great

Nellie Fox – MLB Great

Pee Wee Reese – MLB Great

Penny Marshall – Actress

Reggie White – Pro Football Great

Richard Nixon – 37th President of the U.S.

Roberto Clemente – MLB Great

Rocky Marciano – Boxing Great

Roger Maris – MLB Great

Rogers Hornsby – MLB Great

Ronald Reagan – 40th President of the U.S.

Roy Campanella – MLB Great

Rutherford B. Hayes – 19th President of the U.S.

Sadaharu Oh –Baseball Great/Manager

Satchel Paige – MLB Great

Sigmund Freud – Neurologist

Sugar Ray Robinson – Boxing Great

Ted Williams – MLB Great

Theodore Roosevelt – 26th President of the U.S.

Thomas Edison – Inventor

Tony Gwynn – MLB Great

Tris Speaker – MLB Great

Ulysses S. Grant – 18th President of the U.S.

Walter Johnson – MLB Great

William Howard Taft – 27th President of the U.S.

William McKinley – 25th President of the U.S.

Winston Churchill – Politician

Woodrow Wilson – 28th President of the U.S.

Zachary Taylor – 12th President of the U.S.

You can see cards from last year’s Topps Transcendent on eBay here.

2019 Topps Transcendent Baseball Checklist

About Rich Mueller

Rich is the editor and founder of Sports Collectors Daily. A broadcaster and writer for over 40 years and a collector for even longer than that, he's usually typing something somewhere. Type him back at [email protected]