The baseball card production process has begun to ramp up again with Topps announcing some updated release dates for products set to arrive over the next month and a half.
The regular calendar was suspended last month after stay at home orders impacted the company’s production facility.
The biggest news is that 2020 Bowman baseball is now due out Friday, May 22. That’s a few days earlier than expected following the impact of COVID-19. Behind that will come Tier One, now due out May 29; Big League Baseball (June 5); Diamond Icons (June 10); Pro Debut (June 19); Clearly Authentic (June 24) and Series II (June 26). Topps Finest is expected to arrive in late June but no date has been established as of yet.
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Topps is bringing back tobacco cards but you won’t have to buy a pack of smokes to get them–or even candy cigarettes. The 2020 Topps T206 set was announced Thursday, with the company offering packs of ten cards in the style of the iconic set that was live from 1909-1911.
Even the box is made to look like the packaging that held the originals that drove baseball-loving kids crazy more than 100 years ago.
It’s not the first time Topps has produced T206-style cards, of course, but the first time they’ve been offered as an on-demand product.
Topps T206 will be released in five series released a few weeks apart and there will be both major and minor league players featured across the artsy-looking issue.
There’s a 50-card base set checklist for Series 1 with rare back variations just like the originals including American Beauty, Polar Bear, Old Mill, etc. Current and retired major leaguers are included.
Each pack costs $14.99 with 20 packs available at a discounted rate. Series 1 will be available for three weeks via this page on the Topps website with additional series to follow. A checklist is also on the website.
Topps promised on-card autographs as part of the T206 issue but didn’t offer any more details.
The parallels include:
- Piedmont Back (2 per pack
- Sweet Caporal Back (1:3 packs)
- Sovereign Back (1:6 packs)
- Polar Bear Back (1:18 packs)
- Old Mill Back (1:30 packs)
- Cycle Back (foil stamped # to 25)
- American Beauty Back (foil stamped # to 10)
- Ty Cobb (foil stamped # to 1)
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