Taking a look at the past is what Topps Archives Baseball is all about, and the 2022 set will feature base cards that pay homage to three distinct designs from the company’s past.
2022 Topps Archives Configuration and Base Set
A hobby box will contain 24 packs, with eight cards to a pack. Topps is again promising two autographs per hobby box.
The base set will contain 300 base cards with designs that recall the 1963, 1978 and 1987 Topps sets. The 1963 set was noted for its clean, simplistic look, while the ’87 set had a woodgrain look that was vaguely similar to the 1962 Topps set. The 1978 set, while not as beloved as the other two sets, still held its own during the early era of free agency.
There will be plenty of parallels to chase. Rainbow Foil will be numbered to 199, with other parallels coming in Green (125), Silver (99), Red (75), Red Hot Foil (50), Blue Foil (25), Orange Hot Foil (15) and FoilFractor (1/1). The Blue Foil and Orange Hot Foil cards are hobby exclusives.
Topps also announced that there would be base variation cards but did not provide any details.
Inserts
Topps will really dig into its past with its Archives inserts. All of them are making their debuts this year.
The 1961 Topps MVP cards will fall once in every six packs. The cards will feature the 1961 Topps MVP cards design, with a blue background for National League award winners. If the set mirrors the ’61 set closely, American League award winners will feature a red background.
The 1992 Topps Major League Debut card, also showing up once in every six packs, will feature the first games of the game’s newest players and some MLB legends. The design will borrow from the 1992 Topps cards design.
The 1955 Topps Scoop inserts set is interesting, because while there was no ’55 Scoops product, there was one in 1954, at least according to the Standard Catalog of Vintage Baseball Cards. Regardless, the template for the 2022 set matches up to its 1950s counterpart, featuring a headline from a top moment from the 2021 season.
2005 Topps Draft Picks inserts are projected to fall one per hobby box. These cards will feature top rookies in a 2005 design.
The 1988 Topps Big Minis is quite a mouthful and almost sounds like a contradiction (Big Minis?) but these cards will use the horizontal design from the late ’80s set.
Topps Postcards should drop about once in every eight packs. These greeting cards will have a postcard design and will feature iconic baseball cities.
Autographs
Collectors will have plenty of autographs to discover in 2022 Archives including autograph versions of insert cards.
The traditional favorite is the appropriately named Fan Favorites Autographs. These on-card signature cards will also have parallels in Purple, numbered to 150; Silver (99); hobby exclusive Blue (25); and Gold (1/1). There is also a Premium version of Fan Favorites, numbered to 50 or fewer. There also will be a 1/1 Gold parallel.
The 1992 Topps MLB Debut Autograph cards will also have parallels in Purple (numbered to 150), Silver (99), Blue (25 and a hobby exclusive) and Gold (1/1).
The 2005 Topps Draft Picks Autographs also feature the same parallels as the 1992 Topps MLB Debut, including the hobby-only Blue parallel.
The 1993 Topps All-Star Dual Autograph cards will showcase two signatures, and all cards will be numbered. The number will vary for the base set, but parallels will be found in Blue (numbered to 25), Red (10) and Gold (1/1).
The 1961 MVP Autographs will feature a varied numbered base card, with parallels in Silver (numbered to 99), Blue (25) and Gold (1/1). The 1988 Topps Big Minis Autograph cards will be numbered to 20.
Topps Postcard Autograph cards will have varied serial numbers for base cards, with a Blue parallel (numbered to 25), Red (10) and Gold (1/1).
Finally, Topps Originals Buyback Autographs will be numbered to 10.
For collectors who enjoy larger-sized greetings, Oversized Topps Postcards will be a box topper for hobby boxes.
“Send your warm regards and greetings from some of the best baseball cities with these postcard-size versions of the Topps Postcards insert, featuring some of the best players from around baseball,” Topps notes in its sell sheet.
Sounds friendly enough.
2022 Topps Archives is set for release the week of Oct. 12.
You can check pricing for Hobby and Blaster boxes on eBay here.
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