Topps Archives Signature Series Checklist Released

One pack, one card, one autograph.

That is the theme for 2015 Topps Archives Signature Series baseball, a limited-edition high-end product that will be released Wednesday, December 9.  The checklist has been released by Topps and is below.

It’s a simple concept — each pack of Archives Signatures will have one original Topps or Bowman card autographed by the player.

The signatures will be on the card (no stickers) and will be of former major-league players. Each card also will be encased in a protective holder and sequentially numbered.

Each card will be stamped and carry a serial number.

As one would expect, there are some big name Hall of Famers but also some guys who aren’t exactly in demand.  By our count there are about 30 Hall of Famers or players who will likely be elected to the Hall fairly soon. That leaves a little over half of the 67-player checklist who are not.  Pulling a Hank Aaron, Sandy Koufax or Ken Griffey Jr. will be nice.  Landing Lenny Dykstra, Livan Hernandez or Shawn Green, not so much.

Topps has used buyback and autographed buybacks before, particularly in its Heritage product, but the upcoming product is virtually identical to 2004 Topps Originals. 

The 2006 Bowman Originals was a higher end product that had two buyback autos per pack. Those were modern autographs. Topps Archives Signature Series takes the collector back into baseball’s past.

Here’s the full checklist:

Hank Aaron

Jim Abbott

Roberto Alomar

Jeff Bagwell

Johnny Bench

Craig Biggio

Jose Canseco

Steve Carlton

Vinny Castilla

Orlando Cepeda

Roger Clemens

David Cone

Eric Davis

Carlos Delgado

Lenny Dykstra

Rollie Fingers

George Foster

John Franco

Andres Gallaraga

Nomar Garciaparra

Steve Garvey

Tom Glavine

Juan Gonzalez

Luis Gonzalez

Doc Gooden

Mark Grace

Shawn Green

Ken Griffey   Jr.

Ken Griffey   Sr.

Marquis Grissom

Rickey Henderson

Orlando Hernandez

Livan Hernandez

Reggie Jackson

Bo Jackson

Randy Johnson

Howard Johnson

Chipper Jones

Andruw Jones

Al Kaline

Sandy Koufax

John Kruk

Greg Maddux

Edgar Martinez

Fred McGriff

Mark McGwire

Phil Niekro

John Olerud

Paul O’Neill

Rafael Palmeiro

Mike Piazza

Jim Rice

Cal Ripken    Jr.

Mariano Rivera

Frank Robinson

Nolan Ryan

Gary Sheffield

Ozzie Smith

John Smoltz

Darryl Strawberry

Frank Thomas

Fernando Valuenzuela

Omar Vizquel

Bernie Williams

Mookie Wilson

Robin Yount

Ernie Banks

Boxes are available online for $45-55 and it’s likely to be a popular case break product.

About Bob D'Angelo

Bob has been a sportswriter and copy editor for more than 45 years and a blogger for two decades. He is celebrating his 60th year of card collecting, and still counts his 1965 Topps Mickey Mantle as his favorite. You can reach him at [email protected].