2018 Topps Baseball Seres 1 Review - How Topps breathes life into the baseball season

Topps has proved annually that the true signal of the start of the baseball season is now when pitchers and catchers sport, but when their flagship baseball card set is released. With 2018 Topps Baseball Series One's January 31st arrival, Topps has rescued fans and collectors from staring out their windows to wait for the game to start.

2018 Topps / Topps

The fresh borderless designs coupled with the sparkling player names and team logos, push the action images to the forefront to breathe much needed life to the start of the 2018 season. To kick off the excitement of their inaugural 2018 release, Topps allowed fans to vote for the hallowed first card in the set. Their choice was none other than the 2017 American League Rookie of the Year, New York Yankees power-hitting phenom Aaron Judge.

2018 Topps Base Set Cards / Topps

As collectors rip away at packs of 2018 Topps Baseball, they will find an assortment of rookie cards of impact upstarts from last season including Rhys Hoskins, Rafael Devers, Amed Rosario, and Clint Frazier, all of whom have now received the official stamp of approval on their traditional debut issue. Other highlights of the base set include World Series Highlights and team Combo Cards. Parallel issues include the popular Rainbow Foil, Gold (#/2018) versions, and short printed image variations.

Digging into the inserts, collectors will have their hands full working on a master set, as many of the sets contain at least 50 cards. Topps honors the 35th anniversary of the 1983 Topps set with a 100-card subset, book ended by 1983’s top rookies, Hall of Famers Ryne Sandberg and Wade Boggs. Topps runs down season highlights with its 100-card Topps Salute set, celebrating the milestones of the 2017, while also promoting the rookies they expect to impact 2018.

Each box also yields an interesting Home Run Challenge card where collectors can reveal a code on the back of the card that allows them to choose a date when they think the player on the front will hit a home run. If they guess correctly, they will win a parallel card of that player, as well as be automatically entered into a drawing for a trip for two to the 2019 Home Run Derby.

2018 Topps Home Run Challenge Card / Topps

While most that are cracking open a box of Topps’ premier product are doing so to explore the new release and go through the tradition of building a complete set, an added bonus is the guaranteed hit of a relic, patch, or autographed card. This box served up a Major League Material Black Relic of Albert Pujols numbered to 99.

Albert Pujols Relic / Topps

One strong memory as a kid was rushing to the store to get some of the new Topps release when it dropped, burrowing through packs to see who made the cut and admire the design. It became an annual event that helped the sorrows of winter pass more smoothly. Fast forward the time machine to 2018, Topps hasn’t changed the script, but has added a variety of inserts to keep collectors excited and created a layout to capture their attention.

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2017 Bowman High Tek Review | Patterns, Autographs, Checklist & More

The Bowman brand is dipping its hand into the High Tek series with the release of 2017 Bowman High Tek Baseball. Each box of the prospect focused set delivers four on-card autographs, enticing collectors who are looking to get ahead of the curve on next year’s breakout stars. In the tradition of the Topps High Tek releases, collectors are kept busy with a seemingly endless variety of parallels and designs. As collectors pursue the depths of 2017 Bowman High Tek, will the combination of autographs and parallels be enough to keep them in the game during its late-season release?

2017 Bowman High Tek Baseball / Bowman

Perusing the list of prospects included in this set, collectors will be able to get their hands on sought-after autographs of National League Rookie of the Year Cody Bellinger, Philadelphia Phillies power-hitting phenom Rhys Hoskins, Boston Red Sox rookie sensation Rafael Devers, and former Atlanta Braves prospect now turned free agent, Kevin Maitan. That grouping by itself should be enough to get collectors interested in the product, as with only 60 prospects included in the set, the odds are favorable to pull a signature of one of these coveted upstarts.

2017 Bowman High Tek Autographs / Bowman

The box provided for this review uncovered autographs of two of the top four prospects from this year’s Arizona Fall League, third baseman Francisco Mejia of the Cleveland Indians, and pitcher Mitch Keller of the Pittsburgh Pirates.

2017 Bowman High Tek Designs / Bowman

While 2017 Bowman High Tek attempts to capture eyeballs with their autographs, the real intrigue is the array of designs in the set. Bowman advertises over 10 different patterns for each player, making the chase for each design a mission for individual player collectors. The box provided for this review yielded four different patterns, with one being a rare circuit board pattern of New York Mets shortstop Amed Rosario.

2017 Bowman High Tek Amed Rosario Circuit Board Parallel / Bowman

Released at the end of October 2017, Bowman High Tek has heavy competition from 2017 Topps Heritage Minor League Baseball for those who are seeking their postseason fixes for the game’s top prospects. While the assortment of autographs and designs are intriguing with Bowman’s foray into this new product, at a price point of $110 per box, Bowman is asking collectors to take a leap of faith that their selection of prospects is indeed on the money.

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