2025 Topps Series 1 Overview - Part 1
Writer’s Note: With every Series 1 release there is a lot of information to unpack. This year I have decided to break down the overview into several parts to be published over the next ten days leading up to the release date. Part 1 will focus on the base set overview and Rookie Cards.
The baseball season is near! One of the greatest dates for a baseball fan is the date when pitchers and catchers report to Spring Training. This means that Spring Training games are just over a week away and not long after that is the best day of all: Opening Day.
Pitchers and Catchers for 19 of 30 teams will report on February 12th. This is also the same date as the release of Topps Series 1! Yes, the Flagship product will make its 2025 debut on Wednesday, February 12, 2025.
This year the 2024 American League MVP Aaron Judge will be the face of Series 1. This will be the second time that Judge will appear on the Series 1 box. His last appearance was in 2019 where he shared the box with Yankees legend Babe Ruth.
The Hobby releases will once again consist of Hobby Boxes and Jumbo Boxes. Hobby Box cases will contain 12 boxes and Jumbo box cases will contain 6 boxes. The contents of each box will include:
Hobby Box
20 packs
12 cards per pack
240 cards on average
1 auto or memorabilia card
Jumbo Box
10 packs
40 cards per pack
400 cards on average
3 Hits including at least one auto
2025 Topps Series 1 will comprise a 350 card set. At this time the checklist has been released, but only in alphabetical order by first name. The card numbers have not yet been released with the exception of card #1 being Shohei Ohtani and Aaron Judge being card #300.
Another exciting aspect of Topps Series 1 is that we get the first look as the 2025 Rookie Card class. At first look through the checklist there appears to be almost 60 Rookie Cards in Series 1.
We will finally see Rookie Cards for those players who made their MLB debut late-May and later. There is no set date for this, reported by Topps, however it typically is around the two month mark for the season. This year’s Rookie Card class includes:
Dylan Crews - Nationals
James Wood - Nationals
Jacob Wilson - Athletics
Brooks Lee - Twins
Coby Mayo - Orioles
Jace Jung - Tigers
Jhonkensy Noel - Guardians
Rhett Lowder - Reds
…and many more!
Series 1 will also bring about the first look at the 2024 Rookie Cup class. The Rookie Cup is an annual tradition for Topps where they select the All-Star Rookie Team. Topps selects 1 player for each position including DH and relief pitcher. This years Rookie Cup selections include:
Paul Skenes - SP - Pirates
Masyn Winn - OF - Cardinals
Colt Keith - 2B - Tigers
Joey Ortiz - 3B - Brewers
…among others
There will also be quite a few Future Stars in this set. The Future Stars designation is typically given to top players in their second year and who did not earn a Rookie Cup honor. A few of the notable Future Stars include:
Tyler Soderstrom - Athletics
Yoshinobu Yamamoto - Dodgers
Pete Crow-Armstrong - Cubs
Jackson Holliday - Orioles
…among others
The Topps Flagship line (Series 1 & 2) is typically the best place to find rookies of all levels. It is also one of two sets when you will find the Rookie Cup cards, Heritage being the other. It is the only set that will showcase the Future Stars logo.
In the next installment, we will take a look at the insert sets. 2025 Topps Series 1 is set to release on Wednesday, February 12, 2025.
