Go-Live Report: How Does 2014 Topps Chrome Baseball Stack Up?

As much as I love Chrome in Football, I have never been as big a fan of it on the baseball side. Last year was one of the first times that I really opened any of the packs, and I think they did a really nice job with it. As I am looking at this year’s Chrome, I havent quite made up my mind quite yet.

Here are some of the big hits already up:

2014 Topps Chrome Jose Abreu Gold Refractor Auto /50

2014 Topps Chrome George Springer Atomic Refractor Auto /10

2014 Topps Chrome Gregory Polanco Black Refractor Auto

2014 Topps Chrome Nick Castellanos Black Refractor Auto

2014 Topps Chrome Xander Bogaerts Gold Refractor Auto /50

After watching some initial breaks and looking at the listings, its hard not to see how much Abreu is poured into this product – much like the rest of Topps’ sets this year. Considering the year he is having, that isnt necessarily a bad thing. The checklist has most of the same guys that have been all over Topps sets as of late, which I think is one of the main drawbacks to the product lines in recent years. Because Bowman Chrome is the king of baseball rookie cards, I would actually like to see Topps Chrome focus more on veteran on card autos instead of pumping the hobby full of another rookie set.

I think the 2014 design lends itself very well to the Chrome set, and though there are added die cuts and subsets, I think that this product really does need a fresh approach. Obviously, the base design would stay, but Topps really needs to find a way to differentiate the other parts of the set from the majority of its product line. I know there are veteran autographs in the product, Im just looking for more. Despite my not liking a lot of what Finest did in terms of design, it did have some REALLY nice on card auto content from some top tier guys. That is what Chrome should shoot for.

Chrome used to be very special because it was one of the first sets alongside Topps Finest to have high end rookie cards. When the hobby shifted more towards prospecting, and Bowman became the flagship set, all that went away. People have rookie cards in Topps Chrome years after first appearing in Bowman, which is a huge issue in the valuation of this set.

I dont want Topps to give up on this set, and I know they wont, but I cant help but feel like its getting to a point of boredom. That is never a good thing.

One thought on “Go-Live Report: How Does 2014 Topps Chrome Baseball Stack Up?

  1. I usually love Topps Chrome Baseball, but I think I’m gonna sit this year out. Abreu and Tanaka are great rookie stars, but every other rookie in that product is “ho-hum.”

    If Jorge Soler had been activated early enough in the season to have a rookie card in this set, I might have bought a box or two. That was the great thing about 2012 Topps Chrome, it was loaded with rookie stars. Add the fact that there are two rookie autos per box, it was that much more appealing.

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