First Buzz: 2018 Topps Series 1 baseball cards (updated with SPs)

What: 2018 Topps Series 1 baseball cards
Arrives: Jan. 31
Box basics: One autograph or Relic per 36-pack box (12 boxes per case); One autograph and two Relics per 10-pack jumbo box (six boxes per case)
Checklist: Click here to view

What’s buzz-worthy: The newest edition of the Topps baseball brand — the flagship brand for the hobby — arrives with a wave of energy and full-bleed feel that further breaks from the traditional feel for the brand that’s been around for 67 consecutive seasons.

Keep reading for more as well as a full gallery of images.

The Basics: The basic set will consist of 350 cards with each card having 12 parallels — Gold (/2,018), Rainbow foil, Vintage (/99), Independence Day (/76), Black (/67), Mother’s Day Pink (/50), Father’s Day Blue (/50), Memorial Day Camo (/25), Clear (/10), Negative, Platinum (1/1) and printing plates. … Topps Salute inserts will take on a few subjects once again — Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Memorial Day and Jackie Robinson Day along with rookies and legends — with each having Blue, Black (/299), Gold (/50), Red (/10) and 1/1 Platinum parallels. Also on the insert front will be Superstar Sensations with the same parallel rainbow along with MLB Awards and a 1983 Topps insert set. Each also will ave the same rainbow and volume for parallels. Sensations and Awards will be one in every eight packs, while the 1983 inserts are one in every four.

On the autographed Relic side, there are Topps Reverence Autograph Patches with Gold (/5) and 1/1 Platinum versions, while Major League Materias will have Red (/25) and Platinum parallels. World Series Champion Relics and Postseason Performance Relics also will be paralleled the same way and each of them will be numbered even for the standard cards. For autographs only, the Topps Salute cards will be found with ink as will World Series Champions, Postseason Performances and MLB Awards. These, too, will have Red and Platinum versions, while cut autos will all just be 1/1 cards when found. The 1983 autos will have more versions — Black (/99), Gold (/50), Red (/25) and 1/1 Platinum — atop the regular versions. There also will be 1/1 sketch cards in this release.

The Relic-only lineup will include World Series Champions, Postseason Performance and 1/1 In the Name Relics — all numbered with Red and Platinum versions save for the Name cards. There also will be Major League Material Relics most-commonly found with Black (/99), Gold (/50), Red (/25) and 1/1 Platinum cards. Manufactured Relics will include Spring Training Logo patches with Black, Gold, Red, 1/1 Platinum and autographs — all will be numbered — and the same lineup will be found for MLB All-Star Game Medallions.

Retail Details (update): We also have details for retail inclusions to come in 2018 Topps when it hits stores. Toys R Us will once again have Purple parallels on an exclusive basis, while there will be three types of inserts only found at retail. Those include Legends on the Making, a set focusing on stars’ places in the game, MLB Opening Day, a set that will have a card for every team, and Opening Day patch cards. The patches will have Black (/99), Gold (/50), Red (/25) and 1/1 Platinum parallels as well as numbered autograph versions. These will only be found in “Relic Boxes,” aka blasters. Both of the standard inserts will have Blue, Black, Gold (/50), Red (/10) and 1/1 Platinum parallels as well as a serial-numbered autographed version. … Pack formats at retail will include 37-card jumbo packs (108 packs per case), blaster boxes (ten 10-card packs plus a Relic along with five Opening Day insert cards; 16 boxes per case), display boxes with 24 12-card packs (12 boxes per case), gravity feeds (36 packs per; six boxes per case), 37-card grocery packs and 76-card hanger boxes that include 72 base cards, one 1983 insert, one Topps Salute card and two Legends in the Making cards.

Update: Here are the players who are on the Topps All-Star Rookie Team:
C – Manny Pina, Brewers
1B – Cody Bellinger, Dodgers
2B – Ian Happ, Cubs
SS – Paul DeJong, Cardinals
3B – Rafael Devers, Red Sox
OF – Aaron Judge, Yankees
OF – Andrew Benintendi, Red Sox
OF – Trey Mancini, Orioles
RHP – German Marquez, Rockies
LHP – Jordan Montgomery, Yankees
RP – Josh Hader, Brewers

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