First Buzz: 2017 Topps Transcendent Collection baseball cards (gallery updated Dec. 15 & beyond)

What: 2017 Topps Transcendent Collection baseball cards
Arrives: Dec. 13
Box basics: 53 autographs — and plenty more — per hand-crafted wooden box
Checklist: Click here to view

What’s buzz-worthy: Topps’ high-end baseball brand — what it calls “the pinnacle of high-end collecting” — returns for another season with a tribute of sorts to 1987, a spotlighting of the newly crowned American League Rookie of the Year and a party invite that includes one of the biggest sluggers in baseball history.

So, what comes in a box? Keep reading for more info and a full gallery of images released so far.

The Basics: Every box of 2017 Topps Transcendent Collection will include one complete set of Transcendent Icons base cards, one set of sketch card reproductions, 50 Transcendent autograph cards — all limited to no more than 25 copies with parallels in the mix — a 1/1 Aaron Judge Topps History autograph, one 1/1 MVP cut autograph/standard MVP auto or dual MVP auto, one Transcendent Moments sketch card or baseball sketch, one oversized cut signature and one invitation to meet former MLB home run king Hank Aaron in Atlanta next year.

So, how much is a briefcase? Click here to see the latest price (when posted).

New this year are baseball sketches from Mayumi Seto, who did last year’s sketches for this one, and Monty Sheldon. They’ll be MLB Authenticated and done on game-used baseballs to add to the details that collectors expect. The sketch cards this year will be by Dan Bergen and focus on memorable moments that have stood the test of time. Boxes will include either a sketch ball or a sketch card.

The MVP cut autos will be wood-framed autos, while the standard MVP and dual MVP autos also will be framed. Each of them will be 1/1 creations and there will be one of these three types of cards in every box.

On the autograph front, all cards will once again be gold-framed and limited to 25 with each of them also having an image variation also limited to 25 copies. Atop that there will be parallels for both sets with Silver (/15), Purple (/10), Red (1/1) and Gold (1/1) in the overall rainbow. Last year’s release focused on Kris Bryant and this year the nod goes to Aaron Judge. Each box will have a 1/1 autograph of Judge using a past Topps design. There will be just 87 briefcases made for 2017 Topps Transcendent Collection, up from 65 last year.

Box-toppers are back once again with the biggest names in baseball history joined by some very notable people in American history all found as 1/1 cut autograph displays. Among them? Abraham Lincoln, Cy Young, Mark Twain, Charlie Chaplin, David Bowie, Whitney Houston, Groucho Marx, Branch Rickey, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, James Brown, Jesse Owens and plenty more — check out the list in the gallery below.

The Hank Aaron VIP Experience will be Jan. 16 in Atlanta, and every invitation-holder will get lodging and accommodations, attend a private dinner, meet and get a photo with Aaron, an autograph from him and be entered in giveaways during the event.

The base set will be silver-framed with a die-cut wooden border and Chrome photography underneath with every card limited to just 87 copies and it will include a mix of past and present players. The sketch cards also will be limited to just 87 copies per card.

Update: We’ve added an artball video below and the checklist up top. New additions with the checklist? They include three bonus redemptions atop the other 50 autos. Each set will also now include a Cody Bellinger and Tom Seaver redemption along with an additional redemption for either Ian Happ or Olympic skier Lindsey Vonn. (Boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr. can be found on the checklist — an autograph in every set — to add something beyond baseball along with Vonn in some boxes.) … The Judge 1/1 card above? There will be one like it in every party attendee’s bonus bag before they meet Hank Aaron — there will be 87 1/1s created using past Topps designs just like the autographs.

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