This years Topps Finest is filled to the brim with rookies as almost half of the base set is split between current stars and rookie cards. We also see the usual “Master Hobby Box” format which contains two mini boxes, a great way to split a box if you don’t have the money to buy one outright. Each mini box contains six packs and one autographed card, for a total of two autographs per Master Hobby. The 100 card base set of today’s hottest players has nearly 20 different parallels per card, including the new “Gold Mini-Diamond Refractor” numbered to 50. There is, however, an extended base set of 25 cards that only have the Gold (/50), Red (/5), and Superfractor (1/1) parallels. These extra 25 cards contain current stars but no rookie cards.
As far as Inserts go, this year, Topps brings back the “Topps World Finest” (1:35 packs) which showcases heroes from the recent World Baseball Classic tournament. Team USA, Dominican Republic, and Venezuala make up most of these, with the sole Japanese player being Shohei Ohtani. There are also the “Diamond Finest” (1:5,101 packs), “Finest Headliners” (1:4 packs), “Finest Rivalries Die-Cuts” (1:48 packs), “Finest Rookies” (1:19 packs), and the chase cards “Let’s Go” Chrome (1:12,597 packs) which include the rookies Corbin Carroll and Oswald Peraza in a short ten card list. All 25 of the Diamond Finest inserts are numbered to 5 or less, with only a Superfractor 1/1 parallel. The Let’s Go Chrome have Red /5 and Superfractor 1/1 parallels, but are not numbered otherwise.
When it comes to autographs, there’s a base set of 92 cards (1:11 packs) that range from top current rookies to HOFers. The “2000 Topps Finest World’s Finest” autographs (1:772 packs) are a dozen of the World’s Finest inserts with autographs on them, mostly made up of Team USA and Team Dominican Republic players. The “Finest Headliners” autographs (1:8,341 packs) is a collection of eleven current and past stars, all cards numbered to at least 50, besides the parallels. 2023’s “Finest Moments” autographs (1:127) consists of 23 current and past names. There’s also the 8 card “Finest Rivalries Die-Cuts” autographs (1:7,813 packs) that are serial numbered to 10. And what most people are looking for, the “Finest Rookie Design Variation” autographs (1:174) consists of a dozen of 2023’s top rookies.
Two surprises in this years product, one of which may be the ultimate chase this year are the “Finest Originals Buyback” autographs (1:2,421 packs) which are thirteen of the past’s legends, all cards serial numbered to 20. The final and most mysterious autograph set in 2023 Topps Finest is, well, the “Finest Mystery Redemption Set” autographs (1:6,299 packs) which for now, the names, will obviously remain a mystery as far as who and how many cards are in this set.; all that is known is that these cards are serial numbered to 99.
All in all, these cards are hot off the press, and extremely hot on the market as of writing this. The fact that there are nearly 50 rookies that make up the base set is the biggest draw for Finest. Some of the past rookies in Topps Finest are some of the most sought after and expensive. Topps adding the “Finest Rookies” inserts and autographs are also another pull factor in why one would want to buy into this product. Whether you’re able to buy just a mini box, or an entire Master Hobby box (retails around $200-250), you’ll definitely get some bang for your buck.
