Exclusive to Hobby and Jumbo boxes, MLB All-Star Team Medallions and MLB Spring Training Logo Patch both opt for commemorative relics. Gold (#'d), Black (#'d), Platinum (1/1) and Autograph (#'d) parallels are also available.

Closing things out in 2017 Topps Series 1 Baseball are the various memorabilia sets. Major League Material Relics , Postseason Performance Relics and World Series Champion Autograph Relics largely follow their signed counterparts with base versions along with Red (#'d) and one-of-one Platinum parallels. One-of-one In the Name Relics (Hobby/Jumbo only) showcases a nameplate letter while Cut Signatures (1/1) includes a repurposed autograph.

Although 2017 Topps Series 1 Baseball is more of a low-end release, Topps Reverence Autograph Patch skews to the high-end with on-card signatures and a refined design. The numbered Reverence inserts are exclusive to Hobby and Jumbo boxes. Meanwhile, 1987 Topps Baseball Autographs contains stickers or on-card signatures for base and wood-themed parallels such as Maple (#'d) and Birch (1/1 - Hobby/Jumbo only)

Many of the 2017 Topps Series 1 Baseball premium inserts build on the basics while some are only found in hit form. Topps Salute Autographs is the main signed option and is joined by Postseason Performance Autographs and World Series Champion Autographs . Adding a memorabilia piece are serial numbered Major League Material Autograph Relic , Postseason Performance Autograph Relic and World Series Champion Autograph Relic . All these signed cards include Red (#'d) and one-of-one Platinum parallels.

Mixing old and new inserts, 2017 Topps Series 1 Baseball features a popular returning set in First Pitch (1:8 packs) that highlights notable celebrity subjects throwing out the ceremonial pitch to start a game. Additional choices include Topps Salute (1:4 packs) which looks to events such as national holidays and special uniforms. Bowman Then & Now (1:8 packs) goes back to the original Bowman debut for top players of today. Also looking to the past, 1987 Topps Baseball (1:4 packs) captures modern players on the distinct design as the release celebrates its 30th anniversary. Lastly, Five Tool (1:8 packs) displays the unique Fire design, courtesy of Tyson Beck.

The 350-card base set includes top stars and key rookies in the first flagship release for the '17 season. In addition to short prints, limited parallels take multiple forms, including Rainbow Foil (1:10 packs), Gold (#/2017), Vintage Stock (#/99), Black (#/66-Hobby/Jumbo only), Mother's Day Hot Pink (#/50), Father's Day Powder Blue (#/50), Memorial Day Camo (#/25), Clear (#/10-Hobby only), Negative (Hobby/Jumbo only), Platinum (1/1) and Printing Plates (1/1).

Likely a plus for many collectors, the 2017 Topps Series 1 Baseball design removes the cloudy corners of 2016 to feature a more traditional, full-bleed look. The most obvious design element comes into place with the large text portion at the bottom that showcases two overlapping frame corners where the player's name, team and position can be found. The two frames are "attached" by the team logo. While the removal of the smoky element should please purists, the angled text might ruffle some feathers.

A fresh start for a new season means that 2017 Topps Series 1 Baseball works with a new design alongside a familiar layout. Once again, Hobby boxes offer one hit while Jumbo brings the box yield to one autograph and two relics.

1 Kris Bryant - Chicago Cubs 5 Corey Seager - Los Angeles Dodgers 7 Gary Sanchez - New York Yankees 9 Chris Sale - Chicago White Sox 15 Braden Shipley - Arizona Diamondbacks 16 Lance McCullers - Houston Astros 19 David Wright - New York Mets 20 Mike Trout - Los Angeles Angels 21 Robert Gsellman - New York Mets 23 Marcell Ozuna - Miami Marlins 25 Giancarlo Stanton - Miami Marlins 33 Carson Fulmer - Chicago White Sox 34 Bryce Harper - Washington Nationals 38 Stephen Strasburg - Washington Nationals 42 Trevor Story - Colorado Rockies 43 Tyler Austin - New York Yankees 44 Paul Goldschmidt - Arizona Diamondbacks 48 Brian McCann - New York Yankees 50 Clayton Kershaw - Los Angeles Dodgers 53 Ryon Healy - Oakland Athletics 54 Dellin Betances - New York Yankees 56 Danny Salazar - Cleveland Indians 58 Starling Marte - Pittsburgh Pirates 60 Jose Bautista - Toronto Blue Jays 61 Xander Bogaerts - Boston Red Sox 62 Daniel Murphy - Washington Nationals 65 Madison Bumgarner - San Francisco Giants 67 Teoscar Hernandez - Houston Astros 68 Zach Britton - Baltimore Orioles 73 Kyle Schwarber - Chicago Cubs 87 Dansby Swanson - Atlanta Braves 91 Troy Tulowitzki - Toronto Blue Jays 95 Chris Davis - Baltimore Orioles 106 Brandon Crawford - San Francisco Giants 109 Nelson Cruz - Seattle Mariners 117 Adrian Gonzalez - Los Angeles Dodgers 119 Francisco Lindor - Cleveland Indians 120 Reynaldo Lopez - Washington Nationals 126 Miguel Sano - Minnesota Twins 130 Dustin Pedroia - Boston Red Sox 132 Randal Grichuk - St. Louis Cardinals 139 JaCoby Jones - Detroit Tigers 147 Marcus Stroman - Toronto Blue Jays 149 Gregory Polanco - Pittsburgh Pirates 150 Miguel Cabrera - Detroit Tigers 151 Jonathan Villar - Milwaukee Brewers 155 Jacob deGrom - New York Mets 157 Sean Doolittle - Oakland Athletics 161 Mookie Betts - Boston Red Sox 164 Matt Harvey - New York Mets 167 Lorenzo Cain - Kansas City Royals

176 Jaime Garcia - St. Louis Cardinals 177 Sonny Gray - Oakland Athletics 178 Rick Porcello - Boston Red Sox 179 Matt Moore - San Francisco Giants 180 Jake McGee - Colorado Rockies 181 Aaron Hicks - New York Yankees 182 Keon Broxton - Milwaukee Brewers 183 Wade Miley - Baltimore Orioles 184 Oswaldo Arcia - San Diego Padres 185 Raisel Iglesias - Cincinnati Reds 186 Andrew Cashner - Miami Marlins 187 Sean Manaea - Oakland Athletics 188 Caleb Cotham - Cincinnati Reds 189 Los Angeles Angels - TC 190 Blake Snell - Tampa Bay Rays 191 Wilson Ramos - Washington Nationals 192 San Diego Padres - San Diego Padres 193 Jimmy Nelson - Milwaukee Brewers 194 A.J. Ramos - Miami Marlins 195 Edwin Encarnacion - Toronto Blue Jays LL 196 Colby Rasmus - Houston Astros 197 Jacoby Ellsbury - New York Yankees 198 Francisco Cervelli - Pittsburgh Pirates 199 Johnny Cueto - San Francisco Giants 200 Homer Bailey - Cincinnati Reds 201 Eddie Rosario - Minnesota Twins 202 Masahiro Tanaka - New York Yankees LL 203 Tyler Naquin - Cleveland Indians 204 Anthony Rizzo - Chicago Cubs LL 205 Kendrys Morales - Kansas City Royals 206 Chicago Cubs - WSH 207 Justin Upton - Detroit Tigers 208 Masahiro Tanaka - New York Yankees 209 Jon Gray - Colorado Rockies 210 Yoan Moncada - Boston Red Sox RC 211 Noah Syndergaard - New York Mets LL 212 Tanner Roark - Washington Nationals 213 Alex Wood - Los Angeles Dodgers 214 Jose Altuve - Houston Astros LL 215 Johnny Giavotella - Los Angeles Angels 216 Denard Span - San Francisco Giants 217 Miami Marlins - Miami Marlins 218 Michael Saunders - Toronto Blue Jays 219 Joe Musgrove - Houston Astros RC 220 Ryan Braun - Milwaukee Brewers 221 Adam Wainwright - St. Louis Cardinals 222 Cesar Hernandez - Philadelphia Phillies 223 Jason Heyward - Chicago Cubs 224 Hector Rondon - Chicago Cubs 225 Wade Davis - Kansas City Royals 226 Logan Morrison - Tampa Bay Rays 227 Byron Buxton - Minnesota Twins 228 Mike Foltynewicz - Atlanta Braves 229 David Ortiz - Boston Red Sox LL 230 Northern (High)lights - Toronto Blue Jays CC 231 Rubby De La Rosa - Arizona Diamondbacks 232 Geovany Soto - Los Angeles Angels 233 Nomar Mazara - Texas Rangers 234 Luke Weaver - St. Louis Cardinals RC 235 San Francisco Giants - TC 236 Lucas Duda - New York Mets 237 Joey Gallo - Texas Rangers 238 Ben Zobrist - Chicago Cubs 239 Rajai Davis - Cleveland Indians 240 Mike Aviles - Detroit Tigers 241 Chris Young - Kansas City Royals 242 Mookie Betts - Boston Red Sox LL 243 Felix Hernandez - Seattle Mariners 244 Freddie Freeman - Atlanta Braves 245 Jackie Bradley Jr. - Boston Red Sox 246 Hunter Strickland - San Francisco Giants 247 Hector Neris - Philadelphia Phillies 248 Yasmany Tomas - Arizona Diamondbacks 249 New York Yankees - TC 250 Sean Rodriguez - Pittsburgh Pirates 251 Justin Turner - Los Angeles Dodgers 252 Clint Robinson - Washington Nationals 253 Tucker Barnhart - Cincinnati Reds 254 Wade LeBlanc - Pittsburgh Pirates 255 Orlando Arcia - Milwaukee Brewers RC 256 Tony Watson - Pittsburgh Pirates 257 Corey Kluber - Cleveland Indians LL 258 Matt Adams - St. Louis Cardinals 259 Taijuan Walker - Seattle Mariners 260 Stephen Piscotty - St. Louis Cardinals 261 Nathan Eovaldi - New York Yankees 262 Liam Hendriks - Oakland Athletics 263 Addison Russell - Chicago Cubs 264 Cory Spangenberg - San Diego Padres 265 Charlie Blackmon - Colorado Rockies 266 Tampa Bay Rays - TC 267 Clay Buchholz - Boston Red Sox 268 Anthony Gose - Detroit Tigers 269 Jose De Leon - Los Angeles Dodgers RC 270 Jake Arrieta - Chicago Cubs LL 271 Nelson Cruz - Seattle Mariners LL 272 Pat Neshek - Houston Astros 273 A.J. Reed - Houston Astros 274 Matt Strahm - Kansas City Royals RC 275 Dallas Keuchel - Houston Astros 276 Big Fish - Miami Marlins CC 277 Kris Bryant - Chicago Cubs LL 278 Julio Teheran - Atlanta Braves 279 Leonys Martin - Seattle Mariners 280 Adrian Beltre - Texas Rangers 281 Coco Crisp - Cleveland Indians 282 Tyler Flowers - Atlanta Braves 283 Andrew Benintendi - Boston Red Sox RC 284 Elvis Andrus - Texas Rangers 285 Tyler White - Houston Astros 286 Drew Pomeranz - Boston Red Sox 287 Aaron Judge - New York Yankees RC 288 Joey Votto - Cincinnati Reds 289 Brian Goodwin - Washington Nationals RC 290 Shin-Soo Choo - Texas Rangers 291 Khris Davis - Oakland Athletics LL 292 Fernando Rodney - Miami Marlins 293 Aledmys Diaz - St. Louis Cardinals 294 Kole Calhoun - Los Angeles Angels 295 Matt Kemp - Atlanta Braves LL 296 Tyler Clippard - New York Yankees 297 Anthony DeSclafani - Cincinnati Reds 298 New Blake Street Bombers - Colorado Rockies CC 299 Yulieski Gurriel - Houston Astros RC 300 Arodys Vizcaino - Atlanta Braves 301 Jeurys Familia - New York Mets 302 David Freese - Pittsburgh Pirates 303 Pedro Strop - Chicago Cubs 304 Minnesota Twins - TC 305 Tyler Duffey - Minnesota Twins 306 David Dahl - Colorado Rockies RC 307 Zach Duke - St. Louis Cardinals 308 Yovani Gallardo - Baltimore Orioles 309 Craig Kimbrel - Boston Red Sox 310 Scott Schebler - Cincinnati Reds 311 Tyler Chatwood - Colorado Rockies 312 Brandon Guyer - Cleveland Indians 313 Robbie Grossman - Minnesota Twins 314 Ryan Flaherty - Baltimore Orioles 315 Carlos Beltran - Texas Rangers 316 Justin Smoak - Toronto Blue Jays 317 Mitch Moreland - Texas Rangers 318 Matt Carasiti - Colorado Rockies RC 319 Seth Lugo - New York Mets RC 320 Arizona Diamondbacks - TC 321 Dustin Pedroia - Boston Red Sox LL 322 Albert Pujols - Los Angeles Angels LL 323 Jameson Taillon - Pittsburgh Pirates 324 Ben Revere - Washington Nationals 325 Chris Hatcher - Los Angeles Dodgers 326 Chris Archer - Tampa Bay Rays 327 Danny Espinosa - Washington Nationals 328 Adam Lind - Seattle Mariners 329 Josh Reddick - Los Angeles Dodgers 330 Doug Fister - Houston Astros 331 Jake Lamb - Arizona Diamondbacks 332 Huston Street - Los Angeles Angels 333 Jarred Cosart - San Diego Padres 334 Drew Smyly - Tampa Bay Rays 335 Jeff Hoffman - Colorado Rockies RC 336 Hector Santiago - Minnesota Twins 337 Scott Van Slyke - Los Angeles Dodgers 338 Alcides Escobar - Kansas City Royals 339 Daniel Norris - Detroit Tigers 340 Aaron Nola - Philadelphia Phillies 341 Alex Bregman - Houston Astros RC 342 Josh Tomlin - Cleveland Indians 343 Mike Zunino - Seattle Mariners 344 Jake Thompson - Philadelphia Phillies RC 345 Kevin Gausman - Baltimore Orioles 346 Jonathan Lucroy - Texas Rangers 347 Brandon Belt - San Francisco Giants 348 Jeremy Hellickson - Philadelphia Phillies 349 Tyler Glasnow - Pittsburgh Pirates RC 350 David Ortiz - Boston Red Sox

1 Kris Bryant - Chicago Cubs 2 Jason Hammel - Chicago Cubs 3 Chris Capuano - Milwaukee Brewers 4 Mark Reynolds - Colorado Rockies 5 Corey Seager - Los Angeles Dodgers 6 Kevin Pillar - Toronto Blue Jays 7 Gary Sanchez - New York Yankees 8 Jose Berrios - Minnesota Twins 9 Chris Sale - Chicago White Sox 10 Steven Souza Jr. - Tampa Bay Rays 11 Jake Smolinski - Oakland Athletics 12 Jerad Eickhoff - Philadelphia Phillies 13 Adeiny Hechavarria - Miami Marlins 14 Travis d'Arnaud - New York Mets 15 Braden Shipley - Arizona Diamondbacks RC 16 Lance McCullers - Houston Astros 17 Daniel Descalso - Colorado Rockies 18 Jake Arrieta - Chicago Cubs WSH 19 David Wright - New York Mets 20 Mike Trout - Los Angeles Angels 21 Robert Gsellman - New York Mets RC 22 Keone Kela - Texas Rangers 23 Marcell Ozuna - Miami Marlins 24 Christian Friedrich - San Diego Padres 25 Giancarlo Stanton - Miami Marlins 26 David Peralta - Arizona Diamondbacks 27 Kurt Suzuki - Minnesota Twins 28 Rick Porcello - Boston Red Sox LL 29 Marco Estrada - Toronto Blue Jays 30 Josh Bell - Pittsburgh Pirates RC 31 Carlos Carrasco - Cleveland Indians 32 Thor and the Dark Knight - New York Mets CC 33 Carson Fulmer - Chicago White Sox RC 34 Bryce Harper - Washington Nationals 35 Nolan Arenado - Colorado Rockies LL 36 B'More Boppers - Baltimore Orioles CC 37 Toronto Blue Jays - TC 38 Stephen Strasburg - Washington Nationals 39 Aroldis Chapman - Chicago Cubs WSH 40 Jordan Zimmermann - Detroit Tigers 41 Paulo Orlando - Kansas City Royals 42 Trevor Story - Colorado Rockies 43 Tyler Austin - New York Yankees RC 44 Paul Goldschmidt - Arizona Diamondbacks 45 Joakim Soria - Kansas City Royals 46 Will Middlebrooks - Milwaukee Brewers 47 Gregor Blanco - San Francisco Giants 48 Brian McCann - New York Yankees 49 Scooter Gennett - Milwaukee Brewers 50 Clayton Kershaw - Los Angeles Dodgers 51 Jake Barrett - Arizona Diamondbacks 52 Neftali Feliz - Pittsburgh Pirates 53 Ryon Healy - Oakland Athletics RC 54 Dellin Betances - New York Yankees 55 Mark Trumbo - Baltimore Orioles LL 56 Danny Salazar - Cleveland Indians 57 C.J. Cron - Los Angeles Angels 58 Starling Marte - Pittsburgh Pirates 59 Carlos Rodon - Chicago White Sox 60 Jose Bautista - Toronto Blue Jays 61 Xander Bogaerts - Boston Red Sox 62 Daniel Murphy - Washington Nationals 63 Mike Moustakas - Kansas City Royals 64 Adam Eaton - Chicago White Sox 65 Madison Bumgarner - San Francisco Giants 66 Aaron Altherr - Philadelphia Phillies 67 Teoscar Hernandez - Houston Astros RC 68 Zach Britton - Baltimore Orioles 69 Henry Owens - Boston Red Sox 70 Wily Peralta - Milwaukee Brewers 71 Matt Shoemaker - Los Angeles Angels 72 Chicago Cubs - TC 73 Kyle Schwarber - Chicago Cubs 74 Brett Lawrie - Chicago White Sox 75 Carlos Correa - Houston Astros 76 Andre Ethier - Los Angeles Dodgers 77 Austin Jackson - Chicago White Sox 78 Addison Russell - Chicago Cubs WSH 79 Gabriel Ynoa - New York Mets RC 80 Ivan Nova - Pittsburgh Pirates 81 DJ LeMahieu - Colorado Rockies LL 82 Aaron Sanchez - Toronto Blue Jays LL 83 Anibal Sanchez - Detroit Tigers 84 Daniel Murphy - Washington Nationals LL 85 Brandon Finnegan - Cincinnati Reds 86 Asdrubal Cabrera - New York Mets 87 Dansby Swanson - Atlanta Braves RC 88 Freddy Galvis - Philadelphia Phillies 89 Brandon Moss - St. Louis Cardinals 90 Jason Grilli - Toronto Blue Jays 91 Troy Tulowitzki - Toronto Blue Jays 92 Derek Norris - San Diego Padres 93 Matt Joyce - Pittsburgh Pirates 94 Kyle Barraclough - Miami Marlins 95 Chris Davis - Baltimore Orioles 96 Jose Quintana - Chicago White Sox 97 Marcus Semien - Oakland Athletics 98 Junior Guerra - Milwaukee Brewers 99 Michael Wacha - St. Louis Cardinals 100 Nate Jones - Chicago White Sox 101 Pedro Alvarez - Baltimore Orioles 102 Cameron Maybin - Detroit Tigers 103 Alex Reyes - St. Louis Cardinals RC 104 Dioner Navarro - Toronto Blue Jays 105 Francisco Rodriguez - Detroit Tigers 106 Brandon Crawford - San Francisco Giants 107 Howie Kendrick - Los Angeles Dodgers 108 Nick Hundley - Colorado Rockies 109 Nelson Cruz - Seattle Mariners 110 Joey Votto - Cincinnati Reds LL 111 Edinson Volquez - Kansas City Royals 112 Angel Pagan - San Francisco Giants 113 Kyle Hendricks - Chicago Cubs LL 114 Colin Rea - San Diego Padres 115 Joaquin Benoit - Toronto Blue Jays 116 Archie Bradley - Arizona Diamondbacks 117 Adrian Gonzalez - Los Angeles Dodgers 118 Billy Butler - New York Yankees 119 Francisco Lindor - Cleveland Indians 120 Reynaldo Lopez - Washington Nationals RC 121 Carlos Santana - Cleveland Indians 122 Cleveland Indians - TC 123 Jean Segura - Arizona Diamondbacks 124 Travis Jankowski - San Diego Padres 125 Yangervis Solarte - San Diego Padres 126 Miguel Sano - Minnesota Twins 127 Michael Bourn - Baltimore Orioles 128 Adam Duvall - Cincinnati Reds 129 Adonis Garcia - Atlanta Braves 130 Dustin Pedroia - Boston Red Sox 131 J.A. Happ - Toronto Blue Jays LL 132 Randal Grichuk - St. Louis Cardinals 133 Jace Peterson - Atlanta Braves 134 Chase Utley - Los Angeles Dodgers 135 Jered Weaver - Los Angeles Angels 136 Matt Reynolds - New York Mets 137 Yan Gomes - Cleveland Indians 138 Tyson Ross - San Diego Padres 139 JaCoby Jones - Detroit Tigers RC 140 Jesse Hahn - Oakland Athletics 141 Baltimore Orioles - TC 142 Carlos Ruiz - Los Angeles Dodgers 143 Nick Noonan - San Diego Padres 144 Jon Lester - Chicago Cubs LL 145 Max Scherzer - Washington Nationals LL 146 Chad Pinder - Oakland Athletics RC 147 Marcus Stroman - Toronto Blue Jays 148 Tim Anderson - Chicago White Sox 149 Gregory Polanco - Pittsburgh Pirates 150 Miguel Cabrera - Detroit Tigers 151 Jonathan Villar - Milwaukee Brewers 152 Nolan Arenado - Colorado Rockies LL 153 Nori Aoki - Seattle Mariners 154 Kevin Kiermaier - Tampa Bay Rays 155 Jacob deGrom - New York Mets 156 Alex Colome - Tampa Bay Rays 157 Sean Doolittle - Oakland Athletics 158 Tommy Pham - St. Louis Cardinals 159 Justin Verlander - Detroit Tigers LL 160 Evan Gattis - Houston Astros 161 Mookie Betts - Boston Red Sox 162 Jon Lester - Chicago Cubs LL 163 Adam Conley - Miami Marlins 164 Matt Harvey - New York Mets 165 Corey Dickerson - Tampa Bay Rays 166 Jorge Soler - Chicago Cubs 167 Lorenzo Cain - Kansas City Royals 168 Ryan Zimmerman - Washington Nationals 169 Steve Pearce - Baltimore Orioles 170 Chris Carter - Milwaukee Brewers LL 171 Seth Smith - Seattle Mariners 172 Wilmer Flores - New York Mets 173 Chicago White Sox - TC 174 Philadelphia Phillies - Philadelphia Phillies 175 Houston Astros - Houston Astros

Product Review

2017 Topps Series 1 Baseball Product Review

Reviewed by Trey Treutel

Good: Loaded with collecting options, Reverence auto patches are impressive, Cubs World Series love, variations work better with just one style.

Bad: Some of the inserts are very bland, buyback overkill, multiple filler promo cards in each box.

The Bottom Line: While flagship is still flagship, lots of little tweaks seem more apparent this year, largely to the detriment of purists. The opportunity is there for some huge hits but the odds against that are equally huge, limiting the value potential. From a truly collecting perspective, Series 1 is hard to beat, but it may try to do too much.

Staff Rating: 4.0 / 5.0

Card Design: 3.75/5.0

You can probably call the base design full-bleed but the large, interlocking nameplate at the bottom dominates focus for me. I don’t mind the lack of a traditional border like some but I would personally opt for a more subtle graphic. Still hard to spot, most of the parallels attempt to stand out with random stripes of color in the background. I relied on the serial numbering on the back to catch the ones I missed.

Card backs are another area with changes and a potential issue for some collectors. A moderate variety of solid colors spruce up the background, which is nice. There is also a designation for Twitter and Instagram handles. That is not a huge thing for me but relevant in today’s internet age. A problem for some, the full career stats are now replaced with a five-year snapshot. Personally, if I am looking for full stats, I go online, but I get that these traditionally feature comprehensive stat totals.

With so many inserts in 2017 Topps Series 1, there are highs and lows. Standouts for me include the Topps Fire-based 5 Tool line and the beautiful Reverence autograph patch cards. While I liked the retrospective nature of Then & Now, I was left wondering why they used Bowman as the reference point other than it being the oldest example for many in the set. ’87 is not my favorite design, nor is the 100-card insert checklist ideal, but I appreciated the textured back. It is also nice that many of the 1987 autographs are signed on-card.

Although very simple, Topps Salute might be a consolation for the collectors who want a more flagship-esque look. Very similar are the Jackie Robinson Day inserts. I understand the purpose, but the various Awards inserts were quite bland. Also, Fielding Award instead of Gold Glove? It’s also hard to get excited about a reprint with a Topps ad on the back.

Checklist: 4.0/5.0

The Series 1 checklist is normally going to be moderately strong but since Series 2 is not that far off, gaps are inevitable. All things considered, the release is decent with 30 rookies in the base set and tons of signers. How limited the big names actually are may never be known, but Series 1 features a lot of current stars and several former greats. The Gene Hackman as Norman Dale (from Hoosiers) autograph is pretty cool, as well.

Cubs fans are also in luck with good coverage of the World Series win. However, demand and value looks to be suffering due to the Topps Now cards that came much earlier.

With the League Leaders, I am not a fan of giving individual cards to each, especially for those players who were not the actual leader in a given aspect. I think it should either go back to trio cards or only feature the #1 leader.

Zeroing in more, variations are another checklist aspect that is more focused. Although there are 50 SSP cards with mainly celebration image changes, this is the only choice. I also liked the extra coverage for David Ortiz in honor of his retirement and wonder how crazy things would have been if they had done that for Jeter in 2015.

I will admit that I just don't get the buybacks being included but the rarity stamping is a nice attribute.

Value: 3.75/5.0

If you collect by the pack or box, monetary value is not really easy for 2017 Topps Series 1 Baseball. With one hit, likely to be a plain relic, per box, the only other chance for value is a low-numbered parallel or variation. As many know, flagship is more about the collecting value. The lower hobby box price does help and collectors looking for more hits can opt for the Jumbo format.

The Fun Factor: 4.5/5.0

My personal collecting style gravitates to variety and 2017 Series 1 delivers that ten-fold. There is just so much to take in and revisit in every box, it is easy to get lost in it. As long as you treat it for what it is, the experience should be enjoyable. And also, there is that tiny chance at pulling something amazing. Worst case scenario, you get a fresh look at the new year with a big stack of cards for a moderate price.

2017 Topps Series 1 Baseball Hit Gallery

The box used for this review was provided by Topps.