Why We Love/Hate 2025 Topps Series 2 Baseball!
We list off three reasons we love and three reasons we hate the latest 2025 Topps Series 2 release!
Each Happy Hobby Sports Card Newsletter For Collectors has a handful of great sports card subjects, helping sports card collectors working with limited budgets!
This Week’s Newsletter Highlights!
⚾ WHY WE LOVE/HATE 2025 TOPPS SERIES 2 BASEBALL!
⚾ BASEBALL CARD TRIVIA!
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⚾ WHY WE LOVE/HATE 2025 TOPPS SERIES 2 BASEBALL!
Every time Topps releases one of their flagship series, we discover some things that get us excited – and some things that frustrate us! With 2025 Topps Series 2 Baseball being released this week, we decided to share three things we love and three things we hate!
1. We Love: New Rookie Cards
Once the checklist was released, we ranked the top-eight rookie cards to come out of this product, but there are over 64 rookie cards of players that could break out! Specifically, we’re excited about two pitchers: New Japanese pitcher Roki Sasaki of the Dodgers, and stud rookie Jackson Jobe of the Detroit Tigers.
2. We Love: All Kings Inserts
In 2023, we were introduced to the All Aces insert series, which became such a fan favorite – Topps didn’t make them in 2024. But they thankfully brought them back in 2025 Topps Series 1 (albeit, with very difficult odds to pull them).
Where the All Aces inserts celebrates great pitchers, the All Kings inserts does the same for the best hitters in the game.
3. We Love: Topps’ Black Border Parallel Returns
There was quite the kerfuffle when collectors found out the black border parallels were removed from 2025 Topps Series 1. Along with Topps Gold, the black-bordered cards are ones many collectors covet.
Topps reacted smartly by bringing Black back for Series 2, and there will be extra Black parallel cards that were supposed to be for the Series 1 cards!
What that means is – you can get black-bordered Jobe and Luisangel Acuna cards in this Topps Series 2, but you can also get black-bordered rookie cards of James Wood, Dylan Crews and Jacob Wilson!
The Black parallels come numbered to /74 this year – equal to the number of years Topps has been manufacturing traditional baseball card sets (dating back to 1952). (They’re coming 1 in every 193 hobby packs, though.)
1. We Hate: Series 2 Usually Disappoints
A couple years ago, I started tracking the rookie cards of the Top 100 Baseball Players Right Now, according to MLB Network. This was a great exercise in determining what the best releases each year were – and Series 2 came in last in both years. Here are how many of the rookie cards of the Top 100 players in each year shook out for each release:
2024 Series 1: 36
2024 Series 2: 19
2024 Update Series: 452025 Series 1: 34
2025 Series 2: 22 (including Roki Sasaki this year)
2025 Update Series: 43
Notice that Series 2 has close to half as many good rookie cards compared to each of the two other series. That’s no good. (Granted, there are some great Series 2 rookie cards of top players, like Pete Alonso, Corbin Carroll, Shohei Ohtani, Jose Ramirez, Fernando Tatis Jr. and Yoshinobu Yamamoto, but the other series have twice as many studs each.)
2. We Hate: 39 Different Parallels
Remember when you’d see color on the border of a card when you opened a pack and got excited? That excitement has been diluted down, with 25 different parallels. In recent years, they’ve even flipped some of those cards backwards, so that you really think you pulled something awesome.
I guess it’s cool for a budget-minded collector to try to chase the foil rainbow of a player, as they should be more accessible at least. But still, it just makes any great pull a little less awesome.
We didn’t even mention the six Summer parallels that come in some boxes (hot dogs, beach umbrellas, sun, fireworks, Statue of Liberty, and waves.
3. We Hate: Rising Prices and Print Runs
It’s tough to understand how these can both be true. How can Topps continue to raise prices on cards, while also printing a massive number of cards? If there was a higher concentration of great cards because of lower production, you could understand higher prices (supply/demand). But something tells me the print runs don’t matter because unsold product will be repackaged in other products (mystery boxes, etc.).
While we’re all riding high on this latest flagship release from 2025 Topps this week, I wanted to get you excited about next week, when we discuss why the 2026 year in cards is going to be huge!
⚾ BASEBALL CARD TRIVIA!
Send me the answer to this question – you could win this free card from me: 1981 Donruss Willie Stargell #132!
Which card did broadcaster Bob Costas famously say he carried in his wallet for years?
Email your answer to gonoscards@gmail.com and you can win this 1981 Donruss Willie Stargell #132 card! Rather than take the first person who answers it right, I’m going to do a random drawing of all the people who answer this question before midnight, Friday, June 20. The winner will be announced in the June 26 newsletter.
From June 5 newsletter: I am a right-handed pitcher who joined the majors in 1967, pitching for 19 years on four different clubs, making two All-Star teams. I did NOT make the Hall of Fame, and I led the league in losses twice. Yet, my rookie card is considered one of the most expensive cards of the ‘60s. Who am I?? Prize: 1992 Donruss Nolan Ryan #707 card. Answer this question before midnight, Friday, June 13. The winner will be announced in the June 19 newsletter.
From May 29 newsletter: Which year did Topps start having fans vote for which baseball player should be Card No. 1 in the flagship series the following year? Answer: In 2015, fans got to vote on what the No. 1 card would be for 2016 (Mike Trout). Since I read the question weird, either answer was correct, 2015 and 2016. Prize: 2021 Bowman Shohei Ohtani #85 card. Winner: Dan Mesikepp! Congrats, Spicy Bear!
Coming Next Week!
⚾🏈🏀 5 REASONS WHY CARDS WILL EXPLODE IN 2026!
⚾ BASEBALL CARD TRIVIA!
⚾🏈🏀 CARDS THAT MAKE US HAPPY!
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I don’t know if I’ve said it before, but your research and info on which series the top rookies come out of is really fascinating. Also, I completely agree with every single high and low you pointed out with series 2. And I really like this one that just about sums it all up, “How can Topps continue to raise prices on cards, while also printing a massive number of cards?” Indeed-eo., well said. And well done.
Great stuff David! Bummer about Jobe getting Tommy John surgery, knocks down the value of one of the few good rookies, though this may be an opportunity to get a nice parallel (one of the 370) at a great price now.
One additional thing I hate about Series 2 (and any Topps flagship for that matter) is when one of the very few numbered or parallels you get in your box happens to be of a team card or checklist card, or some card that isn't of a player. I don't know of anyone that gets excited to see the Detroit Tigers gold /2025 card show up. I wish Topps would stop making these.