The 2022 Topps Series 1 Baseball – 1st Edition – was released exclusively through the Montgomery Club on February 15, 2022. So what is it, and how does it differ from the main flagship release? We have answers in our complete 2022 Topps Series 1 Baseball 1st Edition Review.
History Of Topps Series 1 Baseball 1st Edition
The idea of a 1st Edition release is to allow fans an opportunity to get the cards before anyone else does. However, there are a few differences between the releases. Ultimately, these are the same cards with a 1st Edition logo slapped on them.
This is not the first time Topps has released the 1st Edition of Series 1. However, they do it quite rarely. The last time was in 2014. Last year Topps released two Bowman products in a 1st Edition version.
Topps has occasionally released a Series 1 1st Edition before. Look for them on eBay.
2022 Topps Series 1 Baseball 1st Edition Review Of The Specs
The boxes cost $350, and Topps promises to ship them within 7-10 days of purchase.
Here are the full specs:
24 packs per box
10 cards per pack
Total of 240 cards per box
Boxes can be purchased off the secondary market for $700.
Boxes were made available through the Montgomery Club on February 15. After the Montgomery Club members are finished gobbling these boxes up, Topps will make the remainder available to the rest of us if any are left, of course.
2022 Topps Series 1 Baseball 1st Edition Review Of The Advantages
The main advantage of this release is the combination of familiarity with scarcity. Baseball collectors love Series 1 and see it as the bedrock of their collections. Unfortunately, it is an overprinted product, and base cards are incredibly plentiful. Therefore, a version of the card with the “1st” logo stamped on it will hopefully stand out from the crowd.
2022 Topps Series 1 Baseball 1st Edition Review Of The Disadvantages
The main disadvantage is that Topps did not bother changing the checklist or adding any exclusive cards. To me, that is inexcusable. If you charge three times as much for a release, there should probably be more uniqueness than merely a “1st” logo and a few new parallels.
Generally, these are the same cards with a 1st Edition logo.
2022 Topps Series 1 Baseball 1st Edition Review Of The Checklist
As I mentioned, the checklist is the same as for the main 2022 Topps Series 1 release. That means it has a 330-base card set, mixing veterans and rookies.
The most crucial element in just about every release is the rookie class. So, how good is the one feature in 2022 Topps Series 1? We have run pieces profiling the potential of both the hitters and the pitchers among the rookie cards in Series 1. But, the bottomline is pretty straightforward. Aside from the undeniable exception of Wander Franco, the class of rookies is not that impressive.
Exclusive Parallels
There isn’t much that is different about this release. However, there are a few unique parallels in the release. Here is a complete list:
Additional parallels include:
Gold – (1:2 packs)
Green – (1:3 packs)
Orange – (1:8 packs)
Red – (1:11 packs)
Black – (1:22 packs)
Hot Pink – (1:55 packs)
Light Blue – (1:108 packs)
Platinum – (1:538 packs)
The Base Checklist
Here is the full base checklist, which includes Shohei Ohtani in the iconic #1 spot.
1 Shohei Ohtani 2 Craig Kimbrel 3 Huascar Ynoa 4 Travis d’Arnaud 5 Rougned Odor 6 Jazz Chisholm Jr. – Future Stars 7 Bobby Dalbec – Future Stars 8 Xander Bogaerts 9 Elieser Hernandez 10 Archie Bradley 11 Jesus Luzardo 12 Gavin Sheets RC 13 Freddy Peralta 14 Amed Rosario 15 Jose Iglesias 16 Tommy Pham 17 Gregory Soto 18 Emmanuel Rivera RC 19 Brian Anderson 20 Jake Cousins RC 21 Shane Bieber 22 Bryan De La Cruz RC 23 Gio Urshela 24 Trevor Rogers – Rookie Cup 25 Vidal Brujan RC
26 Devin Williams 27 Mike Trout 28 Cesar Hernandez 29 Jose Berrios 30 Kyle Muller RC 31 Matt Manning RC 32 Taylor Rogers 33 Danny Jansen 34 Adam Wainwright 35 Gerrit Cole 36 Jorge Alfaro 37 Michael Conforto 38 Mason Thompson RC 39 Andrew Miller 40 David Price 41 Clayton Kershaw 42 Mitch Moreland 43 Josiah Gray RC 44 Didi Gregorius 45 Sonny Gray 46 Raimel Tapia 47 Alex Reyes 48 Vladimir Guerrero Jr./ Salvador Perez / Shohei Ohtani – LL: AL Home Runs 49 Brett Gardner 50 Mookie Betts
51 Zack Greinke 52 Greg Holland 53 Hanser Alberto 54 Lourdes Gurriel Jr. 55 Robbie Grossman 56 Ke’Bryan Hayes – Future Stars 57 Kyle Gibson 58 Lars Nootbaar RC 59 Trea Turner / Juan Soto / Bryce Harper – LL: NL Batting Average 60 Mike Moustakas 61 Jakson Reetz RC 62 Luke Williams RC 63 Christian Vazquez 64 Tim Anderson 65 Austin Hedges 66 Connor Wong RC 67 Freddy Galvis 68 Alex Bregman 69 Corey Kluber 70 Ryan Weathers 71 Ernie Clement RC 72 Pedro Severino 73 Johnny Cueto 74 Merrill Kelly 75 Christian Walker
76 Nicky Lopez 77 Josh Naylor 78 Aaron Ashby RC 79 Trey Mancini 80 Mitch Haniger 81 Jesse Winker 82 Charlie Morton 83 Will Smith 84 Jose Abreu 85 Rodolfo Castro RC 86 Kris Bryant 87 Nolan Arenado 88 Travis Shaw 89 Jorge Mateo 90 Enrique Hernandez 91 Kyle Seager 92 Avisail Garcia 93 Isiah Kiner-Falefa 94 Cedric Mullins 95 Chad Pinder 96 Cincinnati Reds – Team Card 97 Curtis Terry RC 98 Francisco Lindor – Combo Card 99 Aaron Judge 100 Fernando Tatis Jr.
101 Clint Frazier 102 Ian Kennedy 103 Mike Yastrzemksi 104 Nelson Cruz 105 Julio Urias / Adam Wainwright / Walker Buehler – LL: NL Wins 106 Pavin Smith 107 Luis Robert 108 Zach Pop RC 109 Toronto Blue Jays – Team Card 110 Yordan Alvarez – Combo Card 111 Tony Santillan RC 112 Marco Gonzales 113 Brock Holt 114 Tony Kemp 115 Austin Riley 116 Alcides Escobar 117 Brandon Crawford 118 Alex Wells RC 119 Gleyber Torres – Combo Card 120 Andrew Vaughn – Future Stars 121 New York Yankees – Team Card 122 Shohei Ohtani – Combo Card 123 Miguel Sano 124 San Diego Padres – Team Card 125 Fernando Tatis Jr. – Combo Card
126 Bo Bichette 127 Zack Wheeler / Max Scherzer / Corbin Burnes – LL: NL Strikeouts 128 Matthew Boyd 129 Max Fried 130 Tyler Gilbert RC 131 Luis Gil RC 132 Ryan McMahon 133 Zac Lowther RC 134 Tylor Megill RC 135 Chas McCormick RC 136 Houston Astros – Team Card 137 Anthony DeSclafani 138 Robbie Ray / Gerrit Cole / Dylan Cease – LL: AL Strikeouts 139 Omar Narvaez 140 Ivan Castillo RC 141 Yermin Mercedes 142 Aroldis Chapman 143 Ian Happ 144 Arizona Diamondbacks – Team Card 145 Joey Wendle 146 Fernando Tatis Jr. / Adam Duvall / Pete Alonso – LL: NL Home Runs 147 Willson Contreras 148 Zack Short RC 149 Matt Olson 150 Juan Soto
151 Kwang-Hyun Kim 152 Austin Meadows 153 Eddie Rosario 154 Jared Walsh 155 Mike Minor 156 Logan Gilbert – Future Stars 157 Bruce Zimmermann 158 Riley Adams RC 159 Angels – Team Card 160 Anthony Bender RC 161 Jon Gray 162 Spencer Howard 163 Stuart Fairchild RC 164 Atlanta Braves – Team Card 165 Yuli Gurriel/ Michael Brantley / Vladimir Guerrero Jr. – LL: AL Batting Average 166 Patrick Mazeika RC 167 Daniel Bard 168 Kyle Hendricks 169 Kyle Freeland 170 Kevin Pillar 171 Kurt Suzuki 172 Nick Solak 173 Raisel Iglesias 174 Hunter Renfroe 175 Tyler Stephenson – Rookie Cup
176 Matt Chapman 177 Carson Kelly 178 Jean Segura 179 Zach Eflin 180 J.T. Realmuto 181 Adam Duvall / Austin Riley / Ozzie Albies – LL: NL RBI 182 J.D. Martinez 183 Ji-Man Choi 184 Hoy Park RC 185 Justin Dunn 186 Jake Burger RC 187 Jarren Duran RC 188 Ha-Seong Kim 189 Michael Pineda 190 Emmanuel Clase – Rookie Cup 191 Willi Castro 192 Eduardo Rodriguez 193 Dom Nunez 194 Miguel Cabrera 195 Drew Smyly 196 Randy Arozarena – Rookie Cup 197 Alex Kirilloff – Future Stars 198 Jake Rogers 199 Michael Brantley 200 Ronald Acuña Jr.
201 Reid Detmers RC 202 Salvador Perez/ Jose Abreu / Teoscar Hernandez – LL: AL RBI 203 Wade Miley 204 Corbin Burnes / Max Scherzer/ Walker Buehler – LL: NL ERA 205 Yadier Molina 206 Kyle Lewis 207 Eduardo Escobar 208 Jorge Soler 209 Buster Posey 210 Oakland Athletics – Team Card 211 Cristian Javier 212 Martin Perez 213 Jon Lester 214 Jake Arrieta 215 Wander Franco (RC) 216 Kyle Schwarber 217 Eli Morgan RC 218 Washington Nationals – Team Card 219 Salvador Perez 220 Gerardo Parra 221 Max Kepler 222 Colorado Rockies – Team Card 223 Mike Brosseau 224 Martin Maldonado 225 Harrison Bader
226 Josh Donaldson 227 Zach Thompson RC 228 Spencer Turnbull 229 Xander Bogaerts – Combo Card 230 Jonah Heim 231 Ronnie Dawson RC 232 Brendan Rodgers 233 Cristian Pache – Future Stars 234 Garrett Hampson 235 Jarred Kelenic – Future Stars 236 Freddie Freeman 237 Albert Pujols 238 Chris Taylor – Combo Card 239 Garrett Crochet 240 Corbin Burnes 241 Tommy La Stella 242 Anthony Rizzo 243 Brandon Marsh RC 244 Shane McClanahan – Future Stars 245 Whit Merrifield 246 Mauricio Dubon 247 St. Louis Cardinals – Team Card 248 Alek Manoah – Future Stars 249 Zack Wheeler 250 Bryce Harper
251 Mitch Keller 252 Victor Reyes 253 John Means 254 Chris Archer 255 Chicago White Sox – Team Card 256 James McCann 257 Justin Turner 258 Andre Jackson RC 259 Marcus Stroman 260 Trevor Story 261 Framber Valdez 262 Tom Murphy 263 Trey Amburgey RC 264 Jackson Kowar RC 265 Keston Hiura 266 Joe Musgrove 267 Edwin Diaz 268 Liam Hendriks 269 Jose Ramirez 270 Gerritt Cole/ Chris Flexen/ Steven Matz – LL: AL Wins 271 Patrick Wisdom – Rookie Cup 272 Eric Hosmer 273 Luke Weaver 274 Tampa Bay Rays – Team Card 275 Ketel Marte
276 Steven Matz 277 Cal Raleigh RC 278 Jose Altuve 279 Adam Duvall 280 John Gant 281 Sean Manaea 282 Carlos Rodon 283 Robbie Ray/Lance McCullers Jr./Gerrit Cole – LL: AL ERA 284 Yasmani Grandal 285 Ben Gamel 286 Jacob Stallings 287 Andrew Heaney 288 Christian Yelich 289 Nate Pearson 290 Joey Votto 291 Lucas Giolito 292 Kyle Higashioka 293 Mike Foltynewicz 294 Yan Gomes 295 Jake Meyers RC 296 Ryan Zimmerman 297 Hyun-Jin Ryu 298 Drew Ellis RC 299 Julio Urias 300 Vladimir Guerrero Jr.
301 Corey Seager 302 Tyler Glasnow 303 Matt Barnes 304 Adam Frazier 305 Starling Marte 306 Andrelton Simmons 307 Steven Brault 308 Sammy Long RC 309 Yu Darvish 310 Max Scherzer 311 Chris Flexen 312 Taijuan Walker 313 Brady Singer 314 Eugenio Suarez 315 Pete Alonso 316 Matt Vierling RC 317 Colin Moran 318 Josh Reddick 319 Kyle Tucker 320 Vladimir Guerrero Jr. – Combo Card 321 Bryce Harper – Combo Card 322 Joey Gallo 323 Jason Heyward 324 Mike Zunino 325 Max Kranick RC 326 Miami Marlins – Team Card 327 Ty France 328 Keegan Akin 329 Wander Franco – Combo Card 330 Jacob deGrom
The Wander Franco is the big pull in all Series 1 products. Look for them on eBay.
2022 Topps Series 1 Baseball 1st Edition Review Of Value
Topps has released a 1st Edition version of Series 1 before. However, the 2014 set was released in a very low (we don’t know exactly) print run. As a result, the cards are seldom available to buy, and when they are, they are worth quite a bit. However, all indications are that the new release is a larger print. So, a comparison between the two releases will probably be misleading.
So, we cannot directly compare and contrast the value of the cards for Series 1 1st Edition releases. At least not yet. But as you probably remember, they did release a Bowman 1st product last year. So, that provides us with an excellent opportunity to see how much value that little “1st logo” really provides.
The results are surprising and, honestly, kind of shocking. The regular Bowman cards sell for about twice as much in many cases. It seems that the 1st Edition logo is a turn-off to collectors. At least those who buy singles.
Considering that sellers love to display that cards are 1st Edition in their eBay listings, it appears that most people are not aware of this issue. But you should be aware before you buy.
Blaze Jordan autos are worth more in the regular Bowman products. Look for his autos on eBay.
Wax
So, if 1st edition singles are not a good investment, what about unopened boxes? When 1st edition boxes are first released, they go for much higher prices. But how does the price hold up?
Wax does a lot better. No question about it. But once you consider the higher initial release price, you are not making more money than you would be buying a regular box.
Bottomline Of The 2022 Topps Series 1 Baseball 1st Edition Review
If you like the 1st Edition stamp on your cards, this set is for you. However, I don’t see the point of buying this set in terms of value and investment, especially if you plan to rip the product. The Bowman comparisons show that cards lose a significant amount of value by having 1st Edition logos on them. So let the Montogomery Club members gobble up the boxes. I don’t see why we need them. The regular Series 1 boxes seem like a much better deal.
Shaiel Ben-Ephraim is the emeritus editor of Cardlines. He continues to write for several hobby outlets, including this one and Cardbase. He collects primarily vintage baseball and soccer and has a weird obsession with 1971 Topps.
In his spare time, Shaiel is sobbing into his bourbon when the Mets lose and playing Dungeons and Dragons. In a past life, Dr. Ben-Ephraim was a political science professor, journalist, and diplomat. But cards are more fun.
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