Flashbacks to the 1990s are becoming rather a popular cultural phenomenon. Props to Topps Finest Flashbacks for flashing back before it was fashionable. The 2023 Topps Finest Flashback release continues that tradition, flashing us back to 1996 Topps Finest.
But what does this online-exclusive, throwback to a simpler time hold for collectors? Let’s get in the way back machine, throw on some “Macarena”, and explore!
Shop for boxes of 2023 Topps Finest Flashbacks on eBay or Topps.com
2023 Topps Finest Flashbacks was available on October 18, 2023 (October 17, 2023 for members of Topps’ 582 Montgomery Club) as an online exclusive. It quickly sold out from Topps’ website, where it was available for $240.
Since selling out, boxes have started appearing on the secondary market, with sales in the $300 range.
Hobby boxes of 2023 Topps Finest Flashback contain 20 packs per box. Each hobby pack contains 5 cards per pack. Hobby cases consist of 6 boxes per case.
2023 Topps Finest Flashbacks guarantees one Refractor per box. There is no autograph guarantee. In fact, autographs are quite scarce, falling around one per case.
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The 2023 Topps Finest Flashbacks set contains 200 cards. But it’s not that simple. 1996 was a rough time for the card industry.
The “irrational exuberance” of the junk wax era was long gone, and the cloud of the 1994/95 baseball strike hung over the game and the hobby. The card industry doubled down on technology and loud designs.
The other big development of the time was gaming cards, with Magic the Gathering leading the way at the time. These games introduced the concept of “manufactured scarcity,” one that modern collectors know quite well.
1996 Topps Finest was one of the first card sets to offer varying degrees of production within the base set. 2023 Topps Finest Flashbacks pays homage to that same approach.
The first 100 cards in 2023 Topps Finest Flashback are “common.” Cards 101 to 150 are Silver Border Uncommon, and come seeded 1:4 packs.
The next level, cards 151 to 175 are Gold Border Rare, and are seeded 1:20 packs. Cards 176 to 200 are Short Prints (SP) and are also seeded 1:20 packs.
The design pays homage to the 1996 Topps Finest set, with lots of gloss. The first 175 cards feature a mix of current MLB veterans and rookies. The SP checklist is made up exclusively of former players.
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Three levels of parallels carry through the product, although the odds vary greatly across the different levels of the base set.
Base parallels include:
Uncommon parallels include:
Rare parallels include:
Short Print Parallels include:
Protector Parallels pay homage to one of the more unique aspects of 1996 Topps Finest. The cards that year came with a protective film to help keep them from scratching.
The Protector Refractors don’t have the film, but carries the same text that 1996 film did.
Autographs are not guaranteed in a hobby box of 2023 Topps Finest Flashback. In fact, they are very rare in the product, falling at about one per case.
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This 33-card autograph offering is seeded in 1:119 packs. The set has various designs, with card designs that match many of the original 1996 Topps Finest insert sets, including Intimidators, Phenoms, Gamers, Sterling, and Franchise.
The checklist consists of a mix of current stars, top rookies, and all-time greats. In addition, 1/1 Superfractors are also available.
Limited to just five copies each, this offering brings 1996 Topps Finest cards of two Hall of Famers, Randy Johnson and Chipper Jones, which were bought back by Topps and autographed by the stars.
These cards are seeded at a very tough 1:28,980 packs.
2023 Topps Finest Flashbacks are a moderately priced box with a throwback feel, but no guaranteed autographs. How do these boxes hold their value unopened?
Let us review the last several year’s products, with recent comp sales.
Year | Recent Hobby Box Comp Price |
---|---|
2023 | $300 |
2022 | $175-210 |
2021 | $200 |
2020 | $290-300 |
As a reminder, 2022 boxes sold for around $200 upon release, and 2021 was available for the same. Still, these can be said to hold their value, more or less, although the 2020 box, which originally sold for $55, has seen quite an increase.
In terms of singles, the high water mark, by a lot, when it comes to recent sales, is a 2022 Topps Finest Flashbacks Shohei Ohtani 1/1 Superfractor autograph.
It sold in late September in a PSA 10 in late September for $17,000. Beyond that, a handful of signed cards have signed for over $1,000 in a PSA 10 slab, with a number more above $500.
The rest are below that number, and well below that in most cases. That being said, the chance for real value exists, although the odds aren’t high.
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There’s a lot of retro fun to be had in 2023 Topps Finest Flashbacks. With varying levels of rarity in the base set and some interesting refractors and autograph offerings, there’s some potential value to be found in this online exclusive.
What is your take on 2023 Topps Finest Flashbacks? Excited about the product? Break a box? Or plan to tuck one away for the future? Let us know at card_lines on Twitter.
Shop for boxes of 2023 Topps Finest Flashbacks on eBay
See below for the 2023 Topps Finest Flashback checklist, which is fully searchable.
wdt_ID | Base | Card Number | Player | Team | Rookie |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Base Finest Phenoms Common | 2 | Anthony Rizzo | New York Yankees® | |
2 | Base Finest Phenoms Common | 3 | Hunter Brown | Houston Astros® | Rookie |
3 | Base Finest Phenoms Common | 6 | Ezequiel Tovar | Colorado Rockies™ | Rookie |
4 | Base Finest Phenoms Common | 15 | Matt Wallner | Minnesota Twins® | Rookie |
5 | Base Finest Phenoms Common | 28 | Oswaldo Cabrera | New York Yankees® | Rookie |
6 | Base Finest Phenoms Common | 33 | Dansby Swanson | Chicago Cubs® | |
7 | Base Finest Phenoms Common | 40 | Yordan Alvarez | Houston Astros® | |
8 | Base Finest Phenoms Common | 46 | Cedric Mullins | Baltimore Orioles® | |
9 | Base Finest Phenoms Common | 50 | Andrew Benintendi | Chicago White Sox® | |
10 | Base Finest Phenoms Common | 51 | James Outman | Los Angeles Dodgers® | Rookie |
11 | Base Finest Phenoms Common | 55 | Masataka Yoshida | Boston Red Sox® | Rookie |
12 | Base Finest Phenoms Common | 57 | Shohei Ohtani | Angels® | |
13 | Base Finest Phenoms Common | 58 | Miguel Cabrera | Detroit Tigers® | |
14 | Base Finest Phenoms Common | 60 | Michael Harris II | Atlanta Braves™ | Rookie |
15 | Base Finest Phenoms Common | 62 | Joey Wiemer | Milwaukee Brewers™ | Rookie |
16 | Base Finest Phenoms Common | 66 | Jordan Groshans | Miami Marlins® | Rookie |
17 | Base Finest Phenoms Common | 68 | Carlos Rodón | New York Yankees® | |
18 | Base Finest Phenoms Common | 71 | Miguel Vargas | Los Angeles Dodgers® | Rookie |
19 | Base Finest Phenoms Common | 72 | Garrett Mitchell | Milwaukee Brewers™ | Rookie |
20 | Base Finest Phenoms Common | 87 | Josh Jung | Texas Rangers® | Rookie |
21 | Base Finest Phenoms Common | 90 | Juan Soto | San Diego Padres™ | |
22 | Base Finest Phenoms Common | 91 | Triston Casas | Boston Red Sox® | Rookie |
23 | Base Finest Phenoms Common | 93 | Kodai Senga | New York Mets® | Rookie |
24 | Base Finest Phenoms Common | 94 | José Abreu | Houston Astros® | |
25 | Base Finest Phenoms Common | 98 | Francisco Álvarez | New York Mets® | Rookie |
26 | Finest Intimidators Common | 5 | Brice Turang | Milwaukee Brewers™ | Rookie |
27 | Finest Intimidators Common | 7 | Mookie Betts | Los Angeles Dodgers® | |
28 | Finest Intimidators Common | 8 | Gunnar Henderson | Baltimore Orioles® | Rookie |
29 | Finest Intimidators Common | 12 | Brandon Nimmo | New York Mets® | |
30 | Finest Intimidators Common | 17 | Riley Greene | Detroit Tigers® | Rookie |
31 | Finest Intimidators Common | 18 | Vladimir Guerrero Jr. | Toronto Blue Jays® | |
32 | Finest Intimidators Common | 25 | Maikel Garcia | Kansas City Royals® | Rookie |
33 | Finest Intimidators Common | 49 | Jordan Diaz | Oakland Athletics™ | Rookie |
34 | Finest Intimidators Common | 54 | Terrin Vavra | Baltimore Orioles® | Rookie |
35 | Finest Intimidators Common | 56 | J.D. Martinez | Los Angeles Dodgers® | |
36 | Finest Intimidators Common | 61 | Esteury Ruiz | Oakland Athletics™ | Rookie |
37 | Finest Intimidators Common | 64 | Will Benson | Cincinnati Reds® | Rookie |
38 | Finest Intimidators Common | 65 | Christian Yelich | Milwaukee Brewers™ | |
39 | Finest Intimidators Common | 67 | Mike Trout | Angels® | |
40 | Finest Intimidators Common | 70 | DL Hall | Baltimore Orioles® | Rookie |
41 | Finest Intimidators Common | 73 | Aaron Judge | New York Yankees® | |
42 | Finest Intimidators Common | 77 | Michael Toglia | Colorado Rockies™ | Rookie |
43 | Finest Intimidators Common | 78 | Wander Franco | Tampa Bay Rays™ | |
44 | Finest Intimidators Common | 80 | Liover Peguero | Pittsburgh Pirates® | Rookie |
45 | Finest Intimidators Common | 81 | Taj Bradley | Tampa Bay Rays™ | Rookie |
46 | Finest Intimidators Common | 82 | Logan O'Hoppe | Angels® | Rookie |
47 | Finest Intimidators Common | 86 | Bryson Stott | Philadelphia Phillies® | |
48 | Finest Intimidators Common | 89 | Matthew Liberatore | St. Louis Cardinals® | Rookie |
49 | Finest Intimidators Common | 95 | Vinnie Pasquantino | Kansas City Royals® | Rookie |
50 | Finest Intimidators Common | 99 | Michael Conforto | San Francisco Giants® | |
51 | Finest Gamers Common | 13 | Livan Soto | Angels® | Rookie |
52 | Finest Gamers Common | 14 | Corbin Carroll | Arizona Diamondbacks® | Rookie |
53 | Finest Gamers Common | 21 | Josh Bell | Cleveland Guardians™ | |
54 | Finest Gamers Common | 22 | Cody Bellinger | Chicago Cubs® | |
55 | Finest Gamers Common | 24 | Daulton Varsho | Toronto Blue Jays® | |
56 | Finest Gamers Common | 26 | Mark Vientos | New York Mets® | Rookie |
57 | Finest Gamers Common | 29 | Simeon Woods Richardson | Minnesota Twins® | Rookie |
58 | Finest Gamers Common | 30 | Jacob deGrom | Texas Rangers® | |
59 | Finest Gamers Common | 31 | Oscar Colás | Chicago White Sox® | Rookie |
60 | Finest Gamers Common | 32 | Christopher Morel | Chicago Cubs® | Rookie |
61 | Finest Gamers Common | 36 | Nolan Gorman | St. Louis Cardinals® | Rookie |
62 | Finest Gamers Common | 39 | Shea Langeliers | Oakland Athletics™ | Rookie |
63 | Finest Gamers Common | 41 | Oswald Peraza | New York Yankees® | Rookie |
64 | Finest Gamers Common | 43 | Brett Baty | New York Mets® | Rookie |
65 | Finest Gamers Common | 47 | Trea Turner | Philadelphia Phillies® | |
66 | Finest Gamers Common | 48 | Ronald Acuña Jr. | Atlanta Braves™ | |
67 | Finest Gamers Common | 52 | Jose Altuve | Houston Astros® | |
68 | Finest Gamers Common | 53 | Edouard Julien | Minnesota Twins® | Rookie |
69 | Finest Gamers Common | 59 | Alec Burleson | St. Louis Cardinals® | Rookie |
70 | Finest Gamers Common | 63 | Bo Naylor | Cleveland Guardians™ | Rookie |
71 | Finest Gamers Common | 75 | Nolan Jones | Colorado Rockies™ | Rookie |
72 | Finest Gamers Common | 76 | Anthony Volpe | New York Yankees® | Rookie |
73 | Finest Gamers Common | 83 | Grayson Rodriguez | Baltimore Orioles® | Rookie |
74 | Finest Gamers Common | 84 | Jordan Walker | St. Louis Cardinals® | Rookie |
75 | Finest Gamers Common | 97 | Vaughn Grissom | Atlanta Braves™ | Rookie |
76 | Finest Sterling Common | 1 | Jonathan Aranda | Tampa Bay Rays™ | Rookie |
77 | Finest Sterling Common | 4 | Brayan Bello | Boston Red Sox® | Rookie |
78 | Finest Sterling Common | 9 | Lenyn Sosa | Chicago White Sox® | Rookie |
79 | Finest Sterling Common | 10 | William Contreras | Milwaukee Brewers™ | |
80 | Finest Sterling Common | 11 | Nolan Arenado | St. Louis Cardinals® | |
81 | Finest Sterling Common | 16 | Adley Rutschman | Baltimore Orioles® | Rookie |
82 | Finest Sterling Common | 19 | Bobby Witt Jr. | Kansas City Royals® | |
83 | Finest Sterling Common | 20 | Kyle Stowers | Baltimore Orioles® | Rookie |
84 | Finest Sterling Common | 23 | George Kirby | Seattle Mariners™ | |
85 | Finest Sterling Common | 27 | Justin Verlander | New York Mets® | |
86 | Finest Sterling Common | 34 | Tim Anderson | Chicago White Sox® | |
87 | Finest Sterling Common | 35 | Francisco Lindor | New York Mets® | |
88 | Finest Sterling Common | 37 | Drew Waters | Kansas City Royals® | Rookie |
89 | Finest Sterling Common | 38 | Zach Neto | Angels® | Rookie |
90 | Finest Sterling Common | 42 | Nelson Velázquez | Chicago Cubs® | Rookie |
91 | Finest Sterling Common | 44 | Iván Herrera | St. Louis Cardinals® | Rookie |
92 | Finest Sterling Common | 45 | Andrés Giménez | Cleveland Guardians™ | |
93 | Finest Sterling Common | 69 | Max Meyer | Miami Marlins® | Rookie |
94 | Finest Sterling Common | 74 | Gabriel Moreno | Arizona Diamondbacks® | Rookie |
95 | Finest Sterling Common | 79 | Julio Rodríguez | Seattle Mariners™ | |
96 | Finest Sterling Common | 85 | Spencer Steer | Cincinnati Reds® | Rookie |
97 | Finest Sterling Common | 88 | Oscar Gonzalez | Cleveland Guardians™ | Rookie |
98 | Finest Sterling Common | 92 | Steven Kwan | Cleveland Guardians™ | |
99 | Finest Sterling Common | 96 | Paul Goldschmidt | St. Louis Cardinals® | |
100 | Finest Sterling Common | 100 | Oneil Cruz | Pittsburgh Pirates® |
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