With everything chromium being all the rage, 2021 Topps Chrome MLS Soccer cards shouldn’t come as a surprise. Boasting the brand’s familiar flagship spin, Refractors and more, it sets out to make Major League Soccer shiny for just the second time.

Hobby boxes promise one autograph plus lots of inserts and parallels.

2021 Topps Chrome MLS Checklist Overview

The base set has 200 cards. If the design seems a little familiar, that’s because it is. The layout converts 2021 Topps MLS over to the chromium card stock.

All modern Topps Chrome sets come with a rainbow of parallels. Here it breaks down to include:

• Refractors – (1:6 hobby packs)
• Speckle Refractors – (1:18 hobby packs)
• Aqua Refractors – /299
• Blue Wave Refractors – /199
• Neon Green Refractors – /99
• Gold Refractors – /50
• Orange Refractors – /25
• Red Wave Refractors – /5
• Superfractors – 1/1

Speckle Refractors are only in hobby packs.

If there’s a retail component to the product, don’t be surprised if more colors are added as exclusives in some of those configurations.

Select base cards also have Image Variations with different photos. These have their own Gold Refractors (/50), Orange Refractors (/25), Red Refractors (/5) and Superfractors (1/1).

Autographs and Other Inserts

Autographs use the base set design and are only in hobby packs. The number of parallels is limited to Orange Refractors (/25), Red Refractors (/5) and Superfractors (1/1).

2021 Topps Chrome MLS has four additional insert sets.

1975-76 Topps Footballers (1:6 hobby packs) takes the 1975-76 Topps Soccer design (and 1975 Topps Baseball) and applies it to current players.

Celebration FC (1:4) has a couple of things going on. Players are ranked among the top goal scorers in the league. Photos catch them getting excited after the fact.

There’s also Big City Strikers, which are 1:9 packs.

All three of these chase sets have Aqua Refractors (/199), Green Refractors (/75), Gold Refractors (/50), Orange Refractors (/25), Red Refractors (/5) and Superfractors (1/1).

The toughest insert in the product is Future Stars, which average out to two per hobby case (1:6 boxes). Gold Refractors (/50), Orange Refractors (/25), Red Refractors (/5) and Superfractors (1/1) are the lone parallels for these.

The only other Topps Chrome MLS set is from 2014.

2021 Topps Chrome MLS Soccer cards at a glance:

Release date (subject to change): August 25, 2021
Cards per pack: Hobby – 4
Packs per box: Hobby – 18
Boxes per case: Hobby – 12
Set size: 200 cards

What to expect in a hobby box:

• Autographs – 1
• 1975-76 Topps Footballers – 3
• Big City Strikers – 2
• Celebration FC – 4
• Refractors – 3
• Speckle Refractors – 1

The full 2021 Topps Chrome MLS checklist and team set lists will be posted as soon as they’re available, likely shortly before the set’s release.