Topps Finest Baseball Through the Years

By Ryan Cracknell - August 7, 2024

August 7, 2024

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The history of Topps Finest Baseball is one of the key evolutions of the modern hobby. Before Finest, there was no chrome. Before Finest, Refractor was merely a term that would conjure up memories of middle school science and ill-explained theories about crystals and rainbows without any wizards or unicorns. Today, Topps Finest might not be the most popular brand in the industry, but without it, things might look a lot different.

First Finest

1993 Topps Finest Baseball marked the beginning. Not only was it the first for the brand but the first full set of mainstream sports cards to use chromium stock. This was a big change from the traditional cardboard and the then-recent expansion into glossy paper. Now sports cards looked metallic. They were shiny and colorful unlike anything before.

That first set made a major splash. Not only was it something different but it was elusive. With just 4,000 cases produced, prices quickly soared. Rookies weren’t the driver. It was the lone chase set available in packs — Refractors.

Today, they’re just part of collecting — fun but generally not a big deal unless you get a hot rookie or something with a low print run. But in 1993, they were new. And with a confirmed print run, the first time a major manufacturer made such a move, you could calculate how many copies each of the rainbow-infused parallels had. In this instance, it was 241. That said, there are also many cards that are believed to be short prints. This was never confirmed by Topps but it has made some 1993 Finest Refractors worth more than others.

Finest Forages Forward

Bolstered by its initial popularity, not much about Finest changed over the next couple of years. 1994 saw it expand to two series. But the overall build of the product and Refractors remained the same.

Things got a little more complicated in 1996 when the base set all of a sudden became made up of several subsets. They all resembled inserts of the era but were still part of the main set. Topps also introduced a tiered rarity for the checklist. This made some cards common, some rare and others somewhere in between. Set building was still a big part of the hobby at the time so the short prints meant collectors had to buy more packs or do more legwork. The structure also mimicked a growing part of the broader trading card category at the time as collectible card games like Magic: The Gathering were catching on.

The tiered structure returned for 1997 before Topps went back to a more traditional approach in 1998. By this time, the number of Refractors were starting to grow. Rather than colors, it was more to do with technology with things like die-cut and embossing.

Something else was happening at the time. While chromium was unique in 1993, it quickly became a more crowded field. Topps added Bowman’s Best in 1994. Topps Chrome Baseball followed in 1996. Then it was Bowman Chrome in 1997.

It’s Fine

At this point, it was getting harder for Finest to stand out. The brand’s time at the top of the hobby heap didn’t last long but it never went away. For many years, Topps played with parts of Finest’s identity by expanding Refractor rainbows and adding autographs.

Today, its defining feature is more with its designs. Parallels and signatures are expected but they’re also in a lot of other products, not just baseball. The brand is home to lots of busy layouts and colorful themes. Chrome is still a cornerstone but Finest has found an identity, standing out like the 20-something cousin with the multiple piercings, unique fashion sense and an aura of all the confidence in the world. You might only encounter them once or twice a year but when you do you can’t help but appreciate their peacock approach to the world.

Below is a gallery of all the Topps Finest Baseball base set designs from 1993 through 2024. You can use the tabs to easily navigate between decades.