2016 Topps Finest Baseball preview

Topps Finest Baseball has been a staple for collectors for almost a quarter century. The 2016 edition of Topps Finest returns with a familiar feel but also some new features that stand out. Master boxes of 2016 Finest Baseball will contain a pair of autographs.

The base set includes 100 top MLB players with both veterans and rookies represented. In typical Finest fashion there are plenty of parallels to chase, including seven levels of numbered Refractors. There is also to chance to find one-of-one printing plates for each base card. In addition to the 100 base cars there are ten short prints. Short printed cards have three levels of numbered parallels: Orange Refractor (#’d to 25), Red Refractor (#’d to 5) and SuperFractor (#’d 1/1).

2016 Topps Finest has two new sets of insert to collect. Franchise Finest salutes the top players on each MLB club. 1996 Finest Intimidators brings back an insert set from 20 years ago that highlights the game’s most feared players. Both sets have low-numbered variations to collect as well as hard-signed autograph versions.

Topps has also brought back the Finest Careers die-cut insert set, which paid tribute to Derek Jeter last year. For 2016 Topps has selected Ken Griffey, Jr. for Finest Careers, and will salute Griffey with a ten-card set tracing his MLB career. You can find one per case with the possibility of finding a Refractor parallel numbered to 25 or less. New for this year are autographed versions that will be numbered out of five.

Additional autograph content includes Finest Autograph, which are similar in design to the base cards. New for 2016 are Finest First autographs, which feature rookie players that are making their Finest debut. Topps has also included unsigned versions of the Finest First cards. There are several levels of numbered Refractor parallels for both sets of signed cards, including Blue (Finest autographs only), Green, Gold, Orange (#’d to 25), Red (#’d to 5) and SuperFractor (#’d 1/1), plus one-of-one Printing Plates.

Finest Greats autos are a special case hit featuring signed cards from retired legends. These have four levels of numbered parallels plus one-of-one printing plates. Topps has inserted hard-signed Finest buyback cards from the 24-year history of the brand.