2023 Topps Pro Debut, Topps Archives in Stores Now

Two of the hobby’s most anticipated late-season releases are now in stores with the release of 2023 Topps Pro Debut and Topps Archives.

Topps Pro Debut

Topps Pro Debut was released with a surprising whimper in mid-October. Usually, a product that has made waves in past years was barely a blip on the radar, whereas Topps Archives hit significantly harder in early November after the news that the 2023 Topps Stadium Club release was postponed until January 2024.

The 2023 Topps Pro Debut is a 200-card release of some of the game’s best prospects and is the minor league version of the flagship Topps Baseball. Much like the Topps Baseball product, Topps Pro Debut has several color variations of every base card that are serial numbered as high as 199 and as low as “1 of 1”.

A new perk of the Topps Pro Debut product is that the Topps Chrome variations are more widely available in 2023 instead of only being found in the jumbo packs. And of course, multiple variations of the Topps Chrome are serial numbered as high as 99 and as low as “1 of 1”.

Autographs are randomly inserted in the Topps Pro Debut product with four per hobby box. Autographs can be found on most base cards in the set on the different color variations and in Chrome. Jett Williams and Kevin Parada are the only Mets farmhands featured in the Base and Chrome autographs.

Jett Williams, Photo by Bronson Harris of the Binghamton Rumble Ponies

Williams is the most featured of the Mets farmhand in this release, with Williams included in the Farm Fresh Features insert set and other autograph inserts, such as Future Cornerstone Autographs and Pro Debut Draftboards.

Kevin Parada can be found in the Pick by Pick insert set, and Mets legend Jose Reyes is featured in the MiLB Legends insert set as well as the MiLB Legends Autographs set.

The base set of Mets farmhands is a bit underwhelming compared to last year’s Pro Debut product, with fewer prospects featured, probably due to both Francisco Alvarez and Brett Baty‘s promotions late in 2022 and then catching on in 2023. The base set includes only four Mets prospects: Williams, Parada, Ronny Mauricio and Alex Ramirez. I’m still a bit disappointed that Topps has seen fit to continue to exclude Mike Vasil from any of its products, and the Pro Debut product was another wasted opportunity.

Topps Archives

The Topps Archives product is yet another industry staple that found its release window in early November. This release combines today’s stars and rookies with retired legends on designs from many of the designs used in years past of the Topps flagship product.

2023 Topps Archives 1956 Topps design

The 2023 Topps Archives release starts with the 1956 Topps design, a horizontal design with an up-close headshot on one side of the card with an action photo on the other side. Cards of Francisco Alvarez, Francisco Lindor, Tom Seaver, and Max Scherzer can be found on the iconic 1956 design.

Next, we fast forward to the 1965 design, which is quite underwhelming since it was the design used for the 2014 Topps Heritage design. Unlike the Topps Heritage products, Topps Archives does not have the feel of the cards used for the original design. The design also appears more vivid than the 2014 Topps Heritage product. Needless to say, I’m not a fan of the inclusion of this design. Cards of Brandon Nimmo, Mike Piazza, Justin Verlander, Brett Baty, and Kodai Senga can be found on the 1965 design.

Last, we jump ahead to the 2003 Topps design. This design continued the pattern of Topps including a headshot in the third year of every decade every twenty years (1963, 1983, 2003, and 2023 all have this unique feature). Whoever created this design for 2003 must have been a Mets fan, as the design includes a blue border with the player name, position, and headshot at the bottom of the card enclosed in an orange rectangle. Cards of Darryl Strawberry, Mark Vientos, Pete Alonso, and Edwin Diaz can be found in the 2003 design.

Autographs

The rest of the product is what makes Topps Archives so popular. Autographs are aplenty with the Fan Favorites Autographs and the Fan Favorites Autographs Premium, which features more big-name players, like former Met David Wright.

Insert sets from flagship releases of the late ’90s have been resurrected with 1997’s Season’s Best and Hobby Masters and 1998’s Baby Boomers. Autograph variations exist for both. There are several other insert sets in the product, and all have autograph variations. This product definitely packs more bang for your buck.

Below is a complete checklist of the Mets cards available in Topps Pro Debut and Topps Archives.

2023 Topps Archives 1965 Topps design

Topps Pro Debut

Base

PD-32 Ronny Mauricio – Binghamton Rumble Ponies

PD-69 Jett Williams – FCL Mets

PD-125 Kevin Parada – St. Lucie Mets

PD-182 Alex Ramirez – Brooklyn Cyclones

Base Autographs

PD-69 Jett Williams – FCL Mets

PD-125 Kevin Parada – St. Lucie Mets

Chrome

PDC-32 Ronny Mauricio – Binghamton Rumble Ponies

PDC-69 Jett Williams – FCL Mets

PDC-125 Kevin Parada – St. Lucie Mets

PDC-182 Alex Ramirez – Brooklyn Cyclones

Chrome Autographs

PDC-69 Jett Williams – FCL Mets

PDC-125 Kevin Parada – St. Lucie Mets

Farm Fresh Futures

FF-17 Jett Williams – FCL Mets

Future Cornerstone Autographs

FC-JWS Jett Williams – FCL Mets

MiLB Legends

MILB-19 Jose Reyes – Binghamton Mets

MiLB Legends Autographs

MILB-19 Jose Reyes – Binghamton Mets

Pick by Pick

PBO-9 Kevin Parada – St. Lucie Mets

Pro Debut Draftboards Foil Autographs

PDR-NWYE Mikey Romero/Cole Young/Zach Neto/Jett Williams

Topps Archives

Base

40 Francisco Alvarez (rookie card) – 1956

42 Francisco Lindor – 1956

74 Tom Seaver – 1956

87 Max Scherzer – 1956

114 Brandon Nimmo -1965

139 Mike Piazza -1965

163 Justin Verlander – 1965

170 Brett Baty (rookie card) – 1965

175 Kodai Senga (rookie card) – 1965

244 Darryl Strawberry – 2003

245 Mark Vientos (rookie card) – 2003

268 Pete Alonso – 2003

270 Edwin Diaz – 2003

1954 Topps Tarzan 3D

TZ3D-20 Brett Baty

1956 Image Variations

40 Francisco Alvarez

1956 White Back Variations

40 Francisco Alvarez

42 Francisco Lindor

1957 Topps Hit Stars Autographs

57HS-DW David Wright

1965 Inverted Variations

163 Justin Verlander

170 Brett Baty

175 Kodai Senga

1969 Topps Single-Player Foil

69T-37 Pete Alonso

69T-38 David Wright

1969 Topps Single-Player Foil Autographs

69T-37 Pete Alonso

1969 Topps Team History Oversized Postcards

H69-NYM Francisco Alvarez/Keith Hernandez/Kodai Senga/Francisco Lindor/Edwin Diaz/Pete Alonso/Tom Seaver/David Wright/Mike Piazza/Jose Reyes/Darryl Strawberry

1969 Topps Team History Poster Image Variations (serial # to 69)

69TH-37 Pete Alonso

69TH-38 David Wright

1969 Topps Team History Poster Image Variations Autographs (serial # to 20)

69TH-38 David Wright

1979 Topps Baseball Cards

79TC-5 Max Scherzer

1989 Topps Double Headers

89DH-15 Tom Seaver/Nolan Ryan

89DH-25 Mike Piazza/Francisco Alvarez

1989 Topps Double Headers Autographs

89DH-AM Francisco Alvarez/Gabriel Moreno