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| Image of the 2026 Topps Update Series Retail Box |
It won't be long now before the 2026 MLB season comes to a close and the hype over the Update Series begins. And there is a lot to unpack.
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| 2026 Topps Update Travis Bazzana #US75 |
The checklist for the end-of-the-year set came out earlier this week, and well...
The player selection is great, I'm not against that. Topps is even bringing back the update series SP cards, akin to the SP rookie additions in series 2, in the form of Tarik Skubal and Adley Rutschmann (definitely will get my hands on these once they hit the Bay). What I don't get, however, is the format of the base checklist.
To wit...
The checklist, for the first time ever, is broken down into categories:
- Veterans I
- Veterans II
- Rookies
- Rookie Debut
- Veteran Combos
- Season Highlights
The Veterans I section, includes (doing a quick count...) 96 players. Veterans II consists of (doing another quick count, which is just me copying and pasting the .pdf to an Excel spreadsheet) 99 players. Going down the line, you have 85 Rookies, 40 Rookie Debut cards, 16 Veteran Combo cards, and 14 Season Highlights cards. That's 350 cards in the base set. Which is great and all...but...
What's the difference between Veterans I and Veterans II??!
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| 2026 Topps Update Walker Buehler #US213, part of the Veterans II group. |
I had first thought that the Veterans I section included players who were in either Series 1 or 2, and the Veterans II section consists of players who wasn't in either series. But that isn't true because while players such as Mauricio Dubón (191 in S1, US8 in Update) and Alex Bregman (135 in S1, US25 in Update) appeared earlier on cards earlier in the year, players such as Miguel Amaya, Antonio Senzatela, and even Zac Gallen did not.
The 99 players in the Veterans II section? Just from a sampling based off the 2026 MLB All-Stars who didn't have cards prior to the game in July, Max Mayer, Bryan Baker, Jacob Latz, and Louis Varland all are part of this group. Later additions such as Iván Herrera and Nick Martinez are part of this group as well. But both Willson Contreras and Tristan Peters are in this group as well, and they had cards in the main set (under different teams, so it's no surprise they're here too).
So that can't be it. With that said, was there a real reason why the 195 veterans were grouped off in this way? Maybe someone who has knowledge way above my pay grade can explain.
Or maybe I'm making too much of a big deal out of it...I don't know...
Beyond the base set, let's go over the insert sets whose cards will be distributed throughout the packs and boxes of Update Series.
Among the basic insert sets coming to Update will be the 25-card Stat Stars, a newly-titled 35-card playoffs-themed set called Autumn Ascensions (I think...only because rookie card subjects Munetaka Murakami, Travis Bazzana, and JJ Wetherholt are in this set and as far as I can tell have yet to make the playoffs in MLB), Topps Black Gold returns for another end-of-the-year appearance, 25 cards in all. The Hobby/Jumbo exclusive Mystical set returns as well with another 25 subject set. Fifty players from the All-Star Game are featured in the annual All-Star Game insert set. Which is great and all, but if Shohei Ohtani wasn't even in Philly for the festivities, why is he part of this set? Same for Vladimir Guerrero, Jr.
First Pitch concludes with five more celebrities, including someone many Filipinos outside of the Hobby will jump at the chance to acquire, boxing legend (and senator) Manny Pacquiao. The celebration of 1991 Topps baseball also concludes with another 50-card set. The ever popular Stars of MLB set concludes with another 26 cards (funny enough, no Titans of the Game in this one).
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| 2026 Topps Update 1991 Topps Munetaka Murakami #U91-22 |
The Costco sets will return for the first time in Update Series. So expect another 90-card Flagship Collection and 10-card Bulk Order to appear in bonus packs. There is also a 10-card Rookie Sensations set that is exclusive to the "Club Box", but there is at this time, no way to tell if this is going to be an SP insert set or a basic one.
The product goes live on October 14, 2026, less than four weeks from the day this post goes live. I can't wait to get back into the swing of things. The chase for 593 cards will begin then. As of now, the 6-inch binder is 2/3rd's full and just needs the SP Rookie Variations (Kevin McGonigle, JJ Wetherholt, Carson Benge, and Justin Crawford) to finish out Series 2.
Then the fun will begin.
Sincerely,
JayBee Anama
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