Ladies and Gentlemen, Introducing 2015 Topps Baseball

I haven't been hiding. I've been busy!

Doing what you ask?

• Putting my 2014 Topps Allen & Ginter's Master set into sheets and a binder
• Putting my 2014 Topps Series 2 set into sheets and a binder (I have three of five insert sets, working on the last two...will deal with that later)
• Work. I love my job, and it's been a bit busy since inventory moved to the Chicago office.
• Summer stuff with the family.

With that in mind, it's just about the time for Topps to reveal what the 2015 baseball season will bring.

And sure enough, today, they posted images of what collectors will be running after in 2015.

Ladies and Gentlemen, here is the design for 2015 Topps Baseball:

The Number One Source in the Hobby has the full details. But here are the fun highlights:

• A 350-card base set. For the first time since 2006, Topps has deviated from the 330-card series.
• The images are not parallels. The borders will be colored for the first time since 2003, with what looks like marble/stone design that goes from light to dark (possibly akin to 1990 Topps). The base colors of the cards will be based on the team's color palette (which explains the dark blue Cabrera card and the red Harper card...team colors).
• There will be the usual array of rainbow-colored parallels: Gold (numbered to 2015), Snow Camo (#'d to 99), Black (#'d to 64; hobby- and jumbo-only), Pink (#'d to 50), Rainbow foil and 1/1 Platinum and printing plates. Also to be found one per case will be new silver-framed parallels that have a metal frame. Expect the usual Blue Walmart, Red Target, Purple Toys R'Us, and other colored parallels in factory sets next year.

There are six insert sets coming in series 1:

• Inspirations, a 15-card set pairing past and present players
• Gallery of Greats, a 25-card insert set with paper framing (think something out of Gypsy Queen) two per box. There will be Gold parallels limited to just 99 copies.
• Free Agent 40, a 15-card set featuring some notable names in the 40-year history of free agency.
• Archetypes, a 25-card insert set that features "players who were the model of consistency"
• Baseball/History, a 30-card set (think Flashback inserts from Topps Heritage) pairing highlights from a particular year in and out of baseball.
• Highlight of the Year, this set will span across all three series (1, 2, Update) that highlights the top moment of a particular season. Thirty cards will be included in Series 1.

As always, there will be relics and autographs versions for each of the six basic insert sets.

I'm liking this so far, especially with the detail of the design itself. But what do you think?

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama