From Mantle to Ohtani: How Topps is celebrating 75 years of baseball cards

Topps’ first foray into baseball cards in 1951 was largely considered a commercial and aesthetic failure. But the release of 2026 Topps Baseball Series 1 on Wednesday not only marks Topps Baseball’s 75th anniversary, but also its most ambitious undertaking yet.

Topps put together a “75 Years of Topps” panel to vote on the top 75 baseball cards in its history, including Fanatics Collectibles’ CEO Michael Mahan, president of trading cards David Leiner and senior vice president of global product development Clay Luraschi. Major League Baseball’s deputy commissioner of business and media Noah Garden and official league historian John Thorn, ESPN’s Tim Kurkjian, Dr. James Beckett, Collectors CEO Nat Turner and three-time MLB All-Star and avid collector Evan Longoria were also part of the panel.

“There was a healthy amount of spirited debate on things, but ultimately we got to some very good outcomes,” Mahan said. “What becomes the right way to celebrate those cards? How do you give somebody the opportunity to pull a ’52 Mickey Mantle or a ’52 Willie Mays out of a pack? Well, let’s give people the opportunity to do that.”

Fanatics is offering PSA-graded versions of all non-one-of-one-numbered cards that made the list as redemption cards inserted throughout Topps 2026 baseball products. Topps has released the full list of Iconic Topps Buybacks, with the top four rounded out by a 1952 Mantle and Mays, a 1954 Hank Aaron rookie card and a 1952 Jackie Robinson. Other 75 Years of Topps gift redemptions include two tickets each to the Home Run Derby and the MLB All-Star Game, $7,500 Topps and Fanatics Collect gift cards, a $1,750 Fanatics gift card, plus team gifts and gameday experiences from select clubs.

Leiner told ESPN that, across Fanatics Collectibles, baseball brought in $1.1 billion in sales in 2023 and $1.6 billion in 2024.

“We’ve seen the collectibles business accelerate significantly with the baseball business, so many new collectors coming in,” Leiner said. “This — the 75 list and Series 1 — is going to be really illuminating for them.”

This year’s Series 1 features Hank Aaron, Ken Griffey Jr., Shohei Ohtani and Aaron Judge on the cover. Adam Schwartz, an art director at Topps, designed this year’s release with City Connect jerseys in mind.

“Each year, Series 1 has its own identity,” Schwartz said. “I wanted to see how I could incorporate the stitching of the uniforms into the design and make a unique look we haven’t done before.”

Inserts include the popular All Aces, All Kings and Heavy Lumber — printed on wood-grained cards and featuring a swatch of game-used bat — a trove of numbered parallels, City Connect swatch autographed cards and 1991 Topps variations and autographs. There will also be cards in the 1952 Topps design for other (non-baseball) athlete autographs, autographs of past legends and top rookies.

“My birthday is March 3rd, so, for every birthday starting with 1984 into the early 1990s, I was getting a box of cards — and the first set I ever built was 1984 Topps,” Mahan said. “Some of my best memories as a child were from Topps and what we now call Series 1. Series 1 is a celebration of what collecting means, which is to be a fan.”

Luraschi, who has been with Topps for more than 25 years, said his involvement in the anniversary series is one of the most important things he has ever done.

“It was like taking a walk down memory lane,” he said. “A lot of those cards played a part of my childhood, so to be a part of a portion of those 75 years is really special.”