Most Topps Baseball Card Releases Have Been Later Than Usual This Year, BA Analysis Finds
Because of their focus on prospects (and the hunt for MLB debut patches), Topps Pro Debut, Chrome Update and Bowman Draft are three of the hottest baseball card releases of the year.
As such, many collectors were thrown off by Pro Debut coming out months later than usual this year and by Chrome Update’s Dec. 10 planned drop being almost a month later than the 2024 version.
Topps also just announced that the preorder for Bowman Draft will begin on Dec. 15, meaning its release likely won’t come until mid January when the 2024 version was released on Dec. 4.
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And those brands are not alone.
A Baseball America analysis of 39 annual Topps baseball brands released or announced by this time in 2024 found that the 2025 delays are hardly confined to just those three releases. In fact, nearly a third of those 39 titles are more than two months behind last year’s schedule or have not even been announced yet, and more than half are at least two weeks off of last year’s pace.
Complete brand details and dates are included below. Among BA’s findings:
- Six annual brands whose 2024 release dates were before Oct. 1, 2024 have yet to be announced for a 2025 release
- Six brands have had (or will have) release dates more than two months later than their 2024 release dates
- Six brands have come out (or will come out) more than two weeks but less than two months later than their 2024 release dates, and an additional four brands that fall within that timeframe have yet to even be announced for 2025
- Of the 17 brands that were released within two weeks of the 2024 release dates, most were flagship releases, including Series 1, Series 2, Bowman, Bowman Chrome and Topps Chrome
For our analysis, BA looked at main brands that came out in both 2023 and 2024 in order to be able to compare year-over-year release dates more easily. So, brands such as Triple Threads and Shoebox Treasures (neither of which came out in 2023) are not included here. We also did not look at any brands that fall under the “Topps Now” banner or other niche specialty releases.
Topps’ product line has been a work in progress since the company was purchased by Fanatics in early 2022. Since then, it has regained licenses with the NBA and WWE. The company does discontinue brands from time to time (whether temporarily or permanently), as was the case with Bowman Inception in 2024 and Triple Threads, which was discontinued for several years before being brought back in 2024.
It’s worth mentioning that Topps does not promise specific release dates from year to year for any products until they are made available for preorder (often a month before release). But release dates from 2023 to 2024 remained mostly constant, while the 2025 release dates have been more variable.
It’s also worth noting that this trend seems to have started with later-in-the-year brands from 2024. For example, 2024 Topps Inception did not come out until June 2025.
Topps did not respond to a request for comment.
Organized chronologically by their 2025 release date, here’s a deeper dive into what our analysis of the 39 different Topps baseball card brands found, with dates going back two years for the releases:
Brands Released in 2025 No More Than 2 Weeks Later Than Their 2024 Release Date (17)
| Brand | 2023 Release Date | 2024 Release Date | 2025 Release Date |
| Topps Series 1 | Feb. 15 | Feb. 14 | Feb. 12 |
| Topps Heritage | May 24 | April 10 | April 23 |
| Topps Chrome Black | Dec. 15 | April 27 | April 30 |
| Bowman | April 26 | May 8 | May 7 |
| Bowman Sapphire | May 31 | June 5 | June 4 |
| Topps Series 2 | June 7 | June 12 | June 11 |
| Topps Dynamic Duals | May 30 | June 10 | June 18 |
| Topps Chrome | July 26 | July 17 | July 23 |
| Topps Finest | July 7 | Aug. 7 | Aug. 12 |
| Topps Chrome Sapphire | Sept. 5 | Sept. 11 | Aug. 27 |
| Topps Chrome Logofractor | Sept. 5 | Sept. 17 | Aug. 27 |
| Topps T205/T206 | July 6 | Oct. 3 | Sept. 18 |
| Bowman Chrome | Sept. 13 | Sept. 11 | Sept. 23 |
| Bowman Chrome Sapphire | Nov. 20 | Nov. 20 | Oct. 15 |
| Topps Diamond Icons | Jan. 31, 2024 | Feb. 5, 2025 | Oct. 22 |
| Topps Archives | Nov. 8 | Jan. 8, 2025 | Scheduled for Dec. 12 |
| Topps Heritage High Number | Dec. 13 | March 26, 2025 | Scheduled for Dec. 17 |
Brands Released in 2025 More Than 2 Weeks But Less Than 2 Months Later Than Their 2024 Release Date (10)
| Brand | 2023 Release Date | 2024 Release Date | 2025 Release Date |
| Topps Tribute | July 12 | March 27 | April 23 |
| Topps Update | Oct. 11 | Oct. 16 | Nov. 12 |
| Topps Allen & Ginter | Sept. 22 | Oct. 30 | Dec. 3 |
| Topps Chrome Update | Nov. 15 | Nov. 13 | Scheduled for Dec. 10 |
| Topps Allen & Ginter X | Oct. 20 | Dec. 6 | Scheduled for Dec. 31 |
| Bowman Draft | Dec. 12 | Dec. 4 | Preorder tentatively scheduled for Dec. 15, release likely in mid-January |
| Topps Stadium Club | Jan. 24, 2024 | Nov. 6 | Not announced yet for 2025 (but still within two months of last year’s release) |
| Topps Chrome Gilded | Oct. 18 | Nov. 20 | Not announced yet for 2025 (but still within two months of last year’s release) |
Topps Chrome Update Sapphire | Dec. 6 | Dec. 10 | Not announced yet for 2025 (but still within two months of last year’s release) |
| Topps Brooklyn Collection | Dec. 19 | Dec. 11 | Not announced yet for 2025 (but still within two months of last year’s release) |
Brands Released in 2025 More Than 2 Months Later Than Their 2024 Release Date (12)
| Brand | 2023 Release Date | 2024 Release Date | 2025 Release Date |
| Topps Sterling | May 24 | April 3 | June 4 |
| Topps Archives Signature Series – Active Player Edition | April 19 | March 20 | Aug. 6 |
| Topps Tier One | Oct. 25 | July 3 | Sept. 10 |
| Topps Pro Debut | Oct. 18 | Sept. 6 | Nov. 12 |
| Topps Cosmic Chrome | Aug. 30 | Oct. 11 | Scheduled for Dec. 17 |
| Topps Five Star | Feb. 21 | Sept. 27 | Scheduled for Dec. 29 |
| Topps Dynasty | March 22, 2024 | June 27 | Product not yet announced for 2025 |
| Topps Chrome Platinum | May 22, 2024 | July 17 | Product not yet announced for 2025 |
| Bowman Sterling | Nov. 3 | Oct. 9 | Product not yet announced for 2025 |
| Topps Museum Collection | Nov. 22 | July 31 | Product not yet announced for 2025 |
| Topps Pristine | Aug. 23 | Aug. 30 | Product not yet announced for 2025 |
| Topps Archives Signature Series – Retired Player Edition | Aug. 16 | May 17 | Product not yet announced for 2025 |
Six 2024 Brands Released Early In 2025 Worth Keeping An Eye On
| Brand | 2023 Release Date | 2024 Release Date | 2025 Release Date |
| Topps Luminaries | Feb. 7, 2024 | Jan. 3, 2025 | TBD |
| Topps Definitive | Nov. 22 | Jan. 10, 2025 | TBD |
| Bowman’s Best | Jan. 17, 2024 | Jan. 15, 2025 | TBD |
| Bowman Draft Sapphire | Jan. 3, 2024 | Jan. 17, 2025 | TBD |
| Topps Transcendent | March 27, 2024 | Jan. 22, 2025 | TBD |
| Topps Inception | Dec. 6 | June 18, 2025 | TBD |
