New Topps Set Brings Renewed Excitement for Twins Cards

[Ted Schwerzler]

On June 12, baseball fans will be given the second flagship baseball card set of the year. While Topps creates multiple different products throughout the calendar, and those have been shuffled as Fanatics has become involved, it is the flagship set that remains the most accessible product. Twins fans will soon get their next serving of big-league additions.

Image courtesy of © Mike De Sisti / The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK

While Beckett no longer provides a gold standard when looking for value on trading cards, Ryan Cracknell does an incredible job as the editor keeping card collectors abreast of what is coming out. The season is often tied to kicking off when the yearly Topps Series 1 releases. Typically a late winter/early spring offering, the focus is about getting late rookie additions from the year prior, as well as stars and early free agent signings.

Dating back over the years, it is often top rookies that drive the interest or collectability in any card product. Cincinnati’s Elly De La Cruz was that guy in Series 1 this season, and Minnesota’s only rookie was the recently-designated Jordan Balazovic. Jorge Polanco still had a Twins card with his Mariners trade coming over the offseason, and stars like Royce Lewis and Carlos Correa got their first base cards as well.

The flagship cards, consisting of Topps Series 1, 2, and Update, are often about building a set or loading up a binder. Fans are able to grab more economical configurations of the product, and autograph or relic cards certainly aren’t the draw. Byron Buxton, Edouard Julien, and others had signatures available, but there was plenty more to chase.

Multiple high end products have made their way to the market over the first few months this season. Many of those can be had for multiple hundreds of dollars, and the configurations of each product is focused on less packs and cards, but more autographs and pieces of memorabilia. A gamble to hit anything close to your return on investment, the typical Twins names include Joe Mauer, Torii Hunter, Bert Blyleven, and Rod Carew.

Although boxes of Bowman Baseball are certainly not cheap, retailing for nearly $300 on their own, it is a chase of prospects that draws collectors in. Hoping to find the next Mike Trout, and do so before the hype train leaves the station, it remains among the biggest products of the year. Minnesota has been prominently featured over the last handful of years due to star prospects like Austin Martin and Brooks Lee. Neither came out with the firepower of Walker Jenkins though. As a top-10 prospect across the sport at this point, his autographs sold for over $400 on release, and still net more than $200 despite the market cooling off a bit.

Series 2 won’t bring a significant chance for Twins fans this week as the lone rookie inclusion is reliever Kody Funderburk. Lots of veteran names are present, however, and the checklist includes Kyle Farmer, Edouard Julien, Jose Miranda, Max Kepler, and others. There are a few cool insert cards to look out for, and among the best of them may be Jhoan Duran’s Significant Statistics card that will likely highlight his 104-mph pitch.

As the year goes on, more of the hit-driven products will reach the market before Update Series eventually shows up in the early fall. Often the premier flagship product to include top rookies that saw early promotions, some names to look for there are Jackson Holliday and the Twins’ Martin.

Given the Minnesota market, and overall performance of the team, no player really stands out as having robust returns at this point. Lewis cards continue to be a hot commodity, but a potential all star in Ryan Jeffers can be had for pennies on the dollar. Lee’s 1st Bowman cards will see an uptick once he is ultimately promoted, but he won’t have his first true flagship rookie card until 2025 Topps Series 1 at the earliest.

What are you collecting these days, and what players have been the most fun for you to chase after?

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[Al from SoDak]

I collect any Twins Topps cards. Happy to see Funderburk included as I went to the Caravan last winter with no cards of his for him to autograph.