Everything you need to know about 2025 Topps Chrome baseball

Generally, the most anticipated baseball release of the year, this season’s iteration of Topps Chrome is marred by price increases and a new insert that you may have to wait years to acquire.

It’s Always About the Rookies

As with every Topps Chrome release, it’s a chromium version of Topps Series 1 and Series 2 combined for one giant checklist. That means rookies. A lot of them. Autos too. You’ll find autographs for players who may only ever have one career at-bat, but Topps (Fanatics) will make sure to squeeze every signature they can to maximize the print run.

The big RC names you’ll be seeing all over your timelines the next few weeks will likely be James Wood (Nationals), Jacob Wilson (Athletics) Roki Sasaski (Dodgers), Kristian Campbell (Red Sox) and Cam Smith (Astros) but Topps was very sneaky in adding Rookie of the Year contenders Nick Kurtz (Athletics) and Drake Baldwin (Braves) to the auto checklist despite not having rookie base cards.

Outside of the rookie autos, there are several inserts that will be chases for those looking to grab the first cards of this season’s class. Radiating Rookies, which are case hits and Youthquake, which are found one per box in the breaker’s delight version, will be at the forefront of collector’s minds.

Legendary Wait

The past few years, Topps has done a great job of adding more and more legend autographs to the checklist in an attempt to at least offset the pain of possibly pulling 3 rookie pitcher autos from a $550 jumbo box. This year is no different as the likes of Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez, Mark McGwire, and Roger Clemens are all present.

Aside from the base legend autos, there’s plenty of subsets, including a World Series Champion version that falls 1:5,802 packs and a Numbers Live Forever insert/auto set that includes 3 players whose jersey number matches the year of release. In this case, #25, so you can find very limited autos of Jim Thome and Barry Bonds from this set.

The rarest and newest legend set won’t be autographs, but they will be legendary in every sense of the word. Cooperstown Calls will feature the five members of the 2025 Hall of Fame class.

The catch? Only the blue parallel /150 can be pulled in this year’s release. You’ll have to wait until 2026 to pull a green /99 of Ichiro, and that trend will continue until 2031 when you’ll be able to find the 1/1. they will continue this trend every year with each new class, so you’ll ultimately have different HOF chases every year.

Run Baby, Run

Print run. That is always the thing to watch with every passing release of Topps Chrome. This year, should be another increase with all the rookies, inserts and autographs added. Not only have the classics returned year-over-year, but new sets like Shadow Etch (1:481), Lightning Leaders (1:960), Homefield Advantage (1:1,057), and World Series at Night (1:1,921) will only add to the run.

Along with an increase in print run, we’ll see an increase in price. In 2023, a hobby box of Topps Chrome cost $125. This year they’re retailing for around $240. An almost 90% increase in just two years is going to turn a lot of baseball fans off despite all the bells and whistles that were added.

Ultimately, the possibility of pulling a wide array of cards is too good to pass up, especially when the release always coincides with the upcoming National Sports Collectors Convention starting a week after release. The hype will be real at the show, and many of these big cards will likely be pulled with a huge audience around the lucky recipient.

Getting your hands on a hobby or value box of 2025 Topps Chrome will likely be a tough endeavor, but Just Baseball has partnered with Lids to make sure our readers have a place to get one of the biggest releases of the year.

Head to your local Lids store to pick up 2025 Topps Chrome boxes and use code “JBLIDS” at checkout to get an Access Pass Premium Membership free of charge. The access pass includes 20% off headwear, 10% off apparel, first access to new drops, giveaways and more!

Use the Lids store locator to find your nearest store and begin your James Wood chase today!

2025 Topps Chrome Baseball Gold Logoman Patches

2024 Topps Chrome introduced debut patches to the world and their popularity gave Topps the idea of replicating the concept with 2024 award winners. Topps is debuting Gold Logoman patches in 2025 Topps Chrome, which means the chase is on for limited edition, game worn authenticated Gold Logoman patches from baseball’s biggest stars including:

Shohei Ohtani, National League MVP
Aaron Judge, American League MVP
Paul Skenes, National League Rookie of the Year
Chris Sale, National League Cy Young Award
Tarik Skubal, American League Cy Young Award

The Biggest Rookie Card Chases

Tier 1

James Wood – OF – Washington Nationals

At 22 years old, James Wood is one of the youngest players in baseball and is well on his way to stardom. The Nationals outfielder has 24 home runs on the year, which ties him with former Nationals great, Juan Soto, and his .905 OPS ranks 10th in all of baseball.

At 6’7, Wood is one of the tallest players in the league and possesses an insane amount of raw power and speed. He’s looking to become the 6th player in the last 20 years to have a 30-home run, 20-stolen base season before his age-23 season. Wood is the only player in this product with MVP upside and will undoubtedly be the most expensive card in the set.

Tier 2

Jacob Wilson – SS – Oakland Athletics

Wilson was the 6th overall pick out of Grand Canyon University in the 2023 MLB Draft. The 23 year old is hitting .318 and currently the favorite to take home the American League Rookie of the Year Award. He has the second lowest strikeout rate in baseball behind only Luis Arraez and has even added 10 homers on the year. The A’s look to have found the shortstop of their future.

Cam Smith – OF – Houston Astros

Cam Smith was drafted by the Cubs with the 14th overall pick in the 2024 MLB Draft out of Florida State and was quickly traded to the Astros as part of the Kyle Tucker trade. Smith has held his own this year and owns a .732 OPS and 8 defensive runs saved in right field, a position he has not played until this year. He is currently right behind Jacob Wilson in odds to win AL Rookie of the Year and is one of the top chases in this product as his Bowman 1st is in a Cubs uniform.

Dylan Crews – OF – Washington Nationals

Crews was picked with the first overall pick in the 2023 MLB Draft out of LSU and made his MLB debut in 2024. Through 76 career games, Crews is batting .206 with 10 home runs and a 76 wRC+ (24% below MLB average). Crews has been unable to get a consistent rhythm at the big league level and is currently on the injured list with an oblique injury. Despite early struggles, Crews still has immense upside as a 23-year-old who hit .426 as a college Junior.

Roki Sasaki – SP – Los Angeles Dodgers

Japanese pitching phenom Roki Sasaki took his talents to Los Angeles to join the Dodgers this past winter, creating super team narratives. Sasaki made the opening day roster and had a 4.72 ERA across 8 starts before landing on the injured list with a shoulder injury.

The 23-year-old’s fastball averaged 96.3 MPH, which was down from 97.2 MPH in 2024 and 99.2 MPH in 2023. When healthy, Sasaki has frontline starter upside and one of the deadliest splitters in baseball called the “Dragon Fork”.

Nick Kurtz – 1B – Oakland Athletics

The top 5 leaders in wRC+ with at least 250 plate appearances this season are Aaron Judge, Will Smith, Cal Raleigh, Shohei Ohtani, and…Nick Kurtz. The owner of 19 home runs in 63 career games, the 22-year-old Kurtz looks like the next great slugger in the game. He was drafted with the 4th overall pick out of Wake Forest in the 2024 Draft and has lived up to his prospect pedigree thus far.

Drake Baldwin – C – Atlanta Braves

The Braves found their Sean Murphy succession plan in Drake Baldwin, who was a third-round pick in 2022, and has found his footing as the future at the catching position for the Braves. Baldwin has an .837 OPS in 70 games and has added 4 defensive runs saved behind the dish. His 51.2% hard hit rate ranks 6th among catchers.