While this release often seems to offer more of the same, this year Topps changed it up a little bit. Better? That remains to be seen, but it’s different. For one, they offer relics containing pieces of real musical instruments. Another change we see this year, is rather than the long standing size of the set, they’ve increased the 50 card SPs at the end, to a whopping 100 SPs, taking the complete set up to 400 total cards.
The box format is still the same as it has been for years, with 24 packs containing 8 cards each. A box includes three hits, consisting of autographs, relics, rip cards, printing plats, and more.
This release came as a bit of a surprise, showing up for preorder on the Topps site before any retailers had even been aware of it coming. It’s an unusual release, as Star Wars go. It is being marketed as a “Flagship”, but rather than covering the entire universe, it largely focuses on Disney+ shows. For a 100 card base set, there are many interesting subject choices made. It’s not clear if that means there will be more series this year, or a continuation in future years.
We also see a unique presentation for the so called Super Box. It’s unclear if these were intended to be a retail release, but these also went to hobby stores. It has a familiar configuration with 24 packs containing 7 cards each. Each box also includes one Widevision card. The base set has quite a few parallels, as well as a handful of inserts available. There are also some autographs available, but they are not guaranteed in a box, and have very difficult odds.
With the release of 2023 206, we see more changes brought about by Fanatics. Some of which are positive, but some may not be. After years of the same basic format, 206 goes through some changes this year. After a very brief pre-order window, this release went on sale with a July 6 release date. Rather than the hobby box containing a single ten card pack as in years past, this year, a hobby box contains four ten card packs, with a small discount for buying sets of five boxes at once.
Another major departure from years past, is there are fixed odds for autographs, indicating a fixed release size. Gone are the days of print on demand for this set. There isn’t as much lead time from orders to delivery, but that may end up meaning the cards are more difficult for everyone to obtain direct from Topps. I really don’t like the way releases barely have any lead time today. I suspect long term, that’s going to cause problems for collectors who are trying to budget their hobby, if they have no idea what may be coming when.
Now we see the arrival of the Flagship’s series two release. We’re starting to see how Fanatics is going to handle the hobby, and it doesn’t necessarily seem good. Gone are the days of six months lead times for ordering. Now, there is only a few weeks notice between the time LCSes are solicited and the product is released. Stores are seeing limited product, while prices continue to go up at the same time that volume keeps rising, as well. This doesn’t seem like a good combination for the long term.
This release picks up where series one left off, with cards numbered 331 – 660. It also continues the full SSP set for each card, along with the 1988 tribute sets. A box contains 10 packs with 46 cards per pack. Each box also advertises 1 Autograph and 2 Relic Cards.
The Topps Heritage release, normally out early in the year, makes it debut in late May this year. This year, it features a set in the design of 1974 cards. We find the normal set of variations, but now something new, as well, taking after the Flagship release from earlier in the year. Every card in the release has a black & white version. I would hesitate to call this a parallel, as much as a variation, as the image itself is changing.
The set again features 400 base cards, with an additional 100 SP cards running from 401-500. A hobby box contains 24 packs with 9 cards per pack. A box also guarantees one autograph or relic. The autographs tends to be much more rare than the relics. Even at the price, this is more of a set collectors release, but many boxes are required for a base set, and good luck getting all the SPs in packs.
