Topps Archives Baseball

Archives was one of the baseball card products produced by Topps from 2001 until 2005. The retro-themed sets were primarily reproductions of previous Topps releases or retired stars on classic card designs. In 2012 brought back Archives with a renewed focus on current players.

2001 Archives

The 2001 set was a very successful. It had one of the most extensive autograph insert sets ever put into a baseball card product, one that is still highly collected today. The nostaglia of the Topps Baseball card sets over the years powered the product that used the rookie cards of Hall of Fame players as its foundation.

2002 Archives

While not as successful as the previous year, 2002 was still a well received product. The autograph checklist declined while more game used inserts were included. In this set, a player's best year determined which card would be used for reprinting.

2003 Fan Favorites

Topps shifted from a reprint based set to a different model in 2003. Instead they used previously unused photography of retired major league stars on classic card designs rather than reprinting a particular year from a player's career. Unique to this set are Don Zimmer buyback autographs and embossed cards that were also buybacks.

2003 Shoebox

Unlike the rest of the Topps Archives set, the 96-card Shoebox set was released only as factory sets in hobby shops. This was the last of the reprint Archives sets.

2004 Fan Favorites

2004 Topps Fan Favorites Box

2004 Best Seat In The House Relics

2004 Fan Favorites Relics

2005 Fan Favorites

2005 Fan Favorites Box

2005 Best Seat in the House

2005 Fan Favorites Relics

2012 Topps Archives

After a seven year hiatus, Topps reintroduced the Archives set into its normal release schedule. This time the focus was much different, primarily focusing on current players on classic card designs. The set felt more like a Topps Heritage greatest hits rather than the Archives sets of the 2000's. A couple of the more unique inserts in this set are autographs from the movie Karate Kid and 25 buybacks of the 1994 Topps Archives Hank Aaron cards that were autographed.

2013 Topps Archives

The 2013 set continued in the same vein as the 2012 set with a focus on current players on classic card designs. Replacing the Karate Kid set is a rock band autograph set and a re-imagining of the Triumvirate insert sets from Stadium Club.

2014 Topps Archives

The base set for the 2014 Archives set used the 1973, 1980, 1986, and 1989 set designs. The set expanded the number of insert sets and had an insert set focus on the movie Major League that was released 25 years before in 1989.

2015 Topps Archives

The 2015 Archives set was trimmed back compared to the 2014 release. Again the base set re-used old card designs (1957, 1976, and 1983. The pop culture insert set this year was focused on [Will Ferrell and his tour around MLB spring training for charity.

See Also

• Topps Archives Reserve