2018 Topps Stadium Club Baseball puts the players at the forefront, using fairly simple designs to highlight quality photography. Each hobby box also delivers two signed cards.
As a brand with an established past and dedicated following, Stadium Club MLB again cements its spot in the hobby rotation with impressive imagery and on-card autographs. In addition, 2018 sees a greater focus on 1990s-inspired inserts.
2018 Topps Stadium Club Baseball Base / Chrome
The meat of the 2018 Topps Stadium Club Baseball checklist comes in the 300-card base set. These full-bleed cards showcase stars from across the MLB landscape, including top rookies and retired players.
The main set offers parallels like Black Foil (1:8 packs), Red Foil, Rainbow Foilboard(#/25), First Day Issue (10 copies), Members Only (1 per case), and Photographer’s Proof (1:2 cases). There are also hobby-only Black and White (1:48 packs) and Gold Rainbow Foilboard (1/1) parallels. Exclusive to retail, Sepia parallels come 1:8 packs.
Building on their first appearance in 2017, Chrome returns to provide a chase element for 90 subjects. The main Chrome cards fall one per box, but more limited versions are also in play, including Refractor (1:4 boxes), Gold Minted (1 per case), and SuperFractor(1/1) editions, which are exclusive to hobby.
Although nothing was mentioned about 2018 Topps Stadium Club Baseball variations, they have become a standard for the brand over the last few years.
2018 Topps Stadium Club Baseball Inserts
Mixing standard TSC sets with throwbacks from the ’90s, the 2018 Stadium Club insert lineup goes deep. Each highlighting 25 stars, Beam Team (1 per box) and Power Zone(1:8 packs) inserts are back. These are joined by Never Compromise (1:8 packs) cards for the truly driven players, and Special Forces (1:8 packs), which features another design based on 1990s releases.
Beyond the main versions, all four inserts come as Red (1 per case), Black (#/99), Orange(#/50) and Gold Rainbow (1/1) parallels.
Another recurring option, case-hit Instavision utilizes Chrome Refractor technology to enhance the cards for 10 elite players. These also have Red (#/50), Black (#/25), Orange(#/10) and Gold Rainbow (1/1) parallels.
2018 Topps Stadium Club Baseball Autographs
While the breathtaking photos keep fans coming back, the signed cards—falling two box—remain a big draw for 2018 Topps Stadium Club Baseball. This includes the on-card Base Autograph set, with Red Foil (#/50), Black Foil (#/25), Rainbow Foil (#/10; Hobby only), Orange Foil (#/5; Retail only) and Gold Rainbow (1/1; Hobby only) parallels. Likely to be a popular pull, 2018 rookie Shohei Ohtani is one of the teased signers from the sell sheet.
Taking that up to two hard-signed autographs per card is Co-Signers (#/10 or less). The one-of-one Gold Rainbow (1/1) edition is the sole parallel.
Expanding the chromium appeal, the Chrome Autograph cards cover select players from the base Chrome set with print runs of 10 or less. These have rare SuperFractor(1/1) cards to dream about, as well.
In addition, Lone Star Signatures still holds a spot in the 2018 Topps Stadium Club Baseball checklist. Finally, there are autographed versions of the Beam Team, Power Zone and Never Compromise inserts. All four of these lines offer Orange (#/5) and hobby-only Gold Rainbow Foil (1/1) parallels.