Best Topps Flagship Design?

Every year, one of the biggest releases of the baseball season is Topps Flagship Series 1. The release of its design is especially important because it sets the tone for five different products: Series 1, Series 2, Topps Update, Topps Chrome, and Topps Chrome Update. With about a month remaining until the release of this year’s product, Topps has unveiled the card design for this season.

2025 Topps Paul Skenes | Image courtesy of Topps

2025 Topps Flagship Card Design Released

While there are numerous products released by Topps each year, it’s worth remembering that, back in the day, Topps had just one major release. Bowman, which debuted in 1951, has been another staple in the Topps lineup since its inception.

1951 Topps Duke Snider | Image courtesy of Topps

Over the years, companies like Donruss, Leaf, and Fleer joined the card-making industry, but Topps has always stood as the pinnacle of baseball card brands. In 1981, Topps introduced Topps Traded, which served a similar purpose to today’s Topps Update—providing a way to include players who were not featured in the original release that year.

It wasn’t until the late 1980s and early 1990s that Topps began introducing more brands into their release calendar.

As we move into the second half of the 2020s, here’s a look back at some of the Topps flagship designs from past years.