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Collectibles On SI

Topps Unveils Inception with Gorgeous Judge, Skenes Autographs

The 2025 edition of Topps' Inception baseball line offers plenty of high-end highlights.
Joe Cox|
Topps used Yankee star Aaron Judge's autograph to hype the upcoming Inception release.
Topps used Yankee star Aaron Judge's autograph to hype the upcoming Inception release. | Benny Sieu-Imagn Images

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Collectors of epic baseball releases, take notice: Topps's annual release of Inception baseball is coming. The company used standout Yankee slugger Aaron Judge to highlight the type of exclusive inserts that should make the set popular, even outside the bounds of baseball.

Topps' 2025 Inception release date is still to be determined, but pre-orders begin on May 18th.

Special Inserts of Inception

Inception features thicker card stock, impressive autographs, and even 1/1 inscribed autographs. Among the other special inserts likely to be a big hit are bat knob cards, which will feature stickers based on the flagship 2026 Topps designs of the player in question, or bat knob cards with the "rookie card" logo on the knob.

Another one of the cards Topps has utilized to preview the hits of Inception is a 1/1 Paul Skenes autograph inscribed with "24 NL ROY," honoring Skenes' Rookie of the Year campaign.

Inception History

Topps started with the Inception product back in 2013 as a Bowman release. Aside from its emphasis on premium card design, the set made its mark with a focus on rookies and prospects, with autographs of some of the most collectible young stars highlighted in Inception releases. The product name changed to Topps Inception in 2017, and has been a high point of the annual Topps releases in recent years.

Last year's Inception set

The 2024 Inception set had 125 base cards, but also 25 additional short-printed rookie cards. Each hobby box included a pair of parallels, which included green (unnumbered), yellow (numbered to 199), purple (150), magenta (99), red (75), gold electricity (50), blue (25), orange (10), and inception, which were limited to a single card produced.

Ohtani
Even base cards in Topps' inception set are premium, as this 2024 base Shohei Ohtani shows. | CardLadder

Rookie and young star autographs were also included in numbered varieties. Among the autographs were silver signings (numbered to 99), gold ink (25), and gold ink inscriptions, which were 1/1 productions.

Memorabilia cards in 2024 included MLB First Milestone cards, which combined an autograph with a relic of a significant career first accomplishment (strikeout, hit, or home run, for instance). Other unusual autographs included booklet releases like Team Logo and Laundry Tag patches.

The 2024 set was released on June 18, 2025, with boxes containing a single pack of seven cards, and a case including eight boxes, for a total of 56 cards per case. Two parallels and one autograph or autographed relic card were included per box.

As the path to 2025 Inception arises, details and potential surprises will continue. But as Topps' teaser cards remind, Inception promises to be a star-heavy set of must-see cards.

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Joe Cox
JOE COX

Joe is a journalist and writer who covers college and professional sports. He has written or co-written over a dozen sports books, including several regional best sellers. His last book, A Fine Team Man, is about Jackie Robinson and the lives he changed. Joe has been a guest on MLB Network, the Paul Finebaum show and numerous other television and radio shows. He has been inside MLB dugouts, covered bowl games and conference tournaments with Saturday Down South and still loves telling the stories of sports past and present.