I surprised myself last week by deciding to buy a hobby box of Topps Series One, as I'm still riding the high of the Phillies being in the World Series and this is the first flagship set design in several years I really like. As much as I enjoyed the 2022 Topps design, it was almost too plain for me and this year's design will definitely not be accused of that. There's a lot going on here.
I appreciate that Topps recognizes a somewhat under appreciated tradition of having two photos - one action, one portrait - on the front of its flagship cards every 20 years in years ending in -3. This started in 1963, came back in 1983, kept the tradition going in 2003 and makes its triumphant return in 2023. Well done, Topps. While I expect the 2043 Topps baseball cards to just be holograms we launch from our tricorders, hopefully the two photos on the front return for a fifth time in the sequence.
Since I've been opening packs of Topps flagship cards, we've had a family tradition of seeking the First Phillie of the year. My Dad and I started the tradition in the early 1980s, I carried it through, some years by myself, through the early 2000s, and the practice has continued with my wife and sons since then. On late Friday afternoon, not soon after the box had been delivered to the door, we selected our packs and commenced the search for the First Phillie of 2023. There was some controversy this year as Doug pulled a league leaders card featuring Kyle Schwarber seconds before I found this Aaron Nola card in my first pack. Ben quickly followed with the J.T. Realmuto card in his first pack. Consulting the hallowed family First Phillie bylaws, I'm awarding First Phillie honors this year to myself, as the league leaders card doesn't quite count.
Yes, the fronts of these cards are busy. Yes, there are a few too many design elements crammed on the bottom of the cards. But I like them, and these seem to me what baseball cards should look like in the year 2023. Our box had amazing collation, as we didn't have any doubles and we were just 14 cards short of a complete 330-card first series set. There seemed to be way fewer inserts and parallels than in prior years, and I was completely fine with that. My one continued gripe with Topps flagship is that I wish the checklist grouped subsets together. League leaders and the combo card/checklists should be grouped sequentially and not dropped in randomly throughout the checklist.
Revisiting a ranking of Topps flagship sets from the past 10 years, the 2023 Topps set, at least for now, finishes near the top. I think I could flip flop the 2022 and 2019 designs in these rankings too:
Best Five: 2015, 2023, 2022, 2019, 2016
Bottom Five: 2018, 2014, 2021, 2017, 2020
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| Best - 2015 Topps #309 |
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| #2 - 2023 Topps #278 |
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| #3 - 2022 Topps #249 |
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| #4 - 2019 Topps #303 |
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| #5 - 2016 Topps #15 |
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| #6 - 2018 Topps #26 |
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| #7 - 2014 Topps #90 |
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| #8 - 2021 Topps #79 |
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| #9 - 2017 Topps #247 |
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| Worst - 2020 Topps #221 |
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Past First Phillies
2023 Topps #278 Aaron Nola
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