Sorting Out the 2014 Topps Chrome Baseball Variations
Compared to some other recent releases, there aren't a ton of 2014 Topps Chrome Baseball variations. However, they are extremely hard to pull.
They land 1:1,400 hobby packs. That's just under 1:60 2014 Topps Chrome Baseball hobby boxes or 1:5 cases. Spread that over 25 different cards and it's easy to understand their rarity.
The variations have a couple of different themes. The first is somewhat loose, showing players with high-fiving teammates, pointing to crowds and such.
Topps has confirmed that rookies Jose Abreu, Masahiro Tanaka and Xander Bogaerts have variation backs. These are written in their native languages that can be spotted on the card backs.
Other variations just use strong photos, like the one showing the back of Andrew McCutchen's jersey.
Unlike some other sets, the code in the fine print on the back does not appear to tip-off base cards and variations.
Below you'll find a visual guide for the 2014 Topps Chrome Baseball variations. We've got shots of all the base cards and are adding variation images as they become available. For now, please consider it a work in progress.
2014 Topps Chrome Baseball Variations Visual Guide
Some base cards use Refractors as exemplars. These have the same images.
1 Mike Trout, Los Angeles Angels
Base: sliding
Variation: high-ten
10 Masahiro Tanaka, New York Yankees
Base: pitching, English back
Variation 1: at dugout
Variation 2: Japanese back
Variation 2
25 Xander Bogaerts, Boston Red Sox
Base: English back
Variation: Dutch back
31 Clay Buchholz, Boston Red Sox
Base: pitching
Variation: playing guitar
56 Derek Jeter, New York Yankees
Base: running
Variation: walking out
61 Felix Hernandez, Seattle Mariners
Base: pitching
Variation: pointing
75 Billy Hamilton, Cincinnati Reds
Base: running
Variation: jumping at wall
80 Wil Myers, Tampa Bay Rays
Base: running
Variation: with plaque
90 Yasiel Puig, Los Angeles Dodgers
Base: running
Variation: with fans
93 Justin Upton, Atlanta Braves
Base: sliding
Variation: throwback jersey
103 Jose Fernandez, Miami Marlins
Base: pitching
Variation: poking Phillie Phanatic
105 Andrew McCutchen, Pittsburgh Pirates
Base: swinging
Variation: back of jersey
107 Hyun-Jin Ryu, Los Angeles Dodgers
Base: pitching
Variation: "knighting" Puig with bat
116 Robinson Cano, Seattle Mariners
Base: fielding
Variation: blowing bubble
125 Paul Goldschmidt, Arizona Diamondbacks
Base: batting
Variation: sunglasses
150 Bryce Harper, Washington Nationals
Base: batting
Variation: portrait
165 Starlin Castro, Chicago Cubs
Base: batting
Variation: wearing toque
170 David Wright, New York Mets
Base: batting
Variation: with teammates, horizontal
189 Madison Bumgarner, San Francisco Giants
Base: pitching
Variation: batting
193 Josh Donaldson, Oakland Athletics
Base: with glove
Variation: eye wash
199 Jose Abreu, Chicago White Sox
Base: English back
Variation: Spanish back
201 David Ortiz, Boston Red Sox
Base: batting
Variation: World Series rings
204 Dustin Pedroia, Boston Red Sox
Base: running
Variation: fielding
220 Miguel Cabrera Detroit Tigers
Base: both arms raised
Variation: high-five
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Spencer
While I’m not a collector of Topps Chrome this is how I think variations should be done. Only a handful and rare. Maybe not as difficult to pull as 1:1,400 packs but they should be tough to pull. There is an oversaturation with variations throughout Topps products. Would love to see Topps flagship scale back on the variations and only go with one or two themes, themes that can be easily recognized, i.e. not sparkles. Same goes for all products.