2024 Stadium Club Presale Preview
Topps has Stadium Club up for pre-order finally. It was a tight race between All & Ginter and Stadium Club for the set fans were most anxious about being announced. While the wait was long, hopefully, the cards will be worth it. Let’s check in on this year’s release to see if it measures up.
It’s All About The Photos
The annual buying of a box of Stadium Club is a ritual I undertake every year despite always getting autographs of 30-year-old middle relievers and not being a fan of the parallels or inserts. It’s a harsh product and if I was only concerned with value I’d stay away.
The best card products have one thing that they do better than any other product and Stadium Club’s exceptional quality is photography. Since 1991, the big draw for Stadium Club are the stellar images. From action shots to candid ones, there’s never a dull photo in Stadium Club and it is still the only set one can say that about.
This year’s set looks like it will carry on the tradition reasonably well, but perhaps not spectacularly so. While I’m not a fan of the busier bottom portion of the card, especially the different fonts for first and last names, they aren’t overly distracting from the great pictures chosen. If you are buying Stadium Club just to enjoy looking at the cards, you can’t go wrong.
Bells and Whistles
Stunning photography is a given. Still, Topps has to give collectors a bit more. The autos are the big insert draw and the combination of on-card autos with great images make these some of the nicest autos in the industry. The problem is the same as always though: the checklist has a TON of duds.
The parallels leave a lot to be desired. The Gold Minted cards are attractive and popular, but most Stadium Club parallels are tossed in bargain boxes or even with the commons as they just don’t stand out from the base cards. Topps has more design elements on the bottom of the cards this year so the parallels will stand out a bit more, but it is unlikely they’ll be sought after.
One parallel that might get a bit more attention this year is the First Day issue cards. Arguably, the oldest running parallel program in the hobby (depending on one’s classification of the various Topps Gold parallels), First Day cards this year will return to the original design for the stamp. The Change instantly raised my interest from zero to mildly intrigued.
There are a few insert sets, but the Lenticular cards are worth highlighting as they are now one of the only places to get 3D Topps cards. Topps 3D was a wonderful program and it is missed. Collectors looking for 3D goodness are at least given the Lenticular cards to chase.
Wrap Up
Like everything, the price of Stadium Club boxes has gone up. The increase though has been gradual and nowhere near as jarring as some other products. Stadium Club remains one of the more popular widespread Topps releases and likely will as long as they pay attention to the photos.