REVIEW: 2025 Topps Series 1 (Hobby Box)

Earlier this week, I had the opportunity to rip a pair of 2025 Topps Series 1 hobby boxes (plus two retail blasters) for a group break that I hosted over on my Discord.  Today, I thought I'd double-dip on my group breaks and use one of the hobby boxes for a box review post here on the blog!

Each hobby box of 2025 Topps Series 1 contains 20 packs with 12 cards per pack. Each hobby box promises a single hit in the form of either a relic or an autograph.  

Box Topper:

Each hobby box contains a "Silver Pack" of 4 Chrome cards done in the style of 1990 Topps.  We did quite well with our four Silver Pack Chrome cards:

Two rookie cup guys including Paul Skenes plus a great George Brett card that looks right at home in the 1990 Topps design!  I love, love, love the look of these, and while I don't plan to collect the 2025 base set I am considering going after the Silver Pack Chrome set on its own! 

Base cards:

The 2025 Topps base set design continues the shiny foil treatment that Topps used in last year's set.  However, this year's set has white borders and the shiny effect is used along the sides of the card to make a ribbon using team colors.  

I think this year's design is a bit of a "safe play" from Topps, but it's also quite nice and is one that I would be happy to collect if only I had A) more money and B) more storage space for my ever-growing baseball card collection! The cards look much better in hand than the scans might appear on your screen.  That all said, even the scans show how great a lot of the photography is (and many of the photos have the player extending into the border of the card which helps make the photos pop even more (notice Volpe's foot, Busch's hand, and Freeman's hands and bat as examples of what I'm referring to).  

I'm also a fan of this year's cardbacks.  They are easily read with large card numbers, large team logos, and full career statistics.  In addition, the colored ribbon at the top of the card back is team-specific, which is a small (but appreciated) touch!  

Overall, our box contained a total of 218 different base cards (out of the 350 possible base cards) plus another seven duplicate base cards.  I still think Topps should make sure each hobby box contains no duplicate base cards, especially for a set as large as Series 1. 

Inserts:

I don't recommend buying flagship Topps sets for the inserts but that doesn't stop Topps from continually cramming in (mostly) generic insert sets every year.  That said, I will say this year's set had two standout inserts.  First, the 35th Anniversary set for 1990 Topps.  

The '90 Topps set came smack-dab in the middle of my childhood collecting phase so I'll always have a soft spot for the design.  We did quite well with our selection of cards from the box and other than the registered trademark marking, I think the cards look just like the old 1990 Topps cards!

The other insert set that I like quite a bit from this year's set is the 2023 All Topps Team.  

These have an understated shine to them when held in hand and they look quite sharp.  Aaron Judge is certainly a nice hit for the Yankees' slot in the break!

Finally, the rest of the inserts out of the box:

I was happy to land the Elly De La Cruz and I think the 2024 Greatest Hits idea fits well with the flagship brand.  On the other hand, the First Pitch, Call to the Hall, and Grapefruit League inserts all seem pointless.  

Parallels:

Our box produced a total of four base parallels.  Two Rainbow foils, a Gold parallel (#/2025), and a Team Logo parallel.  

As far as I'm concerned the Team Logo parallels are the best of the bunch - I love the team-specific colors to go along with the team logos.  If I were to chase any parallel set this year, it'd be that one!  Unfortunately for collectors with the same idea as me, based on my reading of the odds listed on Topps' website, I believe the Team Color Border parallels are case hits (1:228 hobby packs)!  

Hit:

Each hobby box promises a single hit in the form of either a relic or an autograph.  I was fully expecting to pull a relic so you can imagine my (happy) surprise when this beautiful Nolan Arenado autograph on the 1990 Topps design showed up!

The Arenado is numbered 47/50 on the card's back making this an awesome pull for the Cardinals slot in the group break (congrats Kerry)!  Worth noting, the autograph is on card making this an even better hit!

Overall, I give the 2025 Topps Series 1 hobby box the following rating:

Set Design:  A

Collation:  C

Opening Thrill:  A-

Overall:  B+

I give the 2025 Topps Series 1 (hobby box) an overall grade of B+.  This particular box had a great hit (auto #/50) plus some nice inserts BUT you shouldn't buy flagship Topps hoping for only inserts and hits.  Instead, this is meant to be a set collector's type of set and so getting a bunch of duplicate base cards while still being over 100 cards shy of the full base set is a bigger disappointment than the thrill of the on-card 1990 Topps-style autograph.  All that said, I did enjoy my box rip quite a bit and a grade of B+ is still an above average grade from me!