2025-26 Topps Chrome Basketball Release

[FrankAZHP]

Feel free to use this thread for your thoughts, and your pickups.


So it's been out for a day. Hype was there. Big cards were pulled. etc etc

I haven't gone over everything, and I may edit this later with more info, but this is initial thoughts. I may also add other's thoughts and voices to this main post too.

I watched a few case breaks, and I (generally) like the product as I knew I would, but as expected unopened hobby/jumbo product is overpriced (which is no different than any other unopened product nowadays), but retail is particularly egregious with the price point with Blasters at $50 and Megas at $85.

Threre's a lot to praise, and a lot to complain about too. :shrug:

I'll be buying singles as I always do for Chrome, though I'm unlikely to get much until a few months has passed and prices have leveled out.

The good:
-Chrome is nice. You know what you're getting. Roughly 1 refractor and/or 1 insert per pack.
-Has legends in the set
-SPs and SSPs cool for photo variations, cool for master set collectors

The mid:
-Photo selection is hit or miss. I like most of it, but some of it leaves me scratching my head. I'm okay with some standard dribbling shots but there's a LOT of them. We can't realistically expect every card to feature great photos like 2008-09. Some photos for base and/or inserts are old photos.
-Insert designs are okay. They're also hit or miss. In a few cases I can't tell whether AI is being used (which I'm against), but I'm guessing AI has been used generally, but not fully, and designers are just using AI tools.

The bad:
-Pricing of unopened product
-No Luka

The subjective:
-Some don't like the design being the same as other sports. Personally I don't mind that. We had the same designs in many years in the past 1992-93 (same as all 4 main sports), 1993-94 (same as Baseball/Football), 1994-95 all had same designs as 1995 Football/Baseball), 2000-01 (extremely similar to Football & Hockey), 2007-08 (same in Football, Baseball), 2008-09 (same in Football, Baseball) and Panini has been doing the same design on most sports for years as well.
I don't mind it, because I like taking my favorite players from all sports and being able to see them all in the same design.

Regular Inserts:
Clutch Gene - mid (tech background is cool but the gene graphic is kinda lame and placement of the box with gene graphic & no info on right is unnecessary)
Destiny - good (one of my favorite inserts. Better than 1997-98 Destiny inserts and better than the recent unlicensed stuff)
Generation Rising - mid (I like the created perspective with the vertical lines)
Helix - mid (they're okay. People compare to Panini color blast or whatever other case hit but it's not like all the companies haven't copied each other over the last 30 years. I like the minimalism)
Instinct - mid
Let's Go - good
Loading... - bad (great concept executed poorly, but obvious AI graphics, and the control panel looks absolutely NOTHING like an actual arcade machine control panel. Joystick is a thumbstick from a controller, and buttons on the right of the joystick is INSANELY uncommon in arcades (late 1980s/early 1990s Data East cabinets like Bad Dudes and Robocop had buttons on left and right of stick but 99.5% of all arcades only had buttons on the right)
Radiating Rookies - good (but just base card design with extra effects)
Rock Stars - good (not as good as the classic 1997-98 but certainly better than the recent unlicensed stuff)
Sleek Finishers - mid
Tall Tales - good (1940s-1960s horror comic book vibes. Neat.)
The Finals - good
Ultra Violet All-Stars - great (Done with no AI from designer "yellowfly.studio". Too bad they're so rare)
Voices - bad (very uninspired. As uncreative as you can be)
X's and Whoa's - great (I really like these)
Youthquake - mid

[AbraCalabro]

I was watching someone open a box the other day and he said the Chrome was 500 for the box.

Immediately lost interest in ever buying this product. I have to agree with your post, I think you summed it all up nicely, but again, price = no thanks.

Naturally because I don't keep up with any modern players, there are elements I'm not going to care about, in the sense that those cards are undesirable for me, the inserts don't really look all that great, but I haven't seen all of them.

If the pricing were reasonable, I'd probably pick some up, but even the packs are priced dumb and I also don't want to go into stores like Walmart, or Target where sub-human scalpers roam. I think singles would be the way to go for those who have any interest.

[FrankAZHP]

Low end Topps Chrome stuff I picked up at a card show I was a dealer at before the holiday.

Knueppel base rookie
Harden XFractor
Paul George Blue Raywave /150

I've got a lot of stuff coming in from eBay soon I can post here though I'm passing on a lot right now because the prices are still high due to hype

[Deadshot]

The print run for this product is insane, so it's a pretty brutal rip. But what isn't these days? Be very careful with the "case hits" and "SSPs." I explained this more in a video I made but people are confusing scarcity and distribution I think.

With that being said, there are some parallels I will try to buy on the secondary market if the price is right. Some of the more traditional stuff (refractor, gold ref, X-fractor). I don't like that the chromium cards are numbered on the front now - I think Panini got that right (most of the paper stock numbered on front and chrome on the back).

[mindcycle]

I hate to be a downer replying to this thread, but I figure i'd throw out my stance on the newest Chrome since i'm pretty invested in the old Chrome releases. Not invested as in looking for a return, but in the fact i've spent quite a bit of time and money over the years putting together Nuggets teams sets of base, refractors, golds, and black refractors.

The newest release doesn't appeal to me for a few reasons, but mainly because I refuse to support anything Fanatics is involved with. Every release they put out, including every marketing campaign, seems to be centered around gambling. Everything is about the "big hit" now, and less about the actual product. You not only see it in the design (lifted directly from baseball), but in the inserts which are all AI generated nonesense. Even in the photography, which is 90% guys holding the ball or dribbling. They push the value instead of the uniqueness of the product because there isn't any.

Not only that, but Chrome is just a copy of flagship with no differences in the base card design or even bothering to include updated roster changes.

Here's an example of what I mean by that. Dario Saric was traded from Denver to the Sacramento in July of 2025. He was included in 25-26 flagship in a Nuggets uniform and as part of the team despite being traded well before the season started. Maybe we give them a pass since flagship might have already been printed by then (doubtful) but there's no excuse to also just dump the same card of him in Chrome (released in Dec) almost a full 6 months after he was traded. Not even an update to the team..

saric-chrome.png (380.77 KiB) Viewed 954 times

It's stuff like this that shows me Fanatics true approach to taking over the NBA license. Much like their apparel, the Topps brand is now prioritizing '10x' returns over quality. They’d rather spend a penny to make a dime than spend a nickel to do it right by the end consumer.

[SacKingsCards]

Ryan, I am completely in agreement with you. I’ve made somewhat of a similar decision to you, but simply because I’m not impressed. I think the design of flagship is alright but the photography choices are abysmal. Not just to the point where it’s boring, but it just looks awkward. It’s like the players don’t fit the card, the scaling is so off putting. I’ll certainly eventually pick up some fanatics stuff I imagine, but the fact that I’ve picked up zero (save for a couple Costco superboxes my brother bought us) seems pretty telling.

[FrankAZHP]

I hate to be a downer replying to this thread, but I figure i'd throw out my stance on the newest Chrome since i'm pretty invested in the old Chrome releases. Not invested as in looking for a return, but in the fact i've spent quite a bit of time and money over the years putting together Nuggets teams sets of base, refractors, golds, and black refractors.

The newest release doesn't appeal to me for a few reasons, but mainly because I refuse to support anything Fanatics is involved with. Every release they put out, including every marketing campaign, seems to be centered around gambling. Everything is about the "big hit" now, and less about the actual product. You not only see it in the design (lifted directly from baseball), but in the inserts which are all AI generated nonesense. Even in the photography, which is 90% guys holding the ball or dribbling. They push the value instead of the uniqueness of the product because there isn't any.

Not only that, but Chrome is just a copy of flagship with no differences in the base card design or even bothering to include updated roster changes.

Here's an example of what I mean by that. Dario Saric was traded from Denver to the Sacramento in July of 2025. He was included in 25-26 flagship in a Nuggets uniform and as part of the team despite being traded well before the season started. Maybe we give them a pass since flagship might have already been printed by then (doubtful) but there's no excuse to also just dump the same card of him in Chrome (released in Dec) almost a full 6 months after he was traded. Not even an update to the team..

saric-chrome.png

It's stuff like this that shows me Fanatics true approach to taking over the NBA license. Much like their apparel, the Topps brand is now prioritizing '10x' returns over quality. They’d rather spend a penny to make a dime than spend a nickel to do it right by the end consumer.

Ryan, I am completely in agreement with you. I’ve made somewhat of a similar decision to you, but simply because I’m not impressed. I think the design of flagship is alright but the photography choices are abysmal. Not just to the point where it’s boring, but it just looks awkward. It’s like the players don’t fit the card, the scaling is so off putting. I’ll certainly eventually pick up some fanatics stuff I imagine, but the fact that I’ve picked up zero (save for a couple Costco superboxes my brother bought us) seems pretty telling.

I agree the current year Chrome is generally very underwhelming especially for a company owned by a huge monopolistic corporation in Fanatics.

To me I think it's still true Topps Chrome unlike the unlicensed shit they flooded the market with for the last 2 years, but they did drop the ball in various forms that you listed including photo selection, player/team selection, and some of the AI in the inserts making it one of the weakest releases in terms of overall quality. Whereas other year releases I'd give grades of 8-10 out of 10, I'd give this release a 5.5 or a 6 at most.

I also have issues with the manipulative part of Fanatics, and don't excuse it. I do see it as just one of the many parties that has owned Topps over the years.

They were a private company legally from 1947 until 1972 where they went public, then went private again 1984, public again in 1987, then private in 2007. They planned on going public in 2021, but it didn't work and Fanatics bought them. At this point they have been owned privately 4 times, and were public twice.

Fanatics likely won't be the last company to own Topps. No matter who owns Topps, and what that private company does, the branding will remain with a long legacy, and will always retain a certain amount of desire and value.

In a perfect world a better company would own Topps, there'd be no exclusive licenses so companies could compete with each other on QC and innovate, but we're in a late stage capitalist time where a few companies own everything, and everything is about profit.

I can only hope Topps can do a good job, which means hiring quality people (not executives who cost cut and increase profit, but designers, editors, printers, etc), and hope that someday Fanatics will grow too big and either stop profiting because they charge too much and/or get broken up by the future government, where the company can move on to another public status or private owner that does a better job.

I will always be critical of Topps, whether I love/hate the product and whether I love/hate the company that owns them, because I make the choice to collect Topps cards.

[Hornso]

I hate to be a downer replying to this thread, but I figure i'd throw out my stance on the newest Chrome since i'm pretty invested in the old Chrome releases. Not invested as in looking for a return, but in the fact i've spent quite a bit of time and money over the years putting together Nuggets teams sets of base, refractors, golds, and black refractors.

The newest release doesn't appeal to me for a few reasons, but mainly because I refuse to support anything Fanatics is involved with. Every release they put out, including every marketing campaign, seems to be centered around gambling. Everything is about the "big hit" now, and less about the actual product. You not only see it in the design (lifted directly from baseball), but in the inserts which are all AI generated nonesense. Even in the photography, which is 90% guys holding the ball or dribbling. They push the value instead of the uniqueness of the product because there isn't any.

Not only that, but Chrome is just a copy of flagship with no differences in the base card design or even bothering to include updated roster changes.

Here's an example of what I mean by that. Dario Saric was traded from Denver to the Sacramento in July of 2025. He was included in 25-26 flagship in a Nuggets uniform and as part of the team despite being traded well before the season started. Maybe we give them a pass since flagship might have already been printed by then (doubtful) but there's no excuse to also just dump the same card of him in Chrome (released in Dec) almost a full 6 months after he was traded. Not even an update to the team..

saric-chrome.png

It's stuff like this that shows me Fanatics true approach to taking over the NBA license. Much like their apparel, the Topps brand is now prioritizing '10x' returns over quality. They’d rather spend a penny to make a dime than spend a nickel to do it right by the end consumer.

I get it man and I share your feelings towards Fanatics.

The old rosters are also very frustrating. The inserts apart from perhaps a few of the very rare case hits do very little for me. It's been an underwhelming start IMO.

[SacKingsCards]

Been a few weeks since anything happened in here. Anyone had any changes of heart? There's something about the design that makes it so I'm turned off by any card with less than stellar photography. I've only really seen one King that fits the bill is sadly the 1980 45th anniversary lavine

[FrankAZHP]

Been a few weeks since anything happened in here. Anyone had any changes of heart? There's something about the design that makes it so I'm turned off by any card with less than stellar photography. I've only really seen one King that fits the bill is sadly the 1980 45th anniversary lavine

No change in heart here. I've been buying the shit out of the singles on the cheap. I just haven't posted much because after a car accident at beginning of January and moving to a new place at the beginning of February I haven't had much time.

I did record like 6 or 7 mail times with this new product I plan on editing and releasing soon, so I'll have stuff to post here soon.

Even though I do like the product itself, I still don't like the pricing of unopened product, nor do I care for Fanatics. So nothing changed there either.