The three main designs 2022 Archives uses are from the 1963, 1978 and 1987 sets. I still find it difficult to consider the ’87 set as “vintage,” but it’s 35 years old so it qualifies. Then again, how many of you 35-year-olds consider yourselves vintage? Thought so.
A blaster box contains six packs, plus an “extra pack,” and there are eight cards to a pack.
The base set consists of 300 cards, with 80 more cards in four subsets that are short-printed cards. So, there are 380 cards.
The 1978 Topps design was well-represented in the blaster with 16 cards. No rookie cards, but retired stars featured Monte Irvin, Derek Jeter and Roger Maris.
And fittingly — due to its 35th anniversary and how many millions of cards (maybe billions?) were issued — the most cards in the blaster had the 1987 Topps design. That number included a pair of rookies in TJ Friedl and Joe Ryan, and retired greats like Whitey Ford, Willie Mays, Mariano Rivera and Billy Williams.
There is not much to say about the designs, other than to note that Topps did not vary from the originals. It’s fun to see today’s stars in yesterday’s designs, and that is the appeal of Archives
For this year’s Scoop, I pulled one card with the headline “Javy Baez Baserunning Magic.” That card highlights Baez’s savvy decision during a May 2021 game to stop before first base and retreat toward home plate to avoid a tag, which allowed the Cubs’ runner to score from third.
The second short-printed subset is 1961 Topps MVP, a 15-card offering that mimics the portrait-style card used in the original ’61 set. These cards can also be found once in every six packs. The card I pulled was of Giants catcher Buster Posey.
I did pull a card from the 1992 Topps Major League Debut set, which features 25 cards and can be found once in every six packs. I pulled one card of Angels’ star Mike Trout, and a foil version of Julio Rodriguez.
Exclusive to retail products, the 1988 Topps Big Foil insert set consists of 50 cards, with three per blaster on average.
I hit the blaster average with three, with cards of Hall of Famers Carlton Fisk, Ryne Sandberg and Frank Thomas.
There are autographs and image variations in the set, but the blaster did not have any. That is to be expected. When one shows up, it’s a bonus.
The Archives set is a fun one to collect and gives today’s collectors a look back at what designs looked like years ago. They were not always pretty, but it remains part of baseball card lore.
Embrace it.