Best Baseball Rookie Cards Ever!

Looking for the best Topps baseball cards from each set, each year? It’s a common question from sports card collectors, new and old, so we listed the best rookie cards to get in each Topps Baseball card set?

Best Baseball Rookie Cards

Knowing the best Topps baseball cards from each set, each year, is important for card collectors! A common question from sports card collectors, new and old, is what are the best baseball rookie cards by year to get in each Topps Baseball set? That’s what everyone wants, right? The best rookie cards from each Topps flagship set, whether it’s Series 1, Series 2 or Topps Update. (We recently updated this article to show the best rookie cards from several manufacturers, not just Topps, and we went all the way back to 1942.

Over the past couple years, I’ve started to dive deeper into my sports card collection, and something that dawned on me is that I’ve never seen a full page with all the best Topps rookie cards from each year. So I said to myself, “Self, get to writing!”

Here’s the thing – I need you to help me out with this. This is obviously subjective because some people might value some rookie cards more than other rookie cards, and I might consider one player worthy of notation, while others think I omitted some great names.

Please comment which rookie cards I’m missing from these sets – but I’ve gone to great lengths to try to get the best baseball rookie cards by year for each Topps set/series.

I’ve used PSA, CardConnection.com and DACardWorld.com to track down many of the most attractive rookie cards for each series, but there could certainly be some errors.

(One of the reasons I wrote this article is because I’m kind of obsessed with making up for lost time, and I’m backfilling my sports card collection with the best rookie cards over the past couple decades from which I wasn’t collecting. One of the ways I’m doing that, other than just outright buying the singles on eBay, is buying old boxes and packs to rip from sites like DACardWorld.com, BlowoutCards.com and BBCExchange.com. Do you rip old packs or boxes? Let me know!)

While this article is currently only covering the best rookie cards over the past 10 years, I do plan on going all the way back through the 72 years of Topps baseball card series – probably 10 years at a time. So bookmark this article and come back often!

Best Baseball Rookie Cards By Year From Each Topps Baseball Set – Best Rookie Cards Since 1941

Most of the sports card links on this page will take you to eBay. That means I will get a commission on the sales from this page. If you end up buying from these links, I personally thank you for supporting my website! Even if you don’t buy anything, thank you for reading my article! Enjoy!

This article will be updated throughout the years as some player’s ascend in value and some decline. The most recent seasons will have a higher number of rookies to collect because we’re still waiting to see if they will fulfill their promise. As the seasons wear on, I’ll remove the rookies that have fallen by the wayside. This is all about the best rookie cards from each year.

This is only including Topps flagship set, not Topps Archives, not Topps Heritage, or any other series. I have a separate article here for the Best Topps Chrome Rookie Cards For Every Year Since 1996!

Most of the best rookie cards images provided by BuySportsCards.com.

Best 1941 Play Ball Rookie Cards

There weren’t many cards produced during the war years, and many who would have been great rookies likely went off to fight in the war. Between 1942 and 1947, we didn’t find any great rookie cards of note to share with you.

Best 1948 Bowman Rookie Cards

Best 1948 Leaf Baseball Rookie Cards

Best 1949 Bowman Baseball Rookie Cards

1950 Bowman Baseball Rookie Cards

Best 1951 Bowman Baseball Rookie Cards

1952 Bowman Rookie Baseball Cards

Best 1952 Topps Rookies Cards

Best 1953 Topps Rookies Cards

Best 1954 Topps Rookies Cards

1954 Topps Ernie Banks RC

Best 1955 Topps Rookies Cards

Best Rookie Cards From 1956 Topps Baseball

We listed the 10 Most Valuable 1956 Topps Baseball Cards here!

Best 1957 Topps Rookies Cards

Best 1958 Topps Rookies Cards

Best 1959 Topps Rookies Cards

Best 1960 Topps Rookies Cards

Here’s my piece on the Top 10 Best Baseball Cards From 1960 Topps Baseball to collect!

Best Rookie Cards From 1960 Topps Baseball
Carl Yastrzemski, 1960 Topps Baseball Rookie Card

Best 1961 Topps Rookies Cards

Best Rookie Cards From 1962 Topps Baseball

Best 1963 Topps Rookies Cards

Best 1964 Topps Rookies Cards

Best 1965 Topps Rookies Cards

Best 1966 Topps Rookies Cards

Best 1967 Topps Rookies Cards

Best 1968 Topps Rookies Cards

Best 1969 Topps Rookies Cards

best rookie cards
1969 Topps Reggie Jackson RC

Best 1970 Topps Rookies Cards

Best 1971 Topps Rookies Cards

Best 1972 Topps Rookies Cards

Best 1973 Topps Rookies Cards

Best 1974 Topps Rookies Cards

Best Rookie Cards From 1975 Topps Baseball

Best 1976 Topps Rookies Cards

Best 1977 Topps Rookies Cards

Best 1978 Topps Rookies Cards

best rookie cards
1978 Topps Eddie Murray RC

We listed the 10 Most Valuable 1978 Topps Baseball Cards here!

Best 1979 Topps Rookies Cards

Best 1980 Topps Rookies Cards

Best 1981 Topps Rookies Cards

Series 1:

Traded:

Best 1981 Fleer Baseball Rookie Cards

Best 1981 Donruss Baseball Rookie Cards

Best 1982 Topps Rookies Cards

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Best 1983 Topps Rookies Cards

(View single wax pack of 1983 Topps pricing on eBay!)

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1983 Topps Ryne Sandberg RC

Best 1984 Topps Rookies Cards

(View single wax pack of 1984 Topps pricing on eBay!)

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Best Rookie Cards From 1985 Topps Baseball

(View single wax pack of 1985 Topps pricing on eBay!)

Best 1986 Topps Rookies Cards

(View single wax pack of 1986 Topps pricing on eBay!)

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Best 1987 Topps Rookies Cards

(View single wax pack of 1987 Topps pricing on eBay!)

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Best 1988 Topps Rookies Cards

(View hobby box pricing on eBay!)

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Best 1989 Topps Rookies Cards

(View hobby box pricing on eBay!)

Here’s a bonus rookie card not from Topps, but essential to any collection:

1989 Topps Traded:

Best 1990 Topps Rookies Cards

(View hobby box pricing on eBay!)

Best 1991 Topps Rookies Cards

(View hobby box pricing on eBay!)

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Best Rookie Cards From 1992 Topps

(View hobby box pricing on eBay!)

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Best 1993 Topps Rookies Cards

Series 1: (View hobby box pricing on eBay!)

Here’s another essential non-Topps rookie card for every collection:

Series 2:

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best rookie cards
1993 Topps Derek Jeter RC

Best 1994 Topps Rookies Cards

Series 1: (View hobby box pricing on eBay!)

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One more essential rookie card for baseball card collectors:

Best 1995 Topps Rookies Cards

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Best 1996 Topps Rookies Cards

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Best 1997 Topps Rookies Cards

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Best 1998 Topps Rookies Cards

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Best 1999 Topps Rookies Cards

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Best 2000 Topps Rookie Cards

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Best 2001 Topps Rookie Cards

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2001 Topps Ichiro Suzuki RC

Best 2002 Topps Rookie Cards

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Best 2003 Topps Rookie Cards

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Best Rookie Cards From 2004 Topps Baseball

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Best 2005 Topps Rookie Cards

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Updates and Highlights:

Best 2006 Topps Rookie Cards

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Updates and Highlights:

Best 2007 Topps Rookie Cards

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Updates and Highlights:

Best 2008 Topps Rookie Cards

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Best 2009 Topps Rookie Cards

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Updates and Highlights:

Best 2010 Topps Rookies Cards

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Best Rookie Cards From 2011 Topps Baseball

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2011 Topps Mike Trout RC

Best 2012 Topps Rookies Cards

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Best 2013 Topps Rookies Cards

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Best 2014 Topps Rookies Cards

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Best 2015 Topps Rookies Cards

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Best 2016 Topps Rookies Cards

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Best 2017 Topps Rookies Cards

Series 1: (View hobby box pricing on eBay!)

Series 2: (View hobby box pricing on eBay!)

Update: (View hobby box pricing on eBay!)

Best Rookie Cards From 2018 Topps Baseball

Series 1: (View hobby box pricing on eBay!)

Series 2: (View hobby box pricing on eBay!)

Update: (View hobby box pricing on eBay!)

Best 2019 Topps Rookies Cards

Series 1: (View hobby box pricing on eBay!)

Series 2: (View hobby box pricing on eBay!)

Update: (View hobby box pricing on eBay!)

Best 2020 Topps Rookies Cards

Series 1: (View hobby box pricing on eBay!)

Series 2: (View hobby box pricing on eBay!)

Update: (View hobby box pricing on eBay!)

Best 2021 Topps Rookies Cards

Series 1: (View hobby box pricing on eBay!)

Series 2: (View hobby box pricing on eBay!)

Update: (View hobby box pricing on eBay!)

Best 2022 Topps Rookies Cards

2022 Topps Series 1: (View hobby box pricing on eBay!)

2022 Topps Series 2: (View hobby box pricing on eBay!)

2022 Topps Update: (View hobby box pricing on eBay!)

2022 Topps Julio Rodriguez RC

Best 2023 Topps Rookies Cards

2023 Topps Series 1: (View hobby box pricing on eBay!)

2023 Topps Series 2: (View hobby box pricing on eBay!)

2023 Topps Update Best Rookie Cards: (View hobby box pricing on eBay!)

Best 2024 Topps Rookies Cards

2024 Topps Series 1:

Here’s my article on the 5 Best Rookies To Target From 2024 Topps Series 1 Baseball!

2024 Topps Series 2:

Here’s my article on the 11 Best Rookie Cards From 2024 Topps Series 2 Baseball!

2024 Topps Update:

Here’s my article on the 11 Best Rookie Cards From 2024 Topps Update!

Best Rookie Cards from 2024 Topps - Paul Skenes

Best 2025 Topps Rookies Cards

2025 Topps Series 1:

Here’s my article on the 15 Best Rookies From 2025 Topps Series 1 Baseball!

If you love rookie cards, here are some more articles tracking great cards from the past and present:

Also, we looked at all the rookies from the three Topps flagship series together as a whole to rank the 15 Best 2024 Topps Rookie Cards: RC Power Rankings!

As I mentioned at the start of this article, this is going to be an often updated page. Some rookie cards will be removed as players decline in value to their baseball team, and some rookie cards will be added as they bloom later than we expected. Either way, feel free to comment below and share some of the players you think are the best baseball rookie cards by year from each Topps baseball set.

David Gonos

David Gonos

David Gonos spent 5 years as a CBSSports.com Senior Fantasy Writer and three more years writing with SI.com. Over the past 17 years, his work has been published on NFL.com, MLB.com, FanDuel, FoxSports.com and USA Today. Since 2001, he has been tracking down the Top 50-plus Free Fantasy Football Draft Tools online. You can contact David Gonos here.

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