2022 Topps Pristine Baseball Preview

If you haven’t been an active collector of modern cards since George W. Bush was in office, you may not even remember Topps Pristine Baseball.  After a 16-year hiatus, the brand is being dusted off and prepared for a comeback in 2022.

Topps announced the return of Pristine to its lineup of releases on Monday, promising a sizeable base set along with some encased hits.  

The release date is set for February 23, two weeks after the arrival of Series 1.

2022 Topps Pristine Configuration

Each six pack box will contain two on-card autographs, one autographed relic, ten Refractors and five inserts among the content.  Every pack will have either an encased autograph, an encased Pristine Refractor from the base set plus two more base parallels or an autographed relic card.

Base Set

Topps is planning for Pristine to have a 300-card base set.  Beyond the regular Refractor parallels and encased Pristine Refractor parallels are:

• Purple Refractor – #’d to 99
• Gold Refractor – #’d to 50
• Orange Refractor – #’d to 25
• Red Refractor – #’d to 5
• SuperFractor – #’d 1 of 1

Insert Sets

Pristine Borders – “The best players from around the world” are featured in this 20-card insert set, according to Topps
Pure Power – Home run hitters from throughout MLB history, both past and present.
Fresh Faces – Rookies and emerging star players will make up the checklist for these multi-image cards.

Autograph Cards

There will be five autograph card subsets including the “base” Pristine Autographs with these parallel possibilities:

• Refractor – #’d to 99
• Gold Pristine Refractor – #’d to 50
• Orange Pristine Refractor – #’d to 25
• Black Pristine Refractor – #’d 1 of 1

Pristine Pair Dual Autographs including these parallels:
• Pristine Refractor – #’d to 5
• SuperFractor – #’d 1 of 1

Fresh Faces Autographs including:
• Gold Refractor – #’d to 50
• Orange Refractor – #’d to 25
• SuperFractor – #’d 1 of 1

Popular Demand Autographs will have a quartet of parallel versions:
• Gold Refractor – #’d to 50
• Orange Refractor – #’d to 25
• Red Refractor – #’d to 5
• SuperFractor – #’d 1 of 1

Pure Power Autographs will have three parallel versions:

• Gold Refractor – #’d to 50
• Orange Refractor – #’d to 25
• SuperFractor – #’d 1 of 1

Autographed Relics

The autographed relics will be on two themes, Slice of the Star, which puts the memorabilia piece inside a shooting star type of cut-out and Popular Demand.

Slice of the Star parallels will include:
• Pristine Refractor – #’d to 99
• Gold Refractor – #’d to 50
• Orange Refractor – #’d to 25
• Red Refractor – #’d to 5
• SuperFractor – #’d 1 of 1

Popular Demand Autograph Relics will have a more limited parallel checklist:
• Orange Refractor – #’d to 25
• Pink Refractor – #’d to 15
• Red Refractor – #’d to 5
• SuperFractor – #’d 1 of 1