VarCITYDan

Our guy @j_clem showing support 🔥🔥🔥

Yooo I’m so hyped for this 🔥🔥🔥

@WaxMetrix 5 cases so far. I pulled 2 other base 1/1 superfractors

@dc089n So sick. How much you have to open to get a lineup like that?

2025 Topps Chrome MLS Analysis including Sapphire & Mania If you follow me, it’s probably because, like me, you’re chasing value… not donating to Fanatics’ quarterly earnings report. And yet, here I am, a lifelong baseball guy, willingly ripping soccer wax for the first time in my life like I grew up in Barcelona instead of the Midwest. Why? Because- brace yourself- it’s actually fun. I know. Shocking concept in 2026. Recent Chrome soccer and Finest boxes have been loaded. Something we can't say for recent Chrome baseball dumpster fires. I can’t pretend to know the singles market. But I do know this: From a pure rip standpoint, soccer is running laps around Topps Chrome baseball right now. And it’s not even close. Better box composition. Better hit frequency. Better price point. Better overall experience. I suppose I'll have to start actually watching the sport so I recognize more names to get the full experience. Chrome baseball used to be the gold standard. Now it feels like it's been "Fanaticized", like those MLB Authentic jerseys that used to scream quality. Now they fall apart the first time they see a washing machine. But I digress. This is not intended to be a baseball bash session. Let's dive into what looks to be a genuinely good product: 2025 Topps Chrome MLS. The product’s been out for a bit, and naturally I’ve been lurking like a gremlin refreshing pages, looking for odds since pre-release. But like a Skenes sweeper, Topps caught me completely off guard… by not posting them where a sane person would look. Nope. Instead of putting the odds on the actual MLS Chrome page, they tucked them away on the upcoming MLS Sapphire page like it was some kind of Easter egg hunt. Fortunately, some of you are absolute savages and weren’t about to let that slide. Part 1: Odds Sheet Autopsy First, a quick snapshot of what MLS Chrome actually is. You’ve got the usual suspects: Hobby, Value, and Hangers. Plus, something called “Mania.” It looks like its own release, but it’s really just a super limited format, kind of like Breaker’s Delight in other products, that doubled in price 5 minutes after it dropped. Each Mania box contains one 12-card pack of Chrome parallels (no base), and four encased autos with some exclusive auto subsets. For our purposed, I'll include Mania production and print runs with regular Chrome. Total cards in the product: MLS Chrome- 6,828,016 MLS Chrome Sapphire- 169,600 Total production by format: Hobby- 32,952 boxes (2,746 cases) Value- 89,200 boxes (2,230 cases) Hangers- 110,784 boxes (1,731 cases) Mania- 2,031 boxes (254 cases) Sapphire- 5,300 boxes (530 cases) Base card production: Chrome- 23,707 copies ea Sapphire- 661 copies ea From a production standpoint, MLS Chrome falls between 2025 Topps Chrome WWE (7.9m cards) and 2025 Cosmic Chrome Baseball (5.47m cards). MLS Sapphire, at 530 cases, is half the size of a typical Sapphire release, which usually run around 1,000 cases. Part 2: What's in the Box Hobby: Autos- 2.2 (Sell sheet says 2, but it appears there may be an extra auto in about 20% of boxes.) Parallels- 13.6 Inserts- 10.3 Numbered cards- 5.3 Value Box: Autos- 1 per 24 boxes Parallels- 5.5 Inserts- 4 Numbered cards- 1 Hanger: Autos- 1 per 64 hangers (1 per case) Parallels- 1.5 Inserts- 1.7 Numbered cards- 1 per 2 hangers Mania: Autos- 4 encased Parallels- 12 (the entire 12-card pack is all parallels, 6 of which are "Mania" parallels, 3 base refractors) Inserts- 0 Numbered cards (not including autos)- 3 Sapphire: Autos- 1 Base Parallels-3 Inserts- 3 (In addition to typical SP Inserts "Sapphire Selections" and "Infinite", we also have the more common "Fast Lanes" at 2 per box.) Numbered cards- 3.75 (This accounts for the 3 base parallels, which are all numbered, and any Fast Lane insert parallels.) Overall, these hit rates are about the best you can expect for a major Chrome release and all formats show some value, even $15 Hangers. One numbered card every other box is solid at that price point. Sapphire, in particular, if it drops at a decent price point (<$300/box), looks particularly intriguing. One auto per box is always appreciated in a Sapphire release. About those autos, remember how NBA Sapphire only contained autos that were Gold /50 or rarer? So, this isn't that, but it's actually very close. There are base Sapphire Autos. But these will not be /199 like you usually see. The base Sapphire autos are actually extremely tough to pull (1:46 packs)... the numbers say print run should be a paltry 10 copies each. The Sapphire autos across the board look to be tougher to pull than the serial numbers indicate, which typically means product held back. I'll pinpoint those numbers further down. Part 3: Value Map MLS Chrome dropped on February 19th at $110/box. A hobby box contains 2 autos. (Compare this to MLB Chrome with 1 auto for $200 at release.) Mania dropped a little later at $350/box with 4 autos. Sapphire is set to release this week, March 26th, with no announced price as of yet. Since it's been out for a bit, I will use secondary market pricing for Hobby ($210/box) and Mania ($660/box) as you won't find those at MSRP now. For retail SKUs, I'll go with MSRP of $30 Value Boxes and $15 Hangers. Sapphire is a separate animal and won't be included in $ per comparisons. $/card: 1) Hangers- $1.00 2) Value- $1.07 3) Hobby- $2.63 $/parallel: 1) Value- $5.46 2) Hanger- $10.20 3) Hobby- $15.41 $/auto: 1) Hobby- $96.33 2) Mania- $165.00 3) Value- $715.20 $/# card: 1) Hanger- $29.41 2) Value- $30.00 3) Hobby- $39.62 Part 4: The Chases Let’s be honest- this is where MLS Chrome separates itself. A 157-card checklist of 1/1 Debut Patch Autos, aka the most ridiculous chase Topps has cooked up across any sport. Hobby-only, of course. I might not have the MLS depth chart memorized, but I know Cavan Sullivan, the phenom who made is debut with the Philadelphia Union at 14 years old… and his Debut Patch Auto is going to be massive. The rest of the auto lineup holds its own. Rookie Arrival Auto Patch cards, MLS Renaissance Autos and Auto Relics, and Chrome Dual Autos are all brutally tough pulls. And sprinkled throughout? Sullivan and Lionel Messi, which is about as strong of a one-two punch as you’re going to find in any product. Outside of autos, the MLS x Apple TV Match-Worn Patch cards are ridiculous, in a good way. Massive patches, true game-used, and every single one is a 1/1. On top of all that, there is a strong lineup of rare inserts, all of which you'll only find in Hobby: Pearlers, Helix, MVP, and The Grail The Mania format has it's own chases in MLS All-Timers Autos, Mania Autos, and the extremely scarce Record Debut Auto Triple Relic cards. Not to be left out, Sapphire offers some of the best looking auto parallels in the hobby, along with rare Sapphire Selections inserts and autos, and even more rare Infinite inserts. Part 5: And the Winner Is... No surprise here- Hobby slaps. It’s not the most hit-dense format, but it doesn’t need to be. The ceiling is in a different zip code. It’s the only place you can realistically chase the biggest patch autos and rarest inserts, and even at double the release price, it’s still the best play whether you’re ripping or stashing. And they even have 1995 Topps Chrome style "Silver Packs" for good measure, with more potential parallels and autos. That said, Mania isn’t dead weight. It actually delivers the second-best $/auto in the product, plus six ultra low-print Mania parallels per box. But if I’m choosing? Give me three Hobby boxes over one Mania every day of the week. Please don't sleep on retail. Compared to similar formats in other sports, Hangers and Value Boxes are legitimately strong. The price of one Hobby gets you about 14 hangers. Sure, that’s only about a 1-in-5 shot at an auto, but you’re likely pulling around 7 numbered cards and over 20 parallels versus roughly 5 and 13 in a Hobby box. Retail gives you volume and floor, but it’s not touching Hobby’s ceiling. Put MLS Chrome next to its MLB counterpart where Debut Patches are buried- Chrome Update- and it’s not even a fair fight. MLS Chrome wins by a landslide. And somehow those MLB boxes are still $235 with only one auto. If you like Chrome and can tolerate 90 minutes of soccer, you should already be ripping this...or stashing if that's more your flavor. And with the upcoming drop of MLS Sapphire, which hasn't hit its peak on the secondary market yet...I'm just hoping nobody reads this deep in the write-up so I can have a better chance to score on that drop. Part 6: The Print Runs Before we get into the numbers, there are several print run anomalies to note in this release. I like to utilize these oddities to find deals on sneaky low print run cards. Please keep in mind, it doesn't mean these missing pieces will never surface...based on what the odds tell us, they simply were not inserted into the sealed product. They could definitely find their way into collector hands as defect submissions, exchanges, etc. 1) Base Chrome Autos are extremely tough. Even though there are parallels ranging all the way up to /199, the Base Chrome Autos only have a PR of about 25 copies ea, right on par with the Oranges /25. 2) Just like the Base Chrome Autos, the Base Sapphire Autos are scarce, coming in at ~10 copies ea, even though there are parallels up to Gold /50. 3) Also regarding Sapphire Autos, the Gold Sapphire Autos /50 and Oranges /25 seem to have been held back in droves. Of the 50 copies of each Gold auto, the odds say only 19 of each made it into the product. Similarly, of the 25 of each orange sapphire auto, only 12 of each were inserted. 4) Another strangely scarce auto is the 1995 Topps Autos found in the "30 Year Celebration Bonus Packs" or "Silver Packs" in hobby boxes. In these, the base autos only show a print run of ~25 copies ea. In the same subset, of the Green Autos /99, only ~42 look to have made it into the product. Same with the Purple Autos /75, only ~38 of each were inserted. And finally, all in the same subset, the Gold autos /50 only show ~31 of each making it into the product. 5) The base MLS All-Timers Autos, found exclusively in Mania boxes show a print run of only ~9 copies ea, even though there are parallels going all the way up to /99. And just like the earlier autos mentioned, it doesn't stop there with this subset. The Green /99 only show ~34 inserted, as well as only ~34 of each Purple /75, ~34 of each Gold /50, and ~17 of each Orange /25. 6) Lastly, base Sapphire Selections autos found in the Sapphire format show a crazy low print run of just 2 ea, even though parallels go up to /10. Also of the Black /10 Sapphire Selections autos, only 4 of each look to have made it into the product. Unnumbered Parallels; Base Refractors- ~1,025 ea Wave Refractors- ~1,560 ea Prism Refractors (Hobby only)- ~660 ea Magenta Pulsar (Hangers)- ~555 ea Mania Refractors (Mania format only)- ~60 ea Blue Lava (Hobby)- ~165 ea White Lava (Hobby)- ~80 ea Red Lava (Hobby)- ~55 ea Base Sapphire- ~660 ea Inserts: 1995 Topps (30 card CL, Hobby Silver Packs)- ~1,100 ea Big City Strikers (20 card CL)- ~8,060 ea Big City Strikers Skylight Variation- ~140 ea Class of Their Own (20 card CL)- ~8,060 ea Elimination (30 card CL)- ~8,060 ea Fast Lane (30 card CL)- ~8,060 ea Fast Lane Sapphire- ~355 ea Pearlers (30 card CL)- ~50 ea Helix (5 card CL)- ~95 ea MVP (1 card CL)- ~50 ea The Grail (1 card CL)- ~50 ea Sapphire Selections (20 card CL)- ~55 ea Infinite Sapphire (10 card CL)- ~55 ea Unnumbered Autos: Chrome Autos (97 card CL)- ~25 ea Chrome Sapphire Autos (97 card CL)- ~10 ea MLS Renaissance Autos (67 card CL)- ~15 ea Chrome Dual Autos (13 card CL)- ~40 ea 1995 Topps Autos (30 card CL)- ~25 ea MLS All-Timers Autos (20 card CL)- ~10 ea Base Sapphire Selections Autos (15 card CL)- ~2 ea Record Debut Auto Triple Relic (1 card CL)- ~15 ea #thehobby #SlabSquatchAnalytics #2025ToppsChromeMLS

@Energizer_Park 😅

@SoccerCardsHQ Holy 😳 OC

One of these is going to be way more expensive than the others 👀

@DrewYoungRadio 🔥🔥🔥

Dante Polvara got mic’d up and did this. Clinical. #ALLFORCITY #STLCITYSC

@AlxRuiz15 This is rage bait. 🤔

Here is the play where Kamal Miller was given a red card in the 20th minute for a foul on Joao Klauss. Do you think this was the right call or was it too harsh? #LAGalaxy #RCTID #MLS

That’s our guy 🫶🏽

@BucketHatSC @BreakfastK1ng Guess who got that gamer 👀

@BreakfastK1ng If it was Messi it would be goal of the year

Hartel with the goal of the week You heard it here first #AllForCITY

I love this team. This win was special ♥️

❤️🙏🏽 #AllForCITY

So Leao probably out at AC Milan huh…😅

@StefanCaray I always suggest Cahokia Mounds. A UNESCO site just a 10 minute drive from downtown.

Since I’ll be spending a lot more time in St. Louis, I’d love to hear from you guys: Where are the best spots in town? What are the places I need to try and things I need to do this summer that are can’t miss experiences? I’m so pumped to get there and try it all!

@Topps Was the presumably stolen Messi sapphire selections superfractor 1/1 from this product reprinted or we just rolling without it?

FIRST LOOK: Lionel Messi's 1-of-1 Padparadscha autograph in Topps Chrome MLS Sapphire Edition

@RicEllisCards Colorblasts and Lamdmarks confirmed 🔥

Just give us colorblast and landmarks parallels please. It’s all I ask.

@TaylorTwellman Honestly this is the same Evander we saw in Portland. Top player when interested but keeping him interested is the problem.

Evander looks disinterested. He’s moving like it’s an all star game and did the same thing vs Toronto & NE. The playoffs last year unfortunately were a precursor to who Cincy is in 2026. A team that didn’t give up a ton of goals is now giving them up for fun. Robinson as DP must perform at a higher level because of the salary designation. And Denkey misses a tap in on the back post. 🥶🤷🏼‍♂️

Degen ripped an F1 blaster and I think I did well. 🔥 @Topps @F1

@Topps product hasn’t officially been announced or released…No word on the stolen chase hits no checklist, yet it’s already in the wild at a lunatic price of $500/box 😆 @CardPurchaser

@CallM3Gonzo Yeah it’s either eat before/after or ramen for the next week 😆

I wish we had prices like this #AllForCITY The food is great but sometimes I just want basic stadium food that isn’t some $8 SINGLE taco, or a $10 hotdog Idk I just feel like the food prices suck my wallet dry when buying food for everyone.