The set has been released annually since 1981 except for 1996, 1997, and 1998. 1981 was also the first year to include rookies who had not been in the main flagship release (thus beginning the XRC cards).

In 1976 Topps repeated this practice.īut in 1981, Topps began releasing the Traded set as a fully standalone product. This 44 card set (43 players and a checklist) would become the first insert 'Traded Set'. That was the first year that Topps printed the entire set in one 660 card series and simply kept printing throughout the season. In 1974, Topps included some Traded cards in the later printing rounds of the 1974 Topps set. More players than just those 7 were traded during the season, but the minor trades were not included. This was part of the normal series of cards, but included 7 players who were traded during the season including Steve Carlton, Joe Morgan, and Frank Robinson. In order to capitalize on collectors wanting cards of star players changing teams, Topps began including Traded players in the sixth series of the 1972 Topps set. Finally the playoffs and World Series are held after the majority of baseball card releases have already been distributed, much less designed and printed. Also the major league baseball draft is typically held in the summer, again adding players to major league organizations. Topps Update is an annual baseball card release from Topps that is typically released after the season has concluded.ĭuring the baseball season, players are traded from one team to another and many rookies get their first taste of major league service after September call-ups when the active roster size increases.

Baseball card set checklists