A standard common card which makes up the majority of each card set.

A card that is similar in design to a base card, but has a distinguishing quality and is printed in lower numbers. They can have a different colour in the cards, a new pattern, an image variation or are printed on a new material. These cards are often sequentially numbered to show how rare the card is.

These cards will contain a piece of memorabilia. This could be a piece of material from shirts, boots, gloves, goal net, tyres, ring mats etc. ‘Patch Pieces’ are often the highest tier, as they feature club crests, competition badges, racing team logos, and more. They can be ‘game worn’ which are the most desirable; other types include ‘player worn’ which was worn by the athlete, but not in competition.

Autograph cards or ‘Autos’ are usually the most sought-after cards. There are generally 2 types of autographed cards: STICKER AUTOS - an authenticated autographed sticker is placed on the card. ON-CARD AUTOS - which are signed by players directly onto the cards.

When one or more cards - generally, autographed cards or relics - are combined together to open like a book.

Rookie cards will carry an ‘RC’ logo somewhere on the card. For Topps, this marks the player’s first season with a trading card. As the player’s first card(s) these can be some of the most desirable for long-term collecting. You may also hear the term ‘True Rookie’ which is the player’s first-ever card produced.

These are generally more than one autograph card combined together to open like a book.

There are companies who will grade cards for a fee. These cards are certified after examination, rated, and sent back to you in a case (or ‘slab’) with a rating from 1-10. They will look at the print finish, the edges, card centering and general condition. Perfect cards are a graded 10 and will be the most valuable.

Boxes are shipped from manufacturers in ‘cases’. In some products a special card will be inserted ‘one per case’ which means these are normally very rare

Most trading cards in the hobby come in branded boxes. Each box will have a specific configuration including ‘packs per box’ and ‘cards per pack’ and a checklist of players. It will also offer information about parallel, insert and autograph insertion rates. There are other types of boxes, each with different contents. You may see ‘blaster box’, ‘retail box’, or ‘On Demand box’. Each will have specific configurations and price points, the main thing is to familiarise yourself with all of the key information on cards within each box.

Every product that is released will have a checklist showing all of the cards/players. This can be found within the product listing on Topps.com and in our checklist page.

These are small, themed collections. They often have all the hallmarks of hobby collections in terms of parallels and autograph cards but at different frequencies, making this an affordable way to start collecting boxed products.