Inspiration is a capricious muse, often striking in the most mundane of situations, and for Phil Imbriano, Topps’ senior designer, it was a typical New York City subway ride that ignited a creative epiphany. One doesn’t generally expect to find artistic enlightenment on crowded public transit, where the air is a thick mélange of humanity and mechanical disregard. Yet, for Imbriano, a simple red-and-silver badge caught his eye, speaking to him with its sleek geometry and whispering promises of a new visual concept for baseball’s most cherished keepsake—the Topps Series 1 Baseball Cards.
That serendipitous moment of design revelation matured into the base aesthetic for the 2025 Topps Series 1 collection, which formally unveils today. Imbriano’s agile mind translated those snapshots of the mundane into a visual language that resonates with both modern sensibilities and nostalgic reverence.
“I draw from the everyday tapestry of life,” Imbriano explained, with a clear fondness for serendipitous artistry. Buildings, signs, even innocuous patterns—anything that momentarily captures his eye might become the seed of something grander. His daily snapshots aren’t mere digital clutter; they’re a repository of potential, a reserve of creativity waiting to be unleashed. “You never really know when a simple thing will become something big,” he mused.
The resultant design is an eloquent ode to the past wrapped in contemporary elegance. Two bold lines gracefully sweep across the left side and the top of each card, a silhouette that instinctive collectors might find reminiscent of the 1982 Topps card layout. Yet Imbriano hadn’t set out to recreate nostalgia; instead, he found himself hauntingly entangled with it. His original nod was to the woodgrain warmth of the 1962 and 1987 sets, but destiny has a peculiar way of revealing itself unknowingly.
“The ’82 connection was an accidental homage,” he confessed with the sort of joy only found in delightful coincidences. “But it works—marrying vintage allure with modern refinement.”
Behind this creation process lies a competitive battleground not unlike baseball itself. Topps designers pitch their concepts in a process akin to an epic playoffs, with each round eliminating another contender. Imbriano’s vision survived a fierce in-house tournament of over 20 submissions, laboring nine grueling months to crown a champion design. Some elements from past designs find solace in future sets, such as the new field graphic indicating a player’s position—an homage to the persistent striving for innovation.
From that first subway sketch to the cards’ tactile reality, nearly a dozen iterative evolutions transpired before a final form emerged. “There’s an immense effort before collectors ever hold the end product,” Imbriano elaborated, hinting at the rigors hidden behind the glossy cardboard facade that enthusiasts cherish.
As digital abstractions transform into tangible artifacts, Topps undertakes an empathetic endeavor to anchor their designs in reality. They concoct physical prototypes to authenticate how these creations perform under the eager, tactile embrace of collectors. This rite is an essential precautionary ritual, insists Clay Luraschi, Topps’ senior vice president of product.
“When whittling down to the final designs, we stage the experience of unwrapping and unveiling the cards. It’s a lively, spirited ritual that’s one of our grand debates annually,” Luraschi attested, recognizing the fusion of legacy and fun inherent to their storied enterprise. “Since the days Sy Berger sketched on his breakfast table, our process continues to be steeped in significance—it’s momentous and immensely enjoyable.”
Yet the new base design is just the tip of the Topps iceberg for 2025. This year ushers in an assemblage of welcomed subsets, meant to intrigue and delight both seasoned aficionados and wide-eyed newcomers:
– Future Stars illuminates promising newcomers.
– All-Topps Team fetes contemporary heroes.
– Training Grounds offers a glimpse into Spring camp prowess.
– Call to the Hall celebrates storied immortality for Hall of Fame inductees.
– City Connect Swatch Collection Autographs and Heavy Lumber Autographs tantalize with personal narratives.
Beloved features like Signature Tunes return, pairing players with artists of their walk-up songs, alongside First Pitch, spotlighting celebrities in those iconic mound moments. Dodgers enthusiasts can rejoice in special variants exuding euphoria, exemplified by Freddie Freeman’s signature moves, the “Freddie Dance.”
Finally, the year’s 35th-anniversary tribute tips its hat to the idiosyncratic colors and zest of 1990’s Topps set. Central to all these novelties, however, stands Imbriano’s inspired base design—a new classic in the making. “Each card should stand out individually, akin to a miniature poster within collectors’ hands,” he stated, revealing the cinematic philosophy behind his craft.
Topps’ philosophy orbits around timeless collectability, driven by an implicit promise—a promise that years hence, one glance at a card should evoke the era it encapsulates. “Phil’s design achieves just that,” Luraschi lauded, affirming that the new design captures both essence and epoch. The journey from subway to showpiece, an artwork woven serendipitously from the everyday, stands as proof, awaiting its place in collectors’ hearts.
