So today Topps opened pre-orders for 2026 Topps Chrome Baseball, and yes, they're making a big deal out of it being the 30th anniversary of the Chrome line. I'll give them this: Chrome has meant something to this hobby. When the first Topps Chrome set came out in 1996, I was already skeptical — I'd seen plenty of gimmicks come and go by then — but the stuff held up. Thirty years later, people are still chasing refractors. That's not nothing.
This year's set has a 300-card checklist and releases July 22. The Hall of Fame angle is worth paying attention to: you'll find Blue Refractors of the 2026 inductees Jeff Kent, Andruw Jones, and Carlos Beltran. Beltran spent time as a Yankee, which I'm always happy to point out. The real chase cards are the Gold Logoman Relics and Autographed Gold Logoman Relics, which come as redemptions. I have had feelings about redemption cards for thirty years and I'm ambivalent.
Now here's the part I'd repeat to any collector who's eyeing a Chrome box with ideas about submitting cards for grading: PSA's backlog just hit 14 million cards. Fourteen. Million. They paused all Value tier submissions — anything under $80 a card — back on June 2nd, and their revised estimate to reopen is 5 to 6 months from now. Even once they reopen, they're warning that Value and Value Bulk packages could sit unprocessed for another 6 to 8 weeks before anyone even looks at them. Folks have learned that submitting in a frenzy after a big release costs you time and money. If you're pulling Chrome and thinking about grading, use Express at minimum, or sit on the cards and wait this thing out. Rushing a $25 card into a 6-month queue may be frustrating.