The COMPLEAT DUNCES Guide to Topps Parallels

This post is primarily aimed at eBay sellers who don't know their own ass from an anthill. If you have even the slightest interest in collecting parallels of Topps cards, then you may have been had by their complete stupidity: and that is unfortunate. 

Topps does very, very little to help its customers differentiate between its parallel cards. But, because I am a super nice person, I'm going to show them all there to help you not get swindled or perhaps experience disappointment or frustration. 

I'd recommend people to go to TCDb to look at what the cards look like, but very often the TCDb users are just as effing stupid as eBay sellers. In fact, based on how much I've been on TCDb for the last year or so, I'd say that nearly 98.5% of its users are helpless, pathetic, loser morons. There are obviously a lot of cool people on that site, so please do know I'm (slightly) exaggerating. 

This post is only going to concern itself with the 2026 Topps 700-card set and the parallels that I have to hand, all of Andrew McCutchen (card 131).

It all starts with base:

Base

Then it gets colorful. Here is an example of a color border. They make all kinds but you can see the image of the player is in no way obstructed by foils.

Gold

This is a colorful border showing both the team colors and a team logo.

Team Border

Then we get Rainbow Foil. This can appear to have some coloring to it, but sometimes it just looks like a darker or less true white border.

Rainbow

Topps then gets Foil Crazy. There is the base Holo foil. Holo foil can sometimes look like camouflage. It always gives me the impression of looking kind of scratchy or streaky. Often confused for Sandglitter. This was at one point called Foilboard (2023, 2024).

Holo Foil

But they cannot help themselves, so there is Pink, Purple, and so many other colors. 

Pink Holo Foil

Purple Holo Foil

Topps decided to celebrate something called a Holiday. It's lame, as you might expect. Here are a few examples. Some of the themes connect with holidays, some just don't. Like Polka Dots. There's no Polka Dots Holiday. National Polka Dot Day is 22 January.

Holiday Chicks

Holiday Polka Dots Purple/Blue

Holiday Polka Dots Green/Pink

Holiday Leafy Green

Up next are distortion foils. Confetti is circular dots. This is different from, below, Sandglitter. Sand and glitter should both clue you in, stupid people of eBay and TCDB, that the foil is grainy and tiny. Confetti is called Speckle in the Bowman product.

Confetti

Sandglitter

Sandglitter

Diamante. It's kind of cool. Kind of looks like stained glass or mosaic tiling. It is often confused with Silver Crackle, see below for that one. 

Diamante

Silver Crackle. This one I do like. But Topps has had several names for it over the years. If they were remotely consistent, things might be easier for collectors. This was at one point called Silver Pattern Foilboard (2023).

Silver Crackle

Then there are textual foils. These kind of explain themselves.

Opening Day Foil

Two options: FL and AZ. Both stupid. Why they haven't done swaps, by putting AZ on a FL team, or vice versa, is beyond me. 

Spring Training Foil

In case you needed any reminder about who was making the card.

Topps Foil

There are so many more parallels like Canvas and Wood and Clear and True Photo (which is basically just the photo without any of Topps' annual design). They are nearly all frivolous. Yes, I do have all of the cards show here, but I really liked the image of McCutchen playing the field and I like very much the basic design of the cards. But really why I went after them is that I had seen them online; but never seen them in person. Most look better on the computer than they do in hand. The shininess of the foils, which can often give off a rainbow spectrum of colors, is so old by this point in time, I wonder why so many people are still in awe of it. 

Ultimately, I hope this helps you get the card you want or need, versus maybe being fooled by someone else's laziness or ignorance. 

Thanks for stopping by!