This is a guide pertaining to the retro style TOPPS issue called ALL TIME FAN FAVORITES from 2005.

I am a building a master set of these cards and along the way I have found out a lot about this product. Today i would like to share some of that with you.

First of all this is Topps final installment of this product due to MLBPA new guidelines. What a shame because this retro style set chalk full of hall of famers is so beautiful. This issue should be called cards that never were because they feature players with similar styled cards with all new photography. IT'S AWESOME.

The base set consists of 142 cards of modern era stars and vintage hall of famers. Beautiful product. Check em out for yourself.

AUTOGRAPHS:

This set features 112 autographs of various players and in different quantities. The beauty of these autograph cards are that they are ON CARD AUTOS ,player touched beauties that just are not seen very often today. Most Autographs are in the form of acetate stickers or holofoil stickers. HOW TACKY!! There are several tiers of print runs out there the rarest being BARRY BONDS with only 15 copies printed and signed. GROUP B autos feature 40 copies and GROUP C features 90 copies. TOPPS has not released the print runs for the more plentiful print runs GROUPS D-I. REMEBER WHEN BUYING THESE , THEY ARE PLAYER TOUCHED AUTOS DIRECTLY ON CARD ITSELF, NOT HOLOFOILS OR TAPES. VERY RARE.

There are "RAINBOW" parallel versions of all the autos except the TRIPLE AND DUAL SIGNERS cards. These RAINBOW version are rare no matter what player . All RAINBOW autos are ON CARD and serial numbered to only 10 copies. RARE indeed.

It has been brought to my attention that BRIAN SABEAN ,THEO EPSTEIN, MARK GRACE did not sign cards although they appear on the checklist and in BECKETT MONTHLY.

There are dual autos and triple autos also included in the MASTER SET and these multi-auto cards go for big bucks (they are all HOFers). All multi signer cards are serial numbered to only 50 copies.

Also I have not seen any examples of the TRIPLE auto card of Mattingly, Gooden, and Boggs although they appear in BECKETT price guide.

RELIC BAT AND JERSEY CARDS:

Included at a rate of one RELIC per HOBBY box these cards are a great addition to the MASTER SET. There are 27 different relics altogether , the rarest being STAN MUSIAL bat and CARL YASTRZEMSKI bat both numbered to a stingy 50 copies each. There are varying print runs for different players ranging up to 350 copies . ALL RELIC CARDS ARE SERIAL NUMBERED.

There are "RAINBOW" parallel versions of all relic cards and all "RAINBOW" versions no matter what player are only numbered to 25.That's right only 25 copies of each player.