Im sad writing this post, because I know that Chrome baseball will likely be baseball only in 2016. That isnt a total loss, as I had a HELL of a good time ripping through Chrome last year. The set has definitely gotten some new life over the last few years, and I dont see that changing all that much this year.

Cards looked really nice last year:

2015 Topps Chrome Kris Bryant Purple Refractor Auto

2015 Topps Chrome Mike Trout Illustrious Auto /25

2015 Topps Chrome Noah Syndergaard Blue Refractor Auto BGS 9.5

2015 Topps Chrome Joc Pederson Purple Refractor Auto

The main piece of news is that Carlos Correa’s 2015 Chrome cards (only appeared in the set as high number SPs last year), will be inserted as autographs in this year’s product. Im sure this is going to set people off similar to what happened with Kris Bryant and his Bowman Chrome autographs. Personally, I dont see an issue, and I would find these cards to be awfully attractive hits to pull. From pictures posted by Topps, its clear that Correa signed the cards after the Chrome release in 2015, so its not like Topps purposefully held them back. They were offered in jumbo form earlier this year as well. If anything, this is a good way to add some oomph to the product now that there isnt a clear Kris Bryant or Correa this year.

I also love that there looks to be a lot more on card content this year, with many of the inserts and base autos showing as non-sticker on the sell sheet. To me, Chrome autos lose half their appeal when they are sticker, and 2016 is looking good in that respect.

Bottom line, Chrome will never have the punch it used to have, mainly because of how many years a prospect will have cards in Bowman prior to hitting the bigs. The main guys in Sano, Conforto and Schwarber have all signed a ton over the last few years, so their card arent as valuable as they would have been years ago.

Regardless, it should still be a fun rip this August.