2019 Topps Series 2 Baseball Variations and Short Prints Guide, Gallery

The 2019 Topps Series 2 Baseball variations continue with the flagship tradition of offering up a mix of SP and SSP cards that look an awful lot like regular base cards but are tougher to find. As has been the case for years, these cards carry the same design as the main base set but feature different images.

This means some additional digging and card checking to make sure one of the variation short prints don’t make their way into a box of doubles or tossed aside.

Some are easy to see, even at the smallest glance. That’s because many of the 2019 Topps Series 2 Baseball variations are retired legends and Hall of Famers. Besides offering up some big names from generations past, many of the image are fun candid shots that immediately stand out.

2019 Topps Series 2 Baseball Variations Frank Robinson

As for the veterans and rookies, their variations in 2019 Topps Series 2 might require a little more looking. However, we’ve made it easy for you.

2019 Topps Series 2 Baseball Variations – SP and SSP

Like Series 1, 2019 Topps Series 2 Baseball variations come in two levels, Short Print (SP) and Super Short Print (SSP). These refer primarily to the production runs with SSP being a lot harder to pull.

SP Variations are 1:20 hobby and 1:5 hobby jumbo packs. That makes them relatively easy to pull compared to other inserts in the set. Hobby boxes should have at least one. In hobby jumbos, they average out to two per box.

Contrast that with the 2019 Topps Series 2 SSP Variations, which are 1:589 hobby and 1:123 hobby jumbo packs.

The 2019 Topps Series 2 variations total 100 different cards, 75 SP and 25 SSP.

The Curious Case of Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and the Missing Number

The 2019 Topps Series Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is a bit of a curious card. On the checklist Topps put out, it was noted as a variation for #700.

2019 Topps Series 2 Baseball Variations Vladimir Guerrero Jr

But there’s something noticeably missing from the final card. It has no card number on the back.

Whether you consider it a base card or a variation, based on early reports, it doesn’t sound as though it’s overly rare. It is noticeably tougher than other base cards but not by a lot. Seeing as how it’s Series 2 and the print runs are on the large side compared to most other releases, finding one shouldn’t be an issue. It definitely shouldn’t be like the 2012 Bryce Harper #661.

Confirming 2019 Topps Series 2 Baseball Variations with Back Codes

It’s not the most glamorous way to look for SP and SSP cards, but card backs do hold an easy key to confirming them. Like Series 1 and a lot of other Topps sets in the past few years, there’s a code at the end of the fine print on the back. It’s meant for production purposes but collectors can use them for variations as the code ending changes for different card types. For the purposes of variations, here are the codes you need to know:

Base – 962
SP Variations – 031
SSP Variations – 032

2019 Topps Series 2 Baseball Variations Codes

It’s worth noting that the Vladimir Guerrero Jr. card has the 962 code.

2019 Topps Series 2 Baseball Variations Checklist

If you’re looking for a specific card, click on the links to see what’s currently listed on eBay. SSP variations are noted. A full gallery of variations and their corresponding base cards follow.