Best of 2024 Topps MLS Superstars
Topps is finally releasing their first in-store MLS product of the 2024 season this week as 2024 Topps MLS Superstars hits the shelves the same week that the first round of the MLS Playoffs concludes.
The set is the first in-store (hobby and retail) to feature players in their new club’s jersey if they changed teams in the last year, most notably MLS newcomers Luis Suárez and Hugo Lloris.
Each pack, hobby or retail, comes with two common yellow parallels but autographs are tough to come by in this product. The Superstar Autograph has the best autograph odds at one in every 61 hobby packs, one in every 64 value packs and one in every 74 hanger packs.
Here are some of the best cards from 2024 Topps MLS Superstars:
#9 Luis Suárez
While there have been some released through Topps Now MLS, this card is the first in-story option that has Luis Suárez in an Inter Miami jersey after the Uruguayan superstar joined MLS in the offseason. There is an image variation of this card, as there is for every one of the 200-card base set, and you can find one in each pack.
#TS-14 Gabriel Pec Time to Shine Insert Rookie
Gabriel Pec shined in his first season with the LA Galaxy and was named the 2024 MLS Newcomer of the Year after collecting 16 goals and 4 assists. There aren’t many Gabriel Pec cards on the market and this insert does a good job of telling the story of the forward’s first season with the LA Galaxy.
#100 Hugo Lloris
Lloris was already a legend in French soccer when he came to MLS and signed with LAFC. He etched his name in the American Soccer history books when he helped his side capture the 2024 U.S. Open Cup and 2024 Topps MLS Superstars is the first in-store product to have the goalkeeper in his LAFC kit.
#152 Gavin Beavers Rookie
Real Salt Lake’s 19-year-old goalkeeper already has 18 MLS starts to his name and only remained on the bench down the stretch because veteran Zac MacMath had one of the best stretches of his career. Beavers has already featured at multiple youth levels for the United States and is one of the higher-upside prospects in MLS.
#154 Diego Gómez Rookie
Gómez is one of the beneficiaries of Lionel Messi’s presence on Inter Miami and has become a reliable piece for the Herons in 2024. Gómez appears destined for the Premier League’s Brighton & Hove Albion come January so there won’t be cards in production long of the Paraguayan forward in an Inter Miami jersey.
#185 Joseph Paintsil Rookie
Paintsil was brought into LA Galaxy with much fanfare but hasn’t had an in-store card available until this set. first in LA Galaxy kit and first card since 2022.
#BM-1 Christian Benteke Beast Mode Insert
This card perfectly encapsulates the way Benteke dominated MLS defenders in 2024 as he won the Golden Boot with 23 goals. No MLS player went full ‘Beast Mode’ more than Benteke did this season despite being on a side that didn’t make the playoffs.
#LE-3 Zlatan Ibrahimović MLS Legacy Die Cut
Everyone needs a card of *insert Tony Kornheiser voice*”The Zlatan”!* in their collection. He’s a self-professed god for heaven’s sake. So why not get the die cut of someone who, in theory, can’t die?
#WG-1 Lionel Messi World’s Greatest Insert
There are Messi autographs available in this product but his World’s Greatest Insert is an accurate assessment of his career while being “relatively” attainable (one in every 288 packs).
Autograph options….
The notable autograph subjects include Messi, Suárez, Benteke, Jordi Alba, Federico Bernardeschi, Thiago Almada, Lucho Acosta, Cucho Hernández and Sergio Busquets.
