Home Field Advantage: New Superfractors To Chase
Topps’ Home Field Advantage insert cards have quickly become a standout among collectors for their distinctive appeal, offering a fresh spin on baseball card design. Inspired by Panini's popular Downtown series, Home Field Advantage inserts feature vibrant, city-themed artwork that combines star players with iconic landmarks tied to their team’s city.
When it comes to collecting sports cards, the “insert” cards that we find tend to be underwhelming, especially in their raw, ungraded form. While many of these cards offer unique designs and even include player highlights or fun facts, they often lack immediate value or rarity, leaving collectors less enthusiastic. However, with the right grade, right rarity and/or right features, insert cards can still become quite valuable especially when they’re featured in one of the hottest and most anticipated sets of the year: 2024 Topps Chrome Update.
With that said, I wouldn’t normally find myself writing about a 40-card set of inserts, however, the 40-card “Home Field Advantage” field found within the 2024 Topps Chrome Update is anything but your normal, run of the mill insert card. It’s aesthetically pleasing, super rare, and gives collectors the opportunity to chase an ever so elusive variation, known as the 1/1 Superfractor.
How Nice Are These Particular Insert Cards?
Topps’ Home Field Advantage insert cards have quickly become a standout among collectors for their distinctive appeal, offering a fresh spin on baseball card design. Inspired by Panini's popular Downtown series, Home Field Advantage inserts feature vibrant, city-themed artwork that combines star players with iconic landmarks tied to their team’s city. This unique design approach resonates with baseball enthusiasts, as it celebrates both the athlete and the city they represent, adding a sense of pride and connection to each card.
While Panini's Downtown series had also showcased players in bold cityscapes, Home Field Advantage has its own allure with limited print runs and an artistic, baseball-focused theme. This exclusivity, along with a stronger emphasis on hometown pride, makes Home Field Advantage a prized find among collectors, appealing both as a visually captivating piece and a rare addition to their collections.
How Rare Is Rare When Assessing the Home Field Advantage Inserts?
For starters these cards are extremely rare for collectors to find and according to the folks at Beckett the odds per pack are 1:812 Hobby Packs, 1:288 Jumbo Packs, 1:32 Breakers Delight Packs and 1:1,201 Mega Packs.
In addition to the extremely rare base “Home Field Advantage” cards, Topps is now offering collectors the opportunity to chase the Superfractor 1/1 version of each of these cards, which takes their value to exponential heights. According to the folks at Beckett the odds per pack for the Superfractor versions are 1:166,455 Hobby Packs, 1:47,975 Jumbo Packs, 1:4,451 Breakers Delight Packs and 1:294,014 Mega Packs.
The Full Checklist
HFAC-1 Elly De La Cruz, Cincinnati Reds
HFAC-2 Clayton Kershaw, Los Angeles Dodgers
HFAC-3 Yordan Alvarez, Houston Astros
HFAC-4 Andrew McCutchen, Pittsburgh Pirates
HFAC-5 Nolan Arenado, St. Louis Cardinals
HFAC-6 Fernando Tatis Jr., San Diego Padres
HFAC-7 Julio Rodríguez, Seattle Mariners
HFAC-8 Mike Trout, Los Angeles Angels
HFAC-9 Brandon Lowe, Tampa Bay Rays
HFAC-10 Bobby Witt Jr., Kansas City Royals
HFAC-11 Ronald Acuña Jr., Atlanta Braves
HFAC-12 Jasson Domínguez, New York Yankees
HFAC-13 Evan Carter, Texas Rangers
HFAC-14 Jordan Lawlar, Arizona Diamondbacks
HFAC-15 Pete Crow-Armstrong, Chicago Cubs
HFAC-16 Marco Luciano, San Francisco Giants
HFAC-17 Bryce Harper, Philadelphia Phillies
HFAC-18 Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Los Angeles Dodgers
HFAC-19 Tyler Soderstrom, Oakland Athletics
HFAC-20 Sandy Alcantara, Miami Marlins
HFAC-21 Jackson Holliday, Baltimore Orioles
HFAC-22 Luis Robert Jr., Chicago White Sox
HFAC-23 Royce Lewis, Minnesota Twins
HFAC-24 CJ Abrams, Washington Nationals
HFAC-25 Jackson Chourio, Milwaukee Brewers
HFAC-26 Ceddanne Rafaela, Boston Red Sox
HFAC-27 Ronny Mauricio, New York Mets
HFAC-28 Gavin Williams, Cleveland Guardians
HFAC-29 Colt Keith, Detroit Tigers
HFAC-30 Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Toronto Blue Jays
HFAC-31 Nolan Jones, Colorado Rockies
HFAC-32 Wyatt Langford, Texas Rangers
HFAC-33 Shota Imanaga, Chicago Cubs
HFAC-34 Jung Hoo Lee, San Francisco Giants
HFAC-35 Jackson Merrill, San Diego Padres
HFAC-36 Junior Caminero, Tampa Bay Rays
HFAC-37 Paul Skenes, Pittsburgh Pirates
HFAC-38 Shohei Ohtani, Los Angeles Dodgers
HFAC-39 Juan Soto, New York Yankees
HFAC-40 Matt Olson, Atlanta Braves
Conclusion
In summary, Topps’ Home Field Advantage inserts in the 2024 Topps Chrome Update set are redefining collector expectations for insert cards. Their striking city-themed designs, extreme rarity, and Superfractor 1/1 variations make these cards highly desirable. With odds as elusive as 1:166,455 hobby packs for the rarest pulls, these inserts offer a thrilling chase, blending exclusivity and aesthetic appeal in a way that sets them apart as coveted pieces in any serious baseball card collection.
Bio: Matt Schilling, a lifelong sportscard collector and a proud graduate of Towson University (Class of 2006) who currently resides in Queens, New York, is one of the newest contributing authors to the Collectibles segment now featured on http://SI.com