so. much. chrome.

a while back, i turned my attention to older topps chrome dodger team sets which first hit the scene 26 years ago. adding dodger chrome refractors to my collection has been a go-to for me in recent years when i would fill out sportlots orders, but i realized that i was falling short with team base set completion for the early years of chrome. 

over the last few months, i've made good progress with this effort, so let's see where things stand with dodger base chrome team sets in my collection today.

1996 topps chrome

checklist: partial team set compared to flagship

status: complete

1997 topps chrome 

checklist: partial team set compared to flagship

status: complete

1998 topps chrome 

checklist: full parallel team set of flagship

status: incomplete

i still need the adrian beltre multi-player rookie card - it's one of my most wanted cards! i did complete the rest of the set during the last few months, with these cards coming in to my collection:

todd hollandsworth

ramon martinez

raul mondesi

mike piazza

and a mike piazza/ken griffey jr interleague preview card

in addition to the base cards, topps also included chrome versions of some flagship inserts in their 1998 release, including refractors. i am missing most of these, but i do have the base and refractor

of paul konerko's rookie class insert.

1999 topps chrome 

checklist: full parallel team set of flagship

status: complete

for the first time, topps issued a full parallel chrome set of their traded set in 1999.

1999 topps chrome traded

checklist: full parallel team set of flagship

status: complete

this team set completion came about just within the last few months. there were only three dodgers in the 1999 traded set, and i needed all three - luke prokopec, steve colyer, and bubba crosby:

pretty boring team set there.

2000 topps chrome 

checklist: full parallel team set of flagship

status: complete

2000 topps chrome traded

checklist: full parallel team set of flagship

status: complete

while i've completed both base team sets, there are still inserts. the most recent card i've obtained from either of these releases is this 2000 "own the game" kevin brown insert

i like this card because it shows the contraband sandy koufax heroes patch that he wore on his jersey during the 1999 season.

2001 topps chrome 

checklist: partial team set compared to flagship

status: complete

2001 topps chrome traded 

checklist: full parallel team set of flagship

status: complete

the flagship team set had 28 cards, and the chrome version had 24. this was one set that i still needed a couple of cards from, and so i went to work. here's one of the cards i needed.

that doesn't look very chrome-y at all! that's because it's the back of a kevin brown card 

that i needed. brown and pedro were league leaders in 2000 in era.  the last card i needed to complete the set was chan ho park's:

as for the traded set, this mike piazza card

was a need. it is not an insert but rather a rookie traded reprint that was part of the regular set. proof that 2020 topps update wasn't the first of these sets to have nonsensical filler. that piazza, coupled with this irvin guzman card

completed the team set for me.

2002 topps chrome

checklist: full parallel team set of flagship

status: complete

2002 topps chrome traded 

checklist: full parallel team set of flagship

status: complete

i was only in need of some traded chrome cards, so i went and added jesse orosco

and steve garvey (!)

to get it completed. there are a bunch of garvey needs when it comes to my dodger collection because i feed the garvey collection first, but i was surprised that this was one of them.

2003 topps chrome

checklist: partial team set compared to flagship

status: complete

2003 topps chrome traded

checklist: full parallel team set of flagship

status: complete

for this set, i've also completed the refractor parallels for the non-traded dodgers. finding a reasonably priced rickey henderson refractor is going to be a challenge.

2004 topps chrome

checklist: partial team set compared to flagship

status: complete

2004 topps chrome traded 

checklist: full parallel team set of flagship

status: complete

2004 was another team set that i had some holes to fill, and i added adrian beltre

and fred mcgriff

to complete the non-traded set, and then picked up a jose lima card

to finish the traded set.

2005 topps chrome

checklist: partial team set compared to flagship

status: complete

2005 topps chrome update

checklist: partial team set compared to flagship

status: incomplete

i am missing the jose valentin card from the update set. it's next in line for my nefarious 9 list of most wanted cards.

2006 topps chrome 

checklist: partial team set compared to flagship

status: complete

there was no update chrome set in 2006, but topps did include some players who would have been in such a set as box toppers to the regular update & highlights release. there are several dodgers on the checklist, but i only have one - chad billingsley:

i would like to collect them all, but i don't consider this to be a typical traded or update chrome set.

2007 topps chrome 

checklist: partial team set compared to flagship

status: complete

beginning with 2004 chrome, topps included autographed cards as part of the set. there were no dodgers, however, until 2007. for a long time, the only card i needed to complete the team set was delwyn young's card - #337 in the set. i found one for a few bucks late last year:

some of you may recall that i completed the blue refractor parallel team set for this release, which thankfully did not include an autograph card.  as in 2006, there were some chrome inserts in 2007 topps update, but since they only exist in refractor form and are inserts, i do not consider them at the same level as "normal" traded chrome sets.

2008 topps chrome 

checklist: partial team set compared to flagship

status: complete

just like 2007, 2008 chrome included a dodger auto in the base set. and, just like 2007, my set was completed once i added this chin-lung hu card

for the third year in a row, there was no update chrome set, but like 2007, there were rookie chrome refractors included in boxes of update & highlights although they were no longer serial numbered. i don't have either the cory wade or the clayton kershaw card, unfortunately.

2009 topps chrome 

checklist: partial team set compared to flagship

status: complete

there were rookie autograph cards included in the 2009 chrome set again (and for the last time), but no dodgers. same story as previous years here with update as far as rookie chrome refractors existing only as inserts to the regular update set. there were two dodgers included on that checklist, and i have them both (xavier paul and jamie hoffmann)

2010 topps chrome 

checklist: partial team set compared to flagship

status: complete

this was a pretty straight forward year for topps chrome. rookie autographs were parallels to non-auto cards in the base set, and the rookie chrome refractors were a thing again in regular update. i don't have any of the three "update" dodgers - jon blink, john ely, and kenley jansen.

2011 topps chrome 

checklist: partial team set compared to flagship

status: complete

topps seems to have done away with the rookie chrome refractor inserts in update this year. 

2012 topps chrome 

checklist: partial team set compared to flagship

status: complete except for photo variation

2012 was the first year that i gave up trying to complete the topps regular team sets for flagship and traded/update, including variations. my collection of these complete team sets runs from 1954 through 2012 flagship, but when update came along, topps included those super short prints of the former red sox players, and to this day i only have the josh beckett card. similarly, topps introduced photo variations in to the chrome set for the first time.

there are 20 variations, falling at a ratio of 1:3 cases. cases! super short print for sure, and so i don't believe i will ever have the matt kemp variation that would complete the set. so, my team set is complete in my mind.

2013 topps chrome

checklist: partial team set compared to flagship

status: complete except for most photo variations

2013 topps chrome update 

checklist: partial team set compared to flagship

status: incomplete 

2013 topps chrome had more super short prints, of which i only have matt kemp's, which is my most recent chrome purchase. even nine years later, i had to pay a fair amount to obtain it. i will show that card in a post in a couple of weeks.

topps reinstated the update chrome set through the debut of the "megabox". the big card was yasiel puig's chrome rookie:

but i still need hyun-jin ryu's rookie as well as brian wilson's card to complete this team set.

2014 topps chrome

checklist: partial team set compared to flagship

status: complete except for photo variations

2014 topps chrome update 

checklist: partial team set compared to flagship

status: complete

same story here regarding photo variations - they exist in ssp form for both puig and ryu - but i do have the complete set otherwise, including the one dodger included in the update set (erisbel arruebarrena).

2015 topps chrome

checklist: partial team set compared to flagship

status: complete 

2015 topps chrome update

checklist: partial team set compared to flagship

status: complete 

in 2015, photo variations were included but only in refractor versions, so even though i don't have joc pederson's card, i don't have to worry about it to consider my non-refractor set complete!

2016 topps chrome

checklist: partial team set compared to flagship

status: complete 

2016 topps chrome update

checklist: partial team set compared to flagship

status: incomplete

refractor photo variations are back in 2016, with kenta maeda and clayton kershaw included in the checklist. they aren't super short printed, but i still need them both. still, as refractors, i don't care too much. in update i am missing julio urias and ross stripling cards.

2017 topps chrome 

checklist: partial team set compared to flagship

status: complete 

2017 topps chrome update 

checklist: partial team set compared to flagship

status: complete 

same story as 2015 here. both sets are complete. for the record there is a clayton kershaw image variation refractor, but that is not the only refractor i am missing.

2018 topps 

checklist: partial team set compared to flagship

status: complete 

2018 topps chrome update

checklist: partial team set compared to flagship

status: complete 

again, the only photo variations are issued only in refractor form. i have the alex verdugo but not the kershaw.

2019 topps chrome

checklist: partial team set compared to flagship

status: complete 

2019 topps chrome update

checklist: partial team set compared to flagship

status: complete 

and again, the only photo variations are issued only in refractor form. for the dodgers, there is only a kershaw card, which i do not own.

2020 topps chrome

checklist: partial team set compared to flagship

status: complete 

2020 topps chrome update

checklist: partial team set compared to flagship

status: complete 

2020 topps chrome took me a little while to complete thanks to the dodger rookies. i eventually received a gavin lux card in trade, and then picked up this dustin may card

to complete my set sometime after he underwent tommy john surgery. for the record, there are photo variation refractors included in this release for cody bellinger and lux, plus a ssp variation of jackie robinson. i don't own any of those.

as for 2020 topps chrome update, david price's card

completed my set sometime late last year.

2021 topps chrome 

checklist: partial team set compared to flagship

status: complete 

2021 topps chrome update 

checklist: partial team set compared to flagship

status: incomplete 

i completed my 2021 topps chrome dodger set earlier this year with this corey seager card

but i haven't even tried to find any dodgers from the update set. it wasn't issued until january of 2022 so i am not too far behind. 

so i am sitting in pretty good shape with the non-refractor sets - i just have a few to complete (ignoring the variations in 2012, 2013, and 2014). as i mentioned up top, i will often add refractors to my collection and i'll finish up this monster post with a few that i've picked up over the last few months.

2002 topps chrome jeff shaw gold refractor

in 2002, the base refractors were "gold" refractors

2004 topps chrome cezar izturis black refractor

unlike in previous years, the black refractors weren't serial numbered in 2004

2005 topps chrome milton bradley black refractor

they were serial numbered in 2005 (to 225), though.

2006 topps chrome nomar garciaparra refractor

shiny, photoshopped nomar.

2014 topps chrome erisbel arruebarrena refractor

i probably should have ended on the nomar high note. 

so much chrome!