This year's first installment of Topps baseball cards is almost here in the form of 2025 Topps Series 1 and with some sleuthing, we've made our picks for 12 standard cards that are stand out from the pack this time.

Sure, there will be more to chase -- and likely even more interesting photos among the planned variations -- but here are some notables from the base cards we've seen so far in advance of its Feb. 12 arrival -- get yours at the link above.

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Taylor Ward -- OF, Los Angeles Angels
This is a pretty standard photo maximizing the looseness of a horizontal frame and yet it's still properly cropped and clean. Why would a simple image make the list? His Players' Weekend Victus No. 2 pencil bat, of course -- see it in action here.

Keep reading for the rest of this dandy dozen from Series 1 ... and for a look at almost the entire base set after that.

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From time to time, Buzz will break a box of something and post the results here. Like this and want to see more? Or maybe there's a box you'd want to see busted? Send Buzz an email at BlowoutBuzz@blowoutcards.com.

The box: 2018 Topps Big League baseball cards (blaster box)
Where to buy: BlowoutCards.com

Packs per box: 24
Cards per pack: 10
Cards in this box: 240
Base set completion: 
199 of 400 (50 percent)
Duplicates: 0

Base cards – Mike Trout, Manny Machado, Alex Rodriguez, Paul Goldschmidt, Pedro Martinez, Mariano Rivera, Cody Bellinger, Ted Williams, Carlos Correa, Johnny Bench, Ernie Banks, Anthony Rizzo, Frank Thomas, Giancarlo Stanton, John Smoltz, Rickey Henderson, Sandy Koufax, Kris Bryant, Alex Bregman, Corey Seager, Nolan Ryan, Bryce Harper, Clayton Kershaw, Albert Pujols, Dansby Swanson, Andrew Benintendi

Rookie Cards (20) – Shohei Ohtani, Brian Anderson, Francisco Mejia, Luiz Gohara, Richard Urena, Franchy Cordero, Nicky Delmonico, Gleyber Torres, Felix Jorge, Rhys Hoskins, Jack Flaherty, Walker Buehler, Dominic Smith, Clint Frazier, Austin Hays, Sandy Alcantara, Lourdes Gurriel Jr., Andrew Stevenson, J.P. Crawford, Brandon Woodruff

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