2017 Topps Update & Aaron Judge — US1, US99, US148, US166 (and Why There's No Update RC)

If you came here looking for the 2017 Topps Update US189 Aaron Judge All-Star Rookie, here is the short version: that card does not exist. US189 in 2017 Topps Update is Chad Bell, a rookie pitcher for the Tigers. There is no “All-Star Rookie” subset in the set either. This page used to say otherwise, and it was wrong.

What follows is the real checklist, because the actual Update cards are worth knowing.

Aaron Judge’s four cards in 2017 Topps Update

Update Series lands after the flagship Series 1 and Series 2, folding in traded players, mid-year call-ups, the Home Run Derby, and the All-Star Game. Judge’s 2017 was exactly the kind of season Update exists for, and he shows up four times:

• US1 — Home Run Derby. Card number one in the set, from the Derby he won at Marlins Park. The most recognisable of the four.
• US99 — Rookie Debut. The “RD” subset card marking his first big-league appearance.
• US148 — “THE NEXT DYNASTY” (Aaron Judge / Greg Bird). A two-player card.
• US166 — All-Star. The “AS” subset card from his first All-Star selection.

All four are paper flagship stock, all four are cheap and common, and none of them carries the RC logo. Topps also produced Update parallels and printing plates across the checklist, so numbered colour versions of these cards exist. He also has an All-Star Stitches relic, ASR-AJ, in the same set.

Source: the 2017 Topps Update checklist at Baseball Card Pedia (released 18 October 2017). It lists US1 as Judge’s Home Run Derby card, US99 as Rookie Debut, US148 as the Judge/Greg Bird “THE NEXT DYNASTY” card and US166 as his All-Star card — and it lists US189 as Chad Bell, not Judge.

Where his actual rookie cards are

Topps flags one RC per player per year, and for Judge that shield sits on two cards:

• 2017 Topps #287 — the paper base flagship rookie, from Series 1. This is the Judge rookie card. A photo variation (#287, dugout image) exists as a short print.
• 2017 Topps Chrome #169 — the chromium version, and the home of the refractor and colour-parallel ladder. A #169 running-image variation exists here too.

Earlier still are his 2013 Bowman Draft Picks & Prospects cards — base BDPP19 and the Chrome Draft Prospect Autograph BCA-AJ — issued the year the Yankees drafted him. Those are prospect cards, not rookies, and the auto sits at the top of his market regardless.

Why the confusion happens

Three things pull in the same direction and produce a card that isn’t real:

1. Update is where breakout rookies usually get their flagship rookie card. For most players who debut mid-season that’s true — but Judge debuted in August 2016 and Topps skipped him in 2016 Update, so his RC landed in 2017 Series 1 instead.
2. Topps’ All-Star Rookie Cup honour sounds like an Update subset. It isn’t; the Rookie Cup is printed on a base card in a later flagship set. Judge’s 2018 Topps card is #1 in that year’s Series 1.
3. Update has both an “All-Star” subset and a “Rookie Debut” subset, and Judge has one of each. Blend the two names and you invent an “All-Star Rookie.”

How to buy the right card

• Match the card number to the card back, not the listing title. US1, US99, US148 and US166 are the Judge Update cards. A listing that says “US189 Judge” is describing a Chad Bell card or has the number wrong.
• For a real rookie, buy #287 or Chrome #169 — see the rookie cards guide for how the two compare.
• For a keeper, buy it graded (PSA or SGC) and match the cert number to the photos. Weigh whether grading a raw copy pays with the grading ROI calculator.
• Always check sold comps in the exact grade before you buy — see what’s it worth.

Where to go next

• Compare his two RC-logo rookies side by side in the rookie cards guide.
• Work out what your budget buys with the buyer’s ladder.
• Pin down a copy’s current market with the Judge card value checker.
• Decide whether to slab a raw copy with the PSA 10 vs raw guide, or browse the full catalogue from the Aaron Judge trading cards hub.