2020 Topps On-Demand Set 23: Topps Mini Baseball Forum

I don't know much about this set.  Just slightly confused because took me forever to find the Dave Winfield card.  Would somebody explain to me why it's card number is listed as "556b" instead of "556" which is actually listed on the card? Couldn't the Mini Legnds cards just be listed as an insert set with actual card numbers instead of the "b" designation they currently have?

The short answer, the checklist uploader didn't know what they were doing.  None of the card numbers in the checklist should have "a" or "b".

Mistakes happen.  I understand.  Thanks for the clarification.  I still was able to find the card in question so no harm no foul. 

The site uses the (a) and (b) subletters to help identify variations within the checklist.  Many sets throughout the site have them in various ways.  

For this particular set, it was released with base variations, which then the cards are issued subletters.  These subletters are not physically on the cards.  When used correctly, the (a) and (b) subletter procedures (and sometimes, many more letters are used) are the way the system can track these variations in the collection summary.  For this set, it looks like the basic set is 1,000 cards and the master set is 1,276 cards.  

The subletters should not be in the number field.  They should be moved to the subletter field once the Note and Note2 fields have the proper VAR structure.

Some sets have not had the subletters migrated from the number field.  Please submit an IR to report any sets for this adjustment.

I hope this makes sense.  Thanks, Brian

What is the preferred method for the VAR cards? Some sets skip the (a) designation and start off with (b) like 2019-20 OPC hockey, 2020 Stadium Club and 2022 Topps baseball. A lot of the other sets start with the (a) designation. This mini set is a little bit of a mishmash as the first three VARs start with (b) while the rest start with (a).

I'm not saying one is right and the other wrong. The OCD kicks in when I see these inconsistencies and was wondering if there's a best practice for these types of sets.

Base card is ALWAYS the [a] version, whether or not the [a] gets put in place or not. It is implicit.

There should never be a card 36, then a 36[a], 36[b], etc. It should be either:

36, 36[b], 36[c], etc.
or
36[a], 36[b], 36[c], etc.

Either of those 2 are acceptable on here.

Thanks for the follow up, Dan. I wasn't sure if one method was preferred over the other. Since both are acceptable, that settles it for me.