Tiffany

Tiffany: From 1984 to 1991 Topps produced a special high grade "premium" version of its Topps, Topps Traded and Bowman sets. Dubbed the "Tiffany" sets, these sets were sold exclusively to Topps' hobby dealers as a factory set only, and were marketed to collectors interested in an "investment quality" set.

The sets were printed by Topps' European division in Ireland, who also produced the regular Topps Traded sets. Like the Traded sets, the Tiffany cards were printed on high-grade white card stock (as opposed to the "shoebox gray" stock that the regular cards were printed on) and finished with a high-gloss coating. The production of the sets was never publicly released, however the earlier sets ('84, '85 and '86 Topps and '89 Bowman) are believed to be in very limited supply.

With the advent of "premium" and "super-premium" brands like Stadium Club, and the lack of interest in these sets, Topps discontinued the Tiffany line in 1991. However, Topps brought back the Tiffany concept for its "2000 Topps Limited Edition" set. Beckett recognizes Tiffany as a parallel, and as such, makes them ineligible for the coveted "RC" tag. In fact, you could make the argument the Topps Tiffany was the first "parallel brand."