MAYUMI SETO RETIRING FROM TOPPS MLB LIVING SET

After five years, 480 cards drawn and over 1.8 million cards sold, Mayumi Seto is retiring from the Topps MLB Living Set. Her last card, Hideki Matsui, dropped December 28 on the Topps website.

It will act as a symbolic bookend for Seto’s work on the set, which began with card #1, Aaron Judge.

“I thought it would be nice if I could end with either the same team as Aaron Judge or a Japanese player,” said Seto when deciding who to draw for her final Living Set card. With Matsui, it works for both.

Seto’s artwork kicked off the ongoing set in 2018, offering lifelike interpretations covering several generations of Major League Baseball players. For the first two years, Seto worked solo, starting out with three cards per week before shifting to two.

Jared Kelley joined in 2021 and the pair have split duties doing one card each week for the past two years.

Even with Seto stepping away, the Topps MLB Living Set will continue in 2023 with Kelley. Topps will add a new artist to work with him as well.

For Seto, having Matsui as her final card carries added personal meaning.

“I thought it was rare that my father’s name (Hideki) and Mr. Matsui’s name (Hideki) have exactly the same Kanji characters,” Seto said. “I had never seen anyone around me with the same Kanji and he was one of the players who left a strong impression on me from childhood.”

She also noted how Matsui, like her, was a fan of the Hanshin Tigers growing up.

For many collectors, the Living Set will live as it intended on but Seto’s art will be missed.