Baseball cards have been a cherished part of American culture for decades. Each year, the major card manufacturers like Topps, Panini, and Leaf release complete sets featuring every player on every major league team. The 2022 season saw some exciting changes and storylines that are reflected in this year’s complete baseball card sets.
Perhaps the biggest storyline of 2022 was Shohei Ohtani’s unprecedented two-way play for the Los Angeles Angels. As both a dominant pitcher and feared slugger at the plate, Ohtani captured the attention and imagination of fans worldwide. His standout rookie season in 2018 created tremendous card value that year, and interest has grown each season since. In 2022, Ohtani appeared prominently in marketing and packaging for flagship sets from Topps, Panini, and Leaf to capitalize on his superstar status. His rookies and base cards from 2022 are some of the most sought after in the current market.
The 2022 season also featured landmark milestones reached by living legends of the game. In April, Albert Pujols launched his 700th career home run, becoming just the fourth player ever to reach that milestone. A month later, Miguel Cabrera collected his 3,000th career hit. These career pinnacles were appropriately memorialized in insert sets focused on career stats and milestones from Topps, Leaf, and Panini. Rarest parallel versions of Pujols’ and Cabrera’s big moment cards can fetch upwards of $500 each from enthusiastic collectors today.
Rookies were also a major storyline in 2022 complete sets after several young stars burst onto the scene. Seiya Suzuki enjoyed a breakout first season with the Cubs after coming over from Japan. Reds fireballer Hunter Greene consistently threw 100+ mph fastballs. Cardinals super prospect Jordan Walker slugged his way through the minors. Complete sets from all manufacturers featured the entire 2022 rookie classes to meet demand from collectors chasing the next stars. Topps Update Series and Bowman Draft are particularly highly sought after for their rookie cards each year.
On the team front, the Houston Astros surprised many by winning the 2022 World Series over the Philadelphia Phillies. This led to increased collector interest in chase parallels and autographed cards of Astros stars like Jose Altuve, Alex Bregman, Justin Verlander, and World Series MVP Jeremy Pena from flagship sets and high-end products. Phillies rookie and breakout players Bryson Stott, Ranger Suarez, and Zack Wheeler also garnered attention after their playoff heroics. Philadelphia and Houston base cards from 2022 saw a boost in value postseason.
For release, Topps remains the industry leader as the exclusive licensee for Major League Baseball cards. Their 2022 Topps Series 1 flagship set includes over 700 cards in the base set covering all 30 teams. Parallels, short prints, autographs, and memorabilia cards beef it up substantially. Panini also released an extensive complete 2022 Prizm Baseball base set of about 600 cards along with luxurious parallels and hit variants. Trading card giant Upper Deck returned to the baseball category with their 2022 Donruss set after an absence. Leaf came back strong as well with their 2022 Valor Baseball offering.
Collectors seeking truly complete 2022 sets face a challenge due to the prevalence of short prints, variations, parallel printing techniques, hit cards, and regional insert sets inserted randomly in packs and boxes from Topps, Panini, and Leaf. Building an entire flagship set from pack to pack can require trading with other collectors on sites like TradingCardDB. High-end graded mint condition examples of certain base rookie cards like Oneil Cruz from Topps Series 1 have already breached $100 just halfway through the offseason.
The 2022 season delivered many compelling storylines and performances captured in the year’s baseball card complete sets. Legendary careers reached new heights, plus a crop of budding young stars emerged in theaters like Houston and Philadelphia during an exciting postseason. Between Shohei Ohtani’s two-way feats, rookie classes, milestones, and champions, 2022 maintained the heritage and nostalgia that makes collecting complete sets of baseball’s finest a tradition unlike any other in sports collecting. The cards from this year are surely poised to retain interest and value for decades to come amongst fans of America’s pastime.
