The 2022 season marked the 75th anniversary of Griffey Jr. baseball cards produced by The Upper Deck Company, better known simply as “Upper Deck.” To commemorate this milestone, Upper Deck launched their Griffey Jr. Masterpieces insert set within the flagship Griffey Jr. baseball card product – Griffey Jr. Greatest Hits.
This highly anticipated insert set featured nine unique works of art created by renowned sports card artists to commemorate Ken Griffey Jr.’s legendary career. With only 99 copies of each card produced, these Griffey Jr. Masterpieces instantly became the most coveted and valuable cards in the 2022 baseball card landscape.
In the weeks following the official release of Griffey Jr. Greatest Hits in early February 2022, individual Masterpieces cards started exchanging hands for thousands of dollars online through groups like Facebook and Reddit dedicated to high-end card collecting. Within the first month, multiple unopened Griffey Jr. Greatest Hits hobby boxes that contained Masterpieces checklist cards retailed for well over $10,000 given the extreme scarcity and demand for these exclusive works of art.
While the true long-term value of the 2022 Griffey Jr. Masterpieces remain to be seen, recent private sales and public auctions have established benchmark prices that are staggering considering the cards are not even a year old yet. In July 2022, card #1 from the Masterpieces set titled “The Natural” and depicting Griffey Jr.’s iconic smooth left-handed swing sold for a record $110,000 through Goldin Auctions.
Other notable 2022 Masterpieces sale prices include card #2 “The Kid” fetching $85,000, card #3 “One For The Books” bringing in $65,000, and card #7 “Smooth As Silk” changing hands privately for $50,000. With extremely limited remaining availability, particularly for the higher numbered cards, pricing is only expected to continue rising at a rapid clip for these exclusive Griffey artwork cards.
Beyond just Griffey Jr.’s Masterpieces, several other 2022 baseball cards have emerged as early season valuations darlings based on obsessive collector demand. Topps’ 2022 Update Series hit store shelves in late August carrying perhaps the most iconic rookie card of all-time – the Mickey Mantle PSA 10. Despite being available in hobby boxes retailing around $100, individual PSA 10 Mantle rookies were instantly crossing the $10,000 threshold upon release.
Within a month of the 2022 Update Series launch, a “perfect” PSA 10 Mantle rookie from the set’s premiere parallel “Orange Refractor” parallel sold on eBay for a record $360,000, smashing expectations for a modern-era card. While the serial numbered orange refractors are significantly scarcer than standard base rookie cards, this sale still fueled massive hype around 2022 Mantle rookies across graded populations. As of November 2022, PSA 10 Mantle rookies from the base 2022 Update Series set have still maintained a resale value of around $15,000 each on the open market.
Aaron Judge’s monstrous 2022 season where he set an American League record with 62 home runs also translated directly to skyrocketing values for his flagship 2022 rookie cards. While high-grade examples of Judge’s 2017 Topps Baseball rookie card have long carried a substantial premium, his earliest inserts from that same season also experienced massive percentage gains.
Judge’s prized 2017 Topps Update Orange Refractor rookie jumped from an average eBay sale price of $2,500 in early 2022 to over $10,000 by season’s end, as collector mania peaked concurrent with his home run chase. Even more scarce parallels like the 1-of-1 Printing Plate from Judge’s 2017 Topps Series 1 rookie debuted mid-season at an auction price of $50,000, leaving little doubt the young slugger has one of the most valuable modern sportscard portfolios already at just 30 years old.
Beyond singles, some 2022 baseball hobby boxes have also developed tremendous value propositions. Archives Signature Series released in June featuring retired star autographs gained popularity due immense hobby-direct sellouts, and boxes can now fetch triple their initial $300 MSRP on the resell market. Even more, Bowman Chrome Hobby Boxes carrying prospects like Julio Rodriguez saw significant post-release appreciation from $300 up to $500-600 per box by season’s end on platforms like eBay.
As the 2023 baseball season looms ahead, recent trends have major implications both for current holders and collectors looking to speculate. Upper Deck appears primed to continue building on Griffey Masterpieces hype, Topps may follow up a massive 2022 Update Series with another year of iconic vintage content, and any new Aaron Judge or top prospects from 2022 will retain a magnified spotlight. With the continued influx of new collectors, scarcity will remain a driving factor for baseball cards valuation in the months ahead.
