The 2022 Topps Baseball complete set contains several highly sought after rookie and star player cards that command a premium on the secondary market. While the standard base cards in the set have relatively low values, there are certain parallels, short prints, and rookie cards that can be quite valuable. Let’s take a closer look at some of the most expensive cards collectors are seeking from the 2022 Topps Baseball release.
Perhaps the most valuable standard card in the set is the Mike Trout base card. As one of the best players of his generation, Trout cards consistently hold strong value. The 2022 Topps Trout base in a PSA 10 Gem Mint grade has sold for over $100. While not exceptionally rare in the set, the prized Trout rookie cards from 2009 and 2011 Topps are out of most collector’s budgets, making his current base cards very desirable.
Rookie cards typically drive some of the highest prices in modern sets. The 2022 Topps release featured several top prospects like Julio Rodriguez of the Seattle Mariners who had a breakout rookie campaign. His base rookie card has sold for around $30-40 raw, with PSA 10 examples bringing over $100. Fellow rookies Spencer Strider of the Atlanta Braves and Bobby Witt Jr. of the Kansas City Royals also have desirable rookie cards valued around $20-30 raw.
Parallel and short print cards with lower printed amounts provide the biggest opportunities for high value pulls. The silver pack parallel of Rodriguez’s rookie has changed hands for $150 raw, with gem mint PSA 10’s selling for over $400. Perhaps the most sought after parallel is Acuna Jr.’s red parallel /50. Acuna is one of the game’s brightest young stars and his low numbered parallel rarely sells for under $300 raw, with a PSA 10 potentially reaching $1,000+.
One of the toughest cards to find in the standard release is the Luis Robert short print. Only appearing around 1 per case of boxes, his SP base sells for $50-75 raw and $150+ graded gem mint. Trout also has an elusive SP that has sold PSA 10 for $500 given his star power combined with the short print scarcity. Finding parallel or short print versions of elite prospects like Oneil Cruz or Bobby Witt Jr. also provides a big payday for savvy collectors.
Among the retail exclusive cards, the Walmart Blue Refractor parallels offer some of the best odds at high value hits. Acuna’s /50 blue refractor changed hands for around $250 raw, while a Rodriguez /50 graded a pristine PSA 10 Gem Mint sold for a staggering $1,600. Of course, the biggest prizes are 1/1 printing plates and autographs. An Acuna autograph plate sold for over $3,000 while a Witt Jr. on-card auto fetched close to $2,000.
For those who completed the full 2022 Topps base set, the elite tier flagships parallels provide some payout potential. The gold parallel /2021 and superfractor 1/1 are always hot commodities. A gold Trout sold for around $400 raw and $1,000 PSA Gem Mint 10 grade. Superfractors of stars like Tatis Jr. or Soto would easily be worth thousands to the right collectors. Completing prestigious insert and hit subsets like Topps Living Set, Rainbow Foil, and Father’s Day also helps add long term value to the full collection.
While base cards are cheap to complete the set, savvy collectors look to target the short prints, parallels, and prized rookies that offer the potential for real profit down the line. As decades of baseball card history has shown, Topps rookie cards of future Hall of Famers like Rodriguez or green parallels of emerging talents like Acuna or Robert have solid odds to gain enormous value with time. For those willing to gamble on hits and hunt the scarce cards, the 2022 Topps Baseball release provides an exciting modern collecting experience.
