The 2023 MLB baseball season is fast approaching, which means new baseball cards featuring the latest rookie stars and veteran superstars will be hitting store shelves soon. The MLB baseball card industry continues to thrive as collectors young and old look to build their collections with the latest releases.
Topps has been the dominant brand in baseball cards for decades now and will once again be the major producer of packs, boxes, and sets for the 2023 season. Some of the Topps flagship products collectors can expect to see include Series 1, Series 2, Allen & Ginter, Stadium Club, and Topps Chrome. These sets will feature the entire MLB roster of players and include parallels, autographs, and memorabilia cards that can be quite valuable for the right players. Series 1 is usually the first major release each year in late February or March and serves as the baseline roster set for collectors. Series 2 then follows in the summer with additional players and any midseason roster changes. Allen & Ginter and Stadium Club provide more premium card designs compared to the main Series sets. Topps Chrome highlights refractors and other “chrome” style parallel cards that are popular with collectors.
In addition to Topps, other card manufacturers like Panini will continue putting out competitive baseball card products. Panini’s main MLB licensed set each year is Donruss, which offers a retro design style different than Topps. The 2023 Donruss release will feature a new photo-variation subset that collectors can hunt for. Panini also produces Contenders and Prizm, which are higher-end releases that focus on short prints, autographs, and memorabilia. These sets from Panini provide collectors an alternative to Topps and can be a good way to build a more unique collection.
When it comes to the hottest rookie cards to watch for in 2023, names like Gunnar Henderson, Emerson Hancock, and Druw Jones are likely to be at the top of many collectors’ want lists. Henderson had a breakout season in 2022 for the Baltimore Orioles and could be their future star at third base. Jones, the son of baseball legend Andruw Jones, was the number 2 overall pick in the 2022 draft by the Arizona Diamondbacks and will likely be one of their first prospects to debut. Hancock is one of the Atlanta Braves’ highly touted pitching prospects that could make his MLB debut next season. These rookies and others like them have the potential to be the new big stars in baseball, so their rookie cards from 2023 will be key cards for collectors to pursue.
On the veteran side, superstar cards like Mike Trout, Shohei Ohtani, and Ronald Acuna Jr. will remain highly sought after and hold strong value. Trout in particular has long been the golden goose of baseball cards as one of the greatest players of all time. His rare rookie cards from 2009 and earlier Topps Flagship parallels are some of the holy grails that can sell for tens of thousands. Even Trout’s modern base cards command prices well above other players due to his dominance and popularity. Ohtani has emerged as the new dual-threat star of MLB in recent years, making his cards another smart long-term investment. Acuna’s comeback from injury will also make his 2023 cards popular as collectors anticipate him returning to superstar form for the Atlanta Braves.
With the MLB season fast approaching and new stars and storylines developing every year, the 2023 baseball card season is primed to be another exciting one for collectors. Between flagship releases from Topps and competitive products from Panini and others, there will be no shortage of options for finding the latest cards of favorite players. Following the hot rookies like Gunnar Henderson and pursuing vintage stars in Trout and Acuna will be strategies many collectors employ. Whether collecting for fun, investment, or both, 2023 shapes up to provide memorable cardboard to commemorate another year in Major League Baseball history.
