The 2023 St. Louis Cardinals baseball season is highly anticipated after the team’s playoff appearance in 2022. As spring training begins, fans are looking forward to following all the action on the field and collecting the newest Cardinals baseball cards.
Cardinals fans will have plenty of options to add to their collections in 2023. Topps, Panini, Leaf, and other card companies will be releasing sets featuring current Cardinals stars and prospects throughout the year. Rookies like Jordan Walker and Masyn Winn may garner lots of attention from collectors in their first card issues. Veterans Paul Goldschmidt, Nolan Arenado, and Adam Wainwright will remain popular veterans to find.
One of the first major releases will be 2023 Topps Series 1. This flagship set is scheduled to hit shelves in late February or early March. It will feature over 300 cards focusing on the 2023 MLB season. Base cards will show each player in action shots from the previous year. Top rookies and stars can be found with photo variations, autographs, and memorabilia cards inserted randomly in packs and boxes. Series 1 is a great starting point for any Cardinals collection.
In April, Topps Heritage will arrive with a retro design inspired by baseball cards from the late 1960s. The minimalist look features team logos and player poses from that era. Heritage parallels the current season but uses a throwback style. Cardinals collectors will enjoy finding their favorite players recreated in the classic design. Heritage is also known for including popular retired stars in addition to active players.
Later in the spring, Topps Series 2 will release with another batch of base cards and special parallels. By this point in the season, the Cardinals roster may have seen some changes through injuries, trades, or call-ups from the minors. Series 2 helps keep collections current. Insert sets in Series 2 often focus on specific stats, milestones, or award winners from the first couple months of play.
The summer brings more options like Topps Chrome and Stadium Club. Chrome features refractors and other photo variations on the base design. Stadium Club is renowned for its elegant photography and memorabilia pieces. Both sets are popular for high-end hits of top Cardinals like Goldschmidt, Arenado, and Wainwright. Limited parallels make rare pulls very collectible.
In 2023, Panini will launch its Donruss baseball set in addition to continuing its Contenders, Flawless, and Prizm lines. Donruss returns to the baseball card market for the first time in decades with a retro design and focus on current rookies and stars. Contenders mixes base cards with on-card autographs and relics. Flawless and Prizm offer ultra-high-end cards with exquisite photography on luxurious materials. All provide collectors opportunities at iconic Cardinals autographs and memorabilia.
Come August and September, Topps Update and Finest arrive. Update supplements the base sets with new players, stats from the season so far, and playoff chase parallels as teams make their runs. Finest uses vivid photography and foil accents on a small set highlighting the game’s elite. Collectors look for their favorite Redbirds amongst the polished Finest cards.
Throughout the year, specialty sets from Leaf, Panini, Topps, and others will also hit the market. Tribute honors Cardinals legends. Archives revisits iconic designs. Allen & Ginter features fun inserts alongside sports cards. Triple Threads and Sterling provide autographed memorabilia. And Bowman focuses on top prospects in the Cardinals system that could be tomorrow’s stars.
Whether chasing base cards, parallels, autographs, or memorabilia, 2023 promises to deliver outstanding options for building a Cardinals collection. With a talented roster led by perennial All-Stars and a playoff contender, the Redbirds are sure to generate lots of excitement. Their players will be prominently featured across the upcoming season’s new baseball card releases. Fans can’t wait to see how the action unfolds both on the field and in their collections throughout 2023.
