The 2022 Topps Baseball card season is well underway, with collectors eagerly waiting to rip open fresh hobby boxes and add new players to their collections. Topps remains the most iconic brand in the industry and their 2022 offerings have brought both improvements and tweaks compared to recent years.
This year’s Topps flagship release features designs and artwork celebrating the fun and nostalgia of America’s pastime. The base card design evokes a classic vintage feel with team logos adorning the borders and bright team colors used throughout. Each card features a primary image of the player in action along with career statistics on the reverse. Parallels and short prints give collectors chase cards to search for within each box.
Base rookie cards for top prospects like Julio Rodriguez, Bobby Witt Jr., and Adley Rutschman are must-own rookie cards for team collectors and investors. Topps produced a large printing of base rookies to meet demand, though short printed parallels and autographed/memorabilia cards of those coveted rookies fetch a premium on the resale market. Veterans and fan favorite players like Mike Trout, Shohei Ohtani, and Fernando Tatis Jr. continue to be some of the set’s most sought-after cards.
The 2022 Topps release saw major improvements in production quality over recent years. Card stock feels thicker and higher grade compared to recent flagship releases. On-card autographs and relic cards from top stars are perfectly centered with crisp inscription/information with far fewer production flaws or quality control issues reported this year. Topps remains the dominant brand, but competition from other companies has driven them to raise production standards.
Key additions for 2022 include the return of Gallery inserts featuring modern superstar headshots with graphic artistic treatments inspired by a previous decade. Stars of the 70s, 80s, and 90s subsets recreate iconic card designs from Topps of that era. Rookie Flashback cards showcase a player’s rookie season stats overlaid with Headshot style photos of them today.
Topps continues efforts aimed at expanding the collector base and driving interest. A wide variety of inserts provide new cards for both experienced collectors and those just starting out. Rainbow Foil Parallels sparkle for those chasing refractors. All-Star subcset cards highlights great performances from the 2022 Midsummer Classic. Topps Chrome Update and Series 2 releases will introduce more rookie cards and short prints throughout the season as well.
The 2022 Topps Baseball Hobby Box contains 12 packs with 11 cards per pack for a total of around 132 total cards including the coveted base rookies and hits. Additional promotional materials include Team Bag or Player Rack packs that are inserted randomly. On average, a hobby box buyer can expect around 2 autographs or memorabilia cards with roughly a 1 in 3 box hit rate of obtaining an on-card autograph. Higher end Memorabilia cards carrying swatches or patches from superstars like Trout, Ohtani, and Tatis add further excitement and chase to the product.
While Jumbo Boxes contain 24 packs and High Number Boxes focus on players card numbers over #399, the standard Hobby Box remains the most accessible and affordable way for collectors to build their core team and player collections. With a $100-125 box price point, ripping 12 packs and adding 100+ new cards to a collection offers an affordable exciting way to participate in the annual collecting cycle.
Though upfront costs have risen over the years, the resell and resale market for rookies, stars and memorabilia means boxes can retain high percentage of their purchase cost over time. Investors seeking to profit may purchase multiple boxes targeting specific hit cards graded and flipped individually. Most longtime collectors are now in it more for enjoyment of the search rather than investment returns. Topps remains the most recognizable and collecting-friendly brand.
Some criticized changes to this year’s release including shortening the print run and holding back serial numbered parallels and autograph editions for more focused high-end ultra luxe releases later in the season. For beginners or average collectors, the standard Hobby Box offers an accessible entry point and hit odds remain fairly strong. When cracking packs of 2022 Topps baseball, the thrill of pulling a base rookie or hitting an on-card auto of a favorite star retains the nostalgic magic that keeps collectors coming back season after season to build relationships with today’s top talent as the cards chronicling their careers are created.
For under $125, a hobby box cracks, pops and hisses with the excitement 12 packs can provide. While cards and values will fluctuate over time, first obtaining and trading for players as their careers develop remains the core DNA of baseball card collecting. After over 70 years, Topps flagship brand sets remain the foundation from which annual collections are built. With solid production values and opportunities inside 2022 boxes to pull stars of both present and future, it is no wonder the traditional hobby box format still excites collectors of all experience levels awaiting the next great reveal from within their packs of cards.
The 2022 release maintains Topps’ role as the leading brand setting the standard, while breathing new life into the collectability and nostalgia that has made cardboard baseball collecting an American tradition for generations. With an engaging fan and collector focused approach this year, Topps seems intent on retaining that title for many more years of chronicling MLB’s greatest players through the cultural touchstone that are their eponymous trading cards. For both experienced collectors and those just embarking on their collecting journeys, flagship Topps baseball cards remain as exciting and nostalgia-evoking as ever with this latest 2022 effort.
