Baseball Trading Cards in 2023: What to Expect in the Upcoming Season
The 2023 baseball season is right around the corner, which means new baseball cards are on their way to store shelves and online retailers. Each new season brings with it a fresh crop of rookie cards, special parallels, inserts and more to collect. While we don’t know all the details yet of what specific cards and sets will be released next year, here’s a look at some of the trends in baseball cards and what collectors can generally expect to find in 2023.
Top Licensed MLB Sets: The biggest licensed MLB sets that collectors look forward to each year from the major trading card companies will no doubt continue into 2023. Topps, Panini, Leaf and others pay top dollar for the MLB licensing rights and produce high-end flagship sets as their centerpiece products. Expect flagship releases like Topps Series 1, Topps Chrome, Bowman, Bowman Draft and Bowman Sterling. These sets feature current stars, prospects, parallels and short prints that drive the hobby. Variations like autographed and memorabilia cards in these sets can be big ticket collector items.
Rookie Class of 2023: Each new season brings a fresh crop of top MLB rookies to chase. The class of 2023 is expected to be headlined by players like Druw Jones (Braves), Jackson Holliday (Orioles) and Termarr Johnson (Marlins). Their base rookie cards in flagship sets will be hot commodities for collectors at the start of the season. Premium parallels, autographs and memorabilia cards of these rookies could gain serious value if they get off to strong MLB starts. Keep an eye out also for other top prospects who may debut like Elijah Green, Brock Porter and Dylan Lesko.
New Insert Sets: Insert sets within the major releases provide collector variety beyond the base cards. Expect flagships like Topps, Bowman and Panini to roll out new, limited parallel insert sets within their products in 2023. Popular past examples include Topps Chrome ‘Refractors’, Bowman Chrome prospects and colored parallels. New insert themes tend to focus on milestones, achievements and special player performance stats from the prior season that make certain cards more coveted. These limited parallel cards drive set completion among collectors.
Retired Player Autographs: As favorite stars from the past few generations continue to retire, their autographed cards remain in high demand. Look for the major companies to release sets focused around retired player autographs through the year. Recent examples include Topps Tribute and Allen & Ginter’s autographed memorabilia cards of Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera and others. Newly retired stars like Justin Verlander, Zack Greinke and potential Hall of Famers could be featured in such sets next year.
Special Parallel Markets: Parallel card markets beyond the flagship releases continue to explode in popularity. High-end, limited parallel sets from companies like Topps, Panini and Leaf generate big collector buzz. Examples are Topps Chrome ‘Refractors’, Bowman Sterling and Donruss Optic parallels. These ultra-high end releases feature serial numbered, on-card autographs and memorabilia cards of current stars. Parallels number from only 5 to 25 copies, driving prices into the thousands. As parallel technology improves, these types of products will remain hot in 2023.
Vintage Reprints: Reprints of iconic vintage cards from the early 20th century remain a big business. Products like Topps Heritage and Allen & Ginter regularly reprint classic T206 tobacco cards, 1952 Topps and other vintage designs. These reprints drive nostalgia demand. For 2023, look for continued releases spotlighting the earliest decades of the game through to the 1960s. Reprints paired with new players generate crossover appeal between vintage and modern collectors.
E-Sports & Digital Platforms: The integration of physical baseball cards with digital/e-sports platforms is a major emerging trend. Examples are Topps Digital apps and Panini’s PANINI Instant platform. These allow collectors to not only obtain virtual versions of physical cards, but also incorporate the cards into online fantasy/gamification features. Expect further developments along these lines in 2023 that will open new collector demographics and applications beyond the traditional hobby.
While there is no way to know every specific release that will arrive, based on recent trends it’s clear that 2023 promises to be another big year for baseball card collectors. The combination of rising star rookies, inserts, parallels, autographs and new technologies will keep the hobby thriving. For those collecting cards of their favorite players and teams, it should be an exciting season of chasing cards both new and vintage.
