The 2022 Topps baseball card release marks another iconic year for the legendary brand as it continues its run as the official Major League Baseball licensed card producer. Topps has produced baseball cards since 1951 and remains the most popular and recognizable brand in the hobby. The 2022 Topps set features cards of all MLB players and teams from the 2021 season.
Some of the top rookies featured in the 2022 Topps set that collectors are eager to find include Julio Rodriguez of the Seattle Mariners, Bobby Witt Jr. of the Kansas City Royals, and Spencer Strider of the Atlanta Braves. All three players had impressive debut seasons in 2021 and are expected to be future stars in the league. Rodriguez in particular generated a lot of buzz by making the Mariners roster out of spring training and hitting 13 home runs as a 21-year-old. His cards are highly sought after.
The design of the 2022 Topps base set pays homage to some classic Topps designs from the 1980s and 1990s with a clean white border surrounding each photo. The team logo is prominently displayed at the top of the card along with the player’s name and position. Stats from the 2021 season like batting average, home runs, and RBI are listed on the back. Parallels and short prints of star players can be found throughout the base set which runs 670 cards total.
In addition to the base set, Topps also released multiple special insert sets within the 2022 release. The “Topps Now” set features cards commemorating big moments from the 2021 season that happened after the main Topps series was finalized. Notable cards in this set include Shohei Ohtani’s record-setting 46th home run and Vladimir Guerrero Jr’s 45th home run. The “Topps Gold Label” parallel inserts feature foil lettering and numbering on a gold background. Superstar players like Mike Trout, Ronald Acuña Jr., and Juan Soto can be found in this prestigious subset.
Another highly anticipated insert set is the annual “Topps Heritage” release which pays tribute to classic Topps designs from the 1950s-1970s. This retro-styled set is a fan-favorite and includes parallels on different colored stock. Top rookies like Bobby Witt Jr. and Julio Rodriguez received cards in the Heritage design that have additional collector demand. Topps also produced a “Super Short Prints” variation set with only 10 copies of each card inserted randomly in packs. Finding one of these 1/1 variations of star players is the holy grail for collectors.
In addition to the standard English version of the 2022 Topps release, the company also produced sets specifically for the Japanese, Korean, and Chinese markets. These international releases feature the same basic designs but with translations of the text and stats on the cards to those regions’ languages. They provide collectors outside North America an opportunity to build full rookie card sets of MLB players popular in their home countries.
On the resale market, the most valuable rookie cards from the 2022 Topps set are already commanding big prices. A Julio Rodriguez autograph card from Topps Chrome sold for over $1,000 on eBay just months after the product’s release date. Bobby Witt Jr. and Spencer Strider rookie autographs are also trading in the $500-800 range. Top rookies without autographs can still fetch $50-100 depending on the player and parallel. Star veterans like Mike Trout, Shohei Ohtani, and Juan Soto will always hold value from Topps releases too due to their consistent superstar production.
While the physical card hobby remains hugely popular, Topps has also capitalized on the growing interest in digital and blockchain-based collectibles. The company partnered with Candy Digital to release limited edition NFTs (non-fungible tokens) of Topps cards on the Wax blockchain. These digital cards have unique serial numbers and can be traded online. Topps also produced NFT versions of entire sets like Topps Chrome and Topps Heritage. The integration of physical and digital collecting has expanded Topps’ brand reach to a new generation of collectors.
The 2022 Topps baseball card release continues the brand’s tradition as the most iconic and collectible MLB card on the market. Rookie stars, parallels, inserts, and international versions all add to the excitement of chasing this latest offering. Topps sets the gold standard that other card companies strive to reach both in product quality and secondary market value held by their cards. As long as Topps produces new issues each year, their releases will remain a fundamental part of the baseball card collecting experience.
