The 2022 Major League Baseball season saw the return of fans filling ballparks after two years impacted by COVID-19 restrictions. As players took the field again in front of capacity crowds, collectors and investors turned their attention to the latest offerings from Topps, the sport’s longest tenured trading card manufacturer.
Topps released seven baseball card products in 2022 spanning Series 1-2, Allen & Ginter, Stadium Club, Topps Chrome, Heritage, and Allen & Ginter X. With the hobby continuing to boom in popularity fueled by the pandemic, demand and secondary market prices for many of the year’s most sought after rookie cards and parallels reached new heights.
Topps Series 1 wasReleased on March 16th and featured cards of reigning American League MVP Shohei Ohtani along with rookie phenoms like Bobby Witt Jr. and Julio Rodriguez. The base card for Ohtani’s Series 1 debuted around $10-15 but some of his parallels like the Gold /2021 sold for over $400. Witt Jr.’s base rookie commanded $30-50 while Rodriguez’s jumped up to $100-150 as he started to turn heads in Spring Training. By season’s end with both rookies excelling in the majors, their Series 1 RC’s skyrocketed to $500-1000 each.
Series 2 followed on May 4th headlined by big name rookies like Spencer Strider and Grayson Rodriguez. Strider’s base card traded for $15-25 initially but exploded over the summer as he emerged as a breakout starter for the Atlanta Braves, peaking above $300. Rodriguez, a top pitching prospect for the Baltimore Orioles saw early interest in his Series 2 RC around $50-75 with expectation he’d debut later in 2022. Refractors and parallels of both rookies multiplied in value far beyond their base cards.
The Allen & Ginter set arrived on June 8th with its trademark retro design and mix of baseball players and non-sport subjects. While base cards held relatively stable pricing, rare hits could fetch enormous sums. Trout’s /5 Auto Patch parallel sold for nearly $9,000. A Acuna Jr. Auto Patch /25 traded hands around $2,500. Rookie phenoms like Oneil Cruz and Emerson Hancock also found strong collector demand for autographed and memorabilia cards despite being less touted names at the time of A&G’s release compared to later in their debut seasons.
Topps Stadium Club debuted on June 22nd known for its high-gloss photography and Archive parallel inserts showcasing classic uniforms and stadiums. Big name stars and stars-in-the-making received extra collector attention. Witt Jr’s Chrome /99 Auto sold for over $1,200. A Rodríguez negative Chrome Auto /35 moved for close to $900. For pitchers, Hunter Greene and Cole Winn drew a buzz around $100-200 each for their base RCs which later multiplied in value as Greene in Cincinnati and Winn in Seattle impressed as rookies.
The highly anticipated Topps Chrome baseball product followed on August 3rd delivering more flashy Chrome and Refractor parallels of the year’s top rookie class. Witt Jr., Rodríguez and Strider saw Chrome and Refractor RCs reach the $300-700 range each initially. Of all flagship rookies packs that year, Chrome contained some of the most valuable hits on the secondary market. A Witt Jr. Negative Auto /25 cracked $2,500 in online sales. Strider Superfractor 1/1s commanded bids up to $4,000. Greene and catcher Adley Rutschman RCs also scored big returns for savvy investors.
Heritage Minors arrived August 17th with a retro design highlighting minor leaguers poised to make an impact. One of the set’s most talked about cards became Emerson Hancock’s Gold Border Auto /50 which spiked above $600 based on his breakout season with the Mariners organization. Even base RCs for rookie names like Matt Brash, Cade Cavalli and Brewer Hicklen held mid-double digits in secondary pricing, outperforming expectations for the Heritage Minors brand.
Allen & Ginter X dropped September 21st carrying forward Ginter’s memorabilia inserts blended with baseball stars and special parallel ratios. A Witt Jr. Dual Relic Green Auto /25 jumped to $1,100, capping off his outstanding rookie campaign. Rodríguez obtained buzz from a Printing Plate 1/1 that sold around $2,000. Strider, Greene and others maintained strong PC demand within their Allen & Ginter X rookie parallel offerings too. In the final product of the year, collectors looked to get future HOF investments like Trout, Ohtani and Acuna Jr. high-end versions before prices rose even more in 2023.
As the 2022 season wrapped, the rookie classes’ flagships from Series 1/2 and Topps Chrome especially appreciated tremendously. Series 1 Witt was listed between $800-1200 by winter. His RC Chrome Refractor climbed above $1500. Rodríguez’s Series 1 settled in the $700-1000 range with Chrome RCs pushing $1200-1500 as well depending on parallel. Strider saw Topps Chrome Refractor demand skyrocket his RC north of $900 following his breakout All-Star campaign.
Heading into 2023, collectors are anticipating another banner year for the hobby from Topps with Aaron Judge’s free agency and a strong crop of newcomers like Oneil Cruz, Emerson Hancock and rookies from the 2022 MLB Draft like Druw Jones all presenting new investment opportunities. With increased interest from both casual fans and serious card investors, prices for the highest valued parallels, autographs and memorabilia cards issued by the iconic brand are likely to remain robust.
