Target continues to be one of the best retail stores for finding coveted new baseball cards each year. In 2022, Target received shipments of two highly anticipated new card releases – Topps Bowman and Topps Chrome Baseball. Both of these sets feature the game’s top prospects and biggest stars on beautiful photography focused cardboard. Let’s take a deeper look at what collectors could find at Target for these 2022 baseball card releases.
The 2022 Bowman release continues Topps tradition of highlighting up and coming minor leaguers in their prospect heavy set. As usual, the big draws for Bowman are the autographed rookie card parallels that can be pulled. Finding a rookie auto, especially for a player like Julio Rodriguez who went on to win AL Rookie of the Year, can yield a valuable card. Target received shipments of Bowman blaster boxes, hanger packs, and singles packs. The blasters at $25 MSRP offered 6 packs with chances at the top rookies like Bobby Witt Jr. and prospects like Gunnar Henderson. Hangers at $10 had 3 packs inside. Bowman base cards can still carry value as fans look to collect full rainbow sets with various parallels like refractors, green shimmer, and special blue paper. Target also had Bowman’s Best blasters that focus more on current MLB players.
Moving into the summer months, Target then received shipments of Topps Chrome baseball cards, another photography focused choice for collectors. The design of Topps Chrome plays to its strengths, with sharp closeup pictures on a thick refracting card stock. This gives the cards a high end appeal even in the modern baseball card market. Target had Topps Chrome blister packs usually containing 2 to 3 packs inside. Each pack contains only 4 cards but has the potential to yield hits like autographs, memorabilia cards, or prized refractors of current stars. The biggest star player cards like Mike Trout, Shohei Ohtani, and Ronald Acuña Jr refractors demand the highest prices. Chrome Update and Series 2 continue the theme through the end of the year as well.
While Target receives shipments sporadically throughout the year, certain date ranges saw some of the largest stock availability for both Bowman and Chrome. In late April and early May, just after the official Bowman release date, Target stores received multiple replenishments of Bowman products on the shelves. Collector traffic was high during this period with fans eager to rip packs. Similarly, late June through mid-July marked a prime time to check for Topps Chrome at Target. Weekends especially saw restocks intended to meet collector demand during these key baseball card release windows.
Beyond the mainstream flagship card releases, Target also carried other niche and commemorative baseball card products in 2022. Allen & Ginter and Stadium Club showed up on shelves throughout the summer. Both sets feature unique photo variations and parallels within each packed. And as baseball’s postseason began in October, Target put out limited edition playoff cards as well as series specific collector boxes for teams like the Astros and Phillies featuring their 2022 rosters.
While demand remains sky high for new releases, some diligent collectors found success at Target by checking back frequently for restocks rather than just on official street dates. Early morning and late evening visits on weekdays often caught stockers in the process of loading shelves. And talking to Target team members, especially in higher volume stores, about expected shipment times proved helpful for some hobbyists eager for a retail score. Competition grows every year, but the right Target at the right time still gave baseball card collectors chances in 2022 to land coveted rookie pulls and sought after refractors outside the secondary marketplace. Going forward, Target’s participation in the trading card game shows no signs of slowing as they aim to be a consistent supplier for this expanding collector base.
In summary, Target provided many baseball card fans opportunities in 2022 to add flagship releases like Bowman and Chrome to their collections at MSRP. Both sets delivered prospects and stars on memorable photography centered designs. While availability fluctuated based on wider market forces, diligent in-store hunting or maintaining relationships with retail partners gave collectors chances for prized retail hits outside the high prices of the reseller scene. And with Target showing no signs of stepping back from trading cards, their shelves will remain top retail spots in the future for finding the next stars of the game on cardboard.
