The 2022 Topps Baseball Series 2 release contained a variety of highly sought-after rookie cards and parallels that have already proven to be quite valuable in the months since its release. As with most modern baseball releases from Topps that include star rookies, this set offered collectors a chance at capturing big names like Bobby Witt Jr. early in plastic.
Some of the standout rookies in Series 2 who have already seen strong early value growth include Kansas City Royals star Bobby Witt Jr. The standard Witt Jr. base rookie card has steadily been a $20-30 card since release. Parallels and short prints have seen much stronger percentages gains. The Witt Jr. rainbow foil parallel increased over 300% in the months after release, while harder-to-find short prints surpassed $100-200 each according to tracking on platforms like eBay.
Another rookie to watch is highly-touted Seattle Mariners prospect Julio Rodriguez. While not quite at the superstar level of Acuña or Soto rookie seasons past, Julio showed MVP-caliber tools in his brief debut and will be a centerpiece for the Mariners future. His standard base card has gained over 100% already to the $15-20 range. Parallels like gold foil and refractors have 2-3x’d as well since the Series 2 release date. Julio remains one of the safer bets to maintain value long term among the eligible rookies in the set.
Beyond rookies, the 2022 Topps Series 2 release featured several valuable veteran and parallel cards that collectors were eager to find. For example, the Mike Trout black bordered parallel gained over 200% since release and routinely sells in the $50-80 range on the secondary market. The parallel features Trout in an Angels uniform on card #150, making it a iconic subset piece for serious Trout collectors. Other valuable veteran parallels included cards like the Ronald Acuña Jr. Hot Box Auto parallel which increased over 500% to the $150-250 range or the rainbow foil parallels of stars like Shohei Ohtani and Juan Soto that 2-3x’d as well.
Autograph cards remained highly sought after for established stars and prospects alike. The Bobby Witt Jr. autographed parallel skyrocketed over 1500% since release thanks to the hype surrounding the Royals top prospect. Other fast risers on the autographed front included the Julio Rodriguez and Adley Rutschman rookies, increasing 400-600% each. Veterans autos like Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani also routinely eclipse the $100 mark each on the secondary market. The autograph market for Series 2 remained very strong compared to recent Series 1 releases.
error came in the form of printing plate autographs, which are essentially uncut sheets containing the negative of the card image and an autograph. These 1/1 printing plates became some the most valuable Series 2 cards, routinely selling in the $500-1000 range for stars like Aaron Judge, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Cody Bellinger. The absolute rarest printing plate was a 1/1 Tom Seaver signed sheet that went for nearly $2000 shortly after release according to PWCC Marketplace sale data.
While base rookie cards and star autographed cards garnered the headlines, collector’s also paid strong premiums for mistake cards or production errors in the 2022 Topps Series 2 checklist. Perhaps the most notable error was the “Wander wrong uniform” printing plate, featuring prospect Wander Franco in a Tampa Bay Rays jersey despite being traded to the Rays ahead of Series 2 production. These are considered among the most identifiable and notorious printing errors in recent memory. They routinely eclipse $250-500+ each based on recent eBay sales.
Other randomly inserted short prints like the “rainbow foil” parallel variations of major stars also rose sharply. For example, the Juan Soto and Shohei Ohtani rainbow foils increased 200-300% since release. The “Stars of MLB History” short prints highlighting legends like Nolan Ryan were also in high demand, with examples selling in the $50-100 range. Even the basic glitter parallel cards that were inserted roughly 1:100 packs gained 50-100% due to collector focus on parallel variants this year.
In addition to cards, trading card hobby boxes of 2022 Topps Series 2 also increased in value on the resell market. Hobby boxes were initially released at standard $90 MSRP around release in June 2022 but have settled into a steady $150-180 preowned price now due to strong initial demand and interest from breakers. Some premium retail products like “Mega Boxes” containing 30 packs have seen an even stronger percentage gain of over 150% above MSRP. Overall the 2022 Topps Series 2 set captured the baseball card community attention and saw many valuable cards emerge even just a few months following release date. With valuable rookies, stars autographed inserts and short prints, there remains strong sustained interest in the various hits collectors found inside. Based on recent positive performance, 2022 Topps Series 2 is primed to remain one of the stronger modern issues in the years to come. Key cards seem poised to maintain and potentially increase further in value long term.
