Opening Day 2022 was a highly anticipated day for baseball fans across the country as it officially kicked off another season after a full 162-game schedule in 2021. Opening day also held special significance for collectors of baseball cards as several companies released new sets featuring the sport’s biggest stars to commemorate the start of the new season.
Topps, the longest tenured and best-selling brand in the hobby, had two major opening day releases. The flagship Topps Series 1 set featured a redesigned look after fan criticism of designs in recent years. The 336-card base set highlighted every team’s projected starting lineup and rotation along with standout rookies and prospects. As is tradition, the first card in the set was an action shot of last year’s World Series MVP, Jorge Soler. Topps also paid homage to the career achievements of superstars Albert Pujols, Miguel Cabrera, and Yadier Molina by creating special extended base cards with more stats and accomplishments for the trio of future Hall of Famers.
In addition, Topps released an opening day parallel set titled Photoshop featuring enhanced photo variations of key cards. These included a gold parallel featuring heightened colors and added graphics or effects on photos of stars like Shohei Ohtani, Fernando Tatis Jr., and Ronald Acuña Jr. The brand also offered Genesis parallels with laser-cut foil designs on a limited number of cards per box or pack. The redesigned Series 1 set and additional photoshop variants were well-received by collectors excited to start hunting for new cards of their PC (personal collection) players as the season began.
Panini was also big on opening day with the launch of its highly-anticipated Donruss baseball offering. The 384-card base Donruss set featured sharp photography and retro-style designs paying homage to the brand’s most popular previous issues from the 1980s and 90s. In addition, Panini rolled out “The Foundation” inserts highlighting rising stars and foundational players alongside veteran superstars. They also introduced “The Hill” parallels based on historic ballparks as well as “Threadz” parallels with textured swatches of game-worn jersey materials embedded in certain cards.
Perhaps the most anticipated new set element was Panini’s “Cleats” parallel inserts containing actual game-worn shoes embedded right into the card. These 1-of-1 cards featuring memorabilia from stars like Ohtani, Acuña, and franchise players Noah Syndergaard and Jason Giambi generated massive buzz online due to their unprecedented memorabilia integration. Donruss was a smash hit with collectors eager to start ripping open packs and searching for coveted parallels and inserts to celebrate opening day.
In the collector box market, some of the most sought-after opening day releases came from companies like Leaf and Bowman. Leaf dropped its “Intro” set timed with the start of the season featuring 125 top prospects, young stars, and popular veterans in striking photo variations. Meanwhile, Bowman unveiled its highly polished “Chrome” set containing refractors and parallels of Baseball America’s top 100 prospects in the minors and rookie eligible MLB talents.
These premium products contained some of the hobby’s most valuable rookie cards that could become keys to collections in future years, like Cardinals’ Jordan Walker, Orioles’ Gunnar Henderson, and Reds’ Nick Lodolo. Opening Day also saw several one-off blaster or hanger box releases from brands like Topps Fire, Gypsy Queen, Stadium Club, and Allen & Ginter focused on timely rookies, parallels, and inserts to capture the baseball excitement.
While the signature releases and collectible cards served as the focal point, another huge storyline for opening day revolved around record-breaking single card prices in the hobby over the past year. For example, a rare 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle PSA 8 gem mint card sold in January 2022 for a record $12.6 million, while a 1914 Baltimore News Babe Ruth rookie card grading PSA Authentic fetched over $2.8 million shortly after.
These astronomical prices led to increased speculation and hunting around prewar and post war vintage cards that could potentially go six or seven figures in private sales or auctions. On opening day, collectors feverishly sorted through their attics and collections searching for forgotten vintage gems that some experts predicted could earn small fortunes given the white hot market. Overall, 2022 opening day was a massive celebration bringing together both modern and vintage components of the hobby in sync with the new MLB season.
With so many elite releases spanning flagship programs to high-end offerings packed with young stars and veterans alike, it’s easy to see why collectors far and wide were energized for opening day. After a full season in 2021, the excitement was palpable industry-wide as both hobbyists and casual fans geared up for another 162 game grind. And with baseball card values and interest stronger than ever before, opening day 2022 signified yet another watershed moment for a booming multi-billion dollar industry. Whether collecting vintage stars, hunting autographs, or chasing first bowman parallels, there was truly something for everyone to enjoy as a new season officially got underway.
