2023 Baseball Card Release Dates – What to Expect Through the Year
As baseball fans eagerly await the start of the 2023 MLB season, they also have their eyes peeled for when the new baseball card releases will hit store shelves. Each year, the major trading card companies like Topps, Panini, and Fanatics roll out new baseball card products starting in the late winter and continuing throughout the spring and summer. 2023 looks to have an exciting slate of baseball card releases, continuing the boom the hobby has seen in recent years. Here’s an in-depth look at what release dates collectors can expect for the major 2023 baseball card products.
January/February – Early Releases and Hobby Boxes
As has become commonplace the past few years, some of the first 2023 baseball cards will start arriving in January and February before the regular season even begins. Topps, Fanatics, and Panini all do small “early release” style packs, boxes and blasters to whet collectors’ appetites and get cards in hands of fans as soon as possible. Topps usually starts things off with various “Series 1” style unnumbered parallels and short prints in these early products. Fanatics 2023 Opening Day is also expected to hit shelves in January or February with base cards and rookie cards of top draft picks.
Panini usually goes big each winter with their “Diamond Kings” and “Donruss” hobby boxes released in January/February. These higher-end box breaks focus on parallels, autographed cards and memorabilia pieces of stars. Panini’s “Flawless” ultra-high end product will also likely have a 2023 baseball version hit in late January or early February before Spring Training begins. These early releases are great for collectors itching for new cardboard but represent a fraction of what’s still to come throughout the year.
March/April – Topps Series 1 Release
The official kickoff of the 2023 baseball card season will be Topps Series 1 release, expected in late March or early April shortly before Opening Day. As the flagship base set of Topps, Series 1 release is always highly anticipated, and 2023 figures to be no different. The first chance to see rookie cards of top prospects like Druw Jones, Termarr Johnson and Jackson Holliday will be in Series 1 packs. Bonus hits like autographs, memorabilia and parallels will also start showing up in Series 1 blasters, hangers, boxes and jumbo packs. The print runs will still be smaller than Topps Update and Chrome releases later in the year.
Topps typically also does a “Series 1 Paper” release around the same late March/early April timeframe focusing on the base cards printed on traditional white cardboard stock. Series 1 is usually followed in late April/early May by Topps Series 2 continuing the base card sets from the flagship brand. Insert sets kicking off in Series 1 will then continue progressing through subsequent Topps releases as well. Retail products of Series 1, 2 and additional insert-focused sets like “Allen & Ginter” keep coming through the spring and summer months ahead.
April/May – Fanatics Releases and Panini Prizm
While Topps owns the exclusive MLBPA license for “Topps” branded sets, competitors Fanatics and Panini still manage to crank out noteworthy baseball card releases in the early season period as well. Fanatics’ 2023 “Bowman” release focusing on top prospects is expected in April/May continuing the popular set’s long tradition. Panini also looks to have their hot “Prizm” brand out around the same time frame.
Prizm football has become a phenomenon in recent years, and Panini baseball Prizm products including blasters, boxes and especially packs carry a solid buzz with collectors and investors thanks to the aesthetic parallels and hits inside. The first chances to pull rookies like Holliday or internationals Victor Victor Mesa in the “chromatic” Prizm parallels and refractors is a highlight of the spring card season. Panini also usually has “Donruss” and “Contenders” sets released around April/May with those brands.
June/July – MLB Draft Cards and Topps Update
As the MLB Draft occurs in mid-July each year, that means boxes and packs focusing exclusively on the drafted players start hitting shelves in June. Panini usually leads the way with their MLB Draft products early, featuring fully licensed rookie cards of the top selections. Topps and Fanatics Draft sets typically arrive later in June into early July as well.
The other hugely anticipated summer baseball card release each year is Topps Update. Hitting stores in late June or early July, Topps Update provides updated base and rookie cards for any players who made their big league debuts after Series 1 was finalized. Hall of Fame inductees also see their modern rookie cards inserted in Update sets as well. Hobby boxes of Update provide the best chance all year for pulling coveted autographs and memorabilia rookie cards of top young talents.
August/September – End of Season Releases
Once the summer heats up and MLB enters its dog days, new cardboard keeps arriving on shelves for collectors right up through the end of the season in early October. Panini usually has later “Playoff” and “National Treasures” style high-end products out in August focused on stars. Topps “Chrome” hits in September and October as the flashiest flagship release of all, and has become a favorite for refractors and color parallels.
Fanatics also partakes in end of season releases under their Bowman brand and Signature Series labels with exclusive rookie autographs of players who made their MLB debuts. Panini does fall “Contenders” and “Donruss” sets as well for fans before the postseason begins. These final regular season products wrap a ribbon on all the new rookie classes and call out stars from the campaign.
As the 2023 MLB season fast approaches, baseball card collectors are eagerly anticipating all these new product releases throughout the year from companies like Topps, Panini and Fanatics. Between early February boxes to late September sets, there will be no shortage of fresh cardboard pouring onto the market throughout next season. The 2023 rookie classes shaping up to be standouts will only increase excitement for each new drop.
