The Topps Company is set to release their 2023 baseball card set in early 2023 continuing their run as the longest tenured baseball card manufacturer. Their annual checklist offers a look at who will have cards in the upcoming flagship set providing collectors valuable information.
The 2023 Topps base set is expected to feature over 300 cards focusing on current Major League players, with parallels, inserts, and rookie cards bulk up the total checklist count beyond that. Based on past release patterns, Topps will put out Series 1 in late January/early February followed by Series 2 in late March/early April with a third Series 2 update set likely in late May after the amateur draft. The flagship set serves as a snapshot of the current MLB seasons giving collectors a chance to acquire new season debut cards of their favorite players from the year.
Top rookies expected to have base rookie cards in Series 1 include Bobby Witt Jr. of the Kansas City Royals, Spencer Torkelson of the Detroit Tigers, and COVID-era debuts like Seiya Suzuki of the Chicago Cubs. Other top prospects that broke out in 2022 like Julio Rodriguez of the Seattle Mariners and Adley Rutschman of the Baltimore Orioles should get prominent placement in the checklist as well. Veterans signing new contracts will also receive new uniform photo variations like Aaron Judge of the New York Yankees. Key free agents who changed teams this past offseason such as Trea Turner and Dansby Swanson will be donning their new club’s uniforms.
While the base set remains the foundation, Topps ramps up collector interest through inserts and parallels highlighting different aspects of the game. Past years have seen insert sets on Top Prospects, Hall of Famers, All-Stars, milestone achievements and more. Parallels are printed on different colored or parallel stock, numbered to certain amounts that add to the card scarcity and desirability for collectors. Topps Chrome is considered the high-end parallel release of the flagship set using chrome photo variations.
The 2023 Topps Series 1 release is expected to include some new insert sets capturing the stories and events that unfolded over the past year. Given Shohei Ohtani’s historic 2022 AL MVP winning season smashing pitching and batting records, Topps may honor The Shohei Ohtani Experience with a career-retrospective insert set. They may also have an insert set highlighting some of the young stars that ascended in 2022 like Rodriguez or Rutschman as the Next Big Things in baseball. A insert set featuring some of the big trades and signings like Tyler Anderson going to the Dodgers could give insights to the behind the scenes GM moves too.
While the base checklist focuses on current MLB talent, Topps bolsters collector interest through inserts featuring retired legends of the game as well. Past years have seen Mike Trout career retrospective inserts as well a Rickey Henderson Tribute set and others. They may look to honor the careers of some all-time greats who retired or passed away over the past year with new tribute inserts. Names like David Ortiz, Tim Lincecum or Jim Thome could be featured. Topps Update also brings call-ups from the minors onto baseball cards alongside injury returns letting collectors stay on top of the entire seasons player movements.
Topps utilizes their massive archives of photographer to select unique action shots and posed portraits for the cards creating a true snapshot of the season. The 2023 release will feature over 300 new baseball stars in the flagship base set along with a bevy of inserts highlighting top prospects, achievements, tributes and more totalling over 1000 unique baseball cards for collectors to chase. As the longest running and most historic brand in the industry, Topps continues to set the standard for the modern baseball card year after year with their main flagship releases and extended checklists sure to excite collectors in the new year.
