Topps holds the exclusive license from Major League Baseball to produce the official baseball card of MLB. This lucrative licensing deal ensures Topps will remain the premier producer of MLB trading cards for the foreseeable future. Part of this extended licensing agreement with MLB requires Topps to annually release a new flagship or “base” set featuring allactive MLB players. This base set has historically been the cornerstone of each year’s Topps card releases and the 2023 version will be no exception.
The 2023 Topps flagship baseball set is expected to include approximately 700 cards just like recent years. It will feature all 30 MLB teams with base cards of every player on each team’s 40-man roster at the time of production. There will also be additional insert sets highlighting top rookies, awards winners, star players and more within the base set. Parallels, autograph and memorabilia cards will provide collector chase appeal as well. Production on the 2023 cards begins in early 2023 with the official release to hobby stores, mass retailers and online sellers slated for late March through May 2023.
In addition to the base flagship set, Topps plans robust supplemental baseball card releases in 2023 across its various brands. The Allen & Ginter brand will once again bring its vintage-style designs and unique parallels featuring non-sports subjects. Topps Gallery will showcase prime action shots and career highlights of MLB’s biggest stars. Heritage is Topps’ premier lookback product showcasing classic throwback designs from the early years of Topps. Topps Tier One is the luxury brand focused on high-end parallels, memorabilia and autograph cards. Topps Chrome continues its refractor parallel tradition and Topps Series 2 will provide an midyear extended update release as usual.
International fans of Topps baseball cards will be pleased to see expanded offerings beyond U.S. borders as well. Topps strong presence in Latin America and Asia Pacific regions means distribution networks are in place for foreign language versions of flagship cards and inserts to reach collectors worldwide. Topps also partners with other trading card brands globally to share MLB content and player licenses which creates ancillary international product opportunities. Additionally, Topps continually explores multi-product marketing programs with MLB international offices and individual teams to broaden the reach of trading cards and further develop international fan engagement.
As a sports collectibles industry leader and holder of the MLB license, Topps successfully weathered pandemic business challenges over the past two years and continues investing in long term growth. Annual rookie classes, player movement between teams and evolving collector interests ensure trading card sets remain an engaging annual tradition for baseball fans everywhere. As long as Topps maintains its MLB partnership, releases new flagship sets each year and expands complementary product lines, it will remain the dominant force in the trading cards category for the foreseeable future. Therefore, it is extremely likely and strongly expected that Topps will produce and release a new 2023 Topps Baseball flagship set next year following the same model that has sustained this baseball card juggernaut for over 60 years running.
