Helping to keep everyone up-to-date on what is coming out and what might be worthy of your time in the Baseball Card Hobby for the current week. Check out our Discord for more discussion on this and any other hobby chatter Prospects Live Discord.
This week we have three scheduled releases - 1952 Topps X Naturel, 2022 Topps Stadium Club and 2022 Panini Donruss Optic Baseball. In addition, 2022 Bowman Chrome Lite Hobby boxes are scheduled for release on Wednesday, November 30th. ***Update - Fanatics (parent company of Topps) dropped 2022 Bowman Chrome Lite boxes for $119.99. For details on 2022 Bowman Chrome, check out last week’s post for TWiBC as well as the full in-depth 2022 Bowman Chrome Product Preview. With the Brooklyn Collection and Topps Chrome Sapphire checklists released, I wouldn’t be surprised if we see one or both of these as online drops this week. This post will be updated if more news, product information and/or product drops occur throughout the week. ***Update - Added info on Topps X Naturel, added the online exclusive Topps Rip drop, Optic Baseball delay, the 582 Montgomery Club membership news, 2022 Topps Chrome Update, and 2022 Topps Chrome Sapphire Edition.
1952 Topps X Naturel
Two weeks ago, Topps started teasing this product by giving some of the backstory around how Sy Berger, the co-designer of the iconic 1952 Topps baseball set, eventually in 1960 had the remaining warehouse stock of the unsold 1952 product dumped into the Atlantic Ocean. This new collaboration with Naturel is supposed to be a take on what those cards would look like being on the bottom of the ocean for over 60 years.
The product was actually released in a promotional sense at the recent ComplexCon in Long Beach, CA on November 19th and 20th. Maybe some of you know what ComplexCon is, but I had no clue and I live in the general vicinity. At the event you could pick up single pack promo packs that had exclusive event parallels.
On Monday, November 28th, at 12 PM Eastern Time, the product is scheduled to go live on the Topps website. Price and configuration are TBD as of the article publishing - once this is live this information will be updated. ***Update - there are two configurations - a single pack box and a five pack “Collector’s Edition” box. The single pack box costs $40 and comes with one encased art card, one chase card, and five base cards. The five pack box costs $120. You still get only one encased art card, but you will get the multiples with the rest for a total of five chase cards and 25 base cards. In addition, you will get one exclusive foil parallel.
In addition, the checklist is unknown - the ComplexCon cards have only been of players that were in the 1952 Topps Baseball set originally. I’ve seen the iconic Mickey Mantle card (of course), Jackie Robinson, Willie Mays, and Yogi Berra. If the checklist indeed is a slimmed down version of the original 1952 checklist, that is likely going to keep the interest levels low. That pretty much limits autos to the artist which may help for Naturel fans, but general collectors will likely be disappointed with that. ***Update - The checklist is divided into four parts - the base checklist of 52 cards, the four ComplexCon cards, the 12 encased art cards, and an artist “self-portrait” which looks to be an artistic rendering of an old-school diver holding the art cards (you can’t tell if it’s Naturel in the diver’s suit or not). Even though the checklist is small, it packs a punch by including the sought after rookies, strong vet names, and some MLB legends. There are nine base rookies - J-Rod, Wander, Witt, Seiya, Peña, Strider, Hunter Greene, Oneil Cruz, and CJ Abrams. Witt, Wander, and J-Rod each get the art card treatment as well. The Naturel self-portrait card is the only auto in the product and it is, as can be guessed, autographed by Naturel. The chase cards appear to be a puzzle back to build a life aquatic boat - we’ll see once the product starts getting in hands if it’s just this or something more than that.
The design, as mentioned, is the base 1952 Topps set. Naturel has replaced any of the lettering on the front with his characteristic geometric shapes for letters. And then the “under the sea” design motif gets thrown on there with a bunch of underwater plant life overlaid on the card. The cards feel busy. It’s hard to tell from the eBay listings and social media postings, but it looks like the cards are paper stock (not chrome) and the ComplexCon stamp is foil. So possibly some foil parallels at play, but we shall see. ***Update - what we saw at ComplexCon was essentially the “art card”. The base set is different. A full border with geometric triangles at the bottom of the card containing player name, position, team name, and team logo. The image is actual photos as opposed to artistic renderings like the art cards. The base cards are a lot more interesting for me, but it’s also slightly disappointing that it’s actual photos supported by the subtle artistic notes of the card design rather than also getting artistic renderings of the player minus the sea vegetation.
At the moment this is an easy pass for me. The design holds zero interest for me personally. If the checklist is missing active players, it’s hard for me to connect with it, even if I do like picking up Willie Mays cards. We’ll see if anything changes when the product drops and we get details on the price and checklist. ***Update - the base design along with the active/rookie player checklist made this a lot more interesting product. While the price point isn’t terrible, it feels like the encased art card is the price driver. That card is the least desirable for me personally, so it continues to be a pass for me. On the other hand, the five pack Collector’s Edition box had plenty of fans and sold out within a day.
2022 Topps Stadium Club
The product all about the photography, 2022 Topps Stadium Club is scheduled for release on Friday, December 2nd.
There is only one hobby configuration - a regular Hobby box. It guarantees two autos and one chrome insert per box. Currently boxes can be found for around $180 pre-sale, but I expect them to be at least sub-$150 and hopefully a lot lower than that. Last year Topps sold regular Hobby boxes for $90 direct from their website. There should be various retail formats with blaster boxes and loose packs at the very least. Last year Topps sold retail pack boxes (24 retail packs, no guaranteed autos) for $75. ***Update - Topps dropped hobby boxes for $100 (limit 16) and blaster boxes for $25 (limit 24) on Friday, December 2nd. This hobby price point is barely above allocation price which is an interesting choice to say the least.
The design is really all about the photography. The card elements are a full-bleed photo (no borders) with a Stadium Club logo, team logo, player name, team name, and player position. Most of those elements are unobtrusive, as is usually the case. There are a couple of inserts like Beam Team and Instavision and, while some people enjoy them, they usually feel like a footnote to me.
The checklist has yet to be released at the time of article publishing. It’s safe to assume we will see the usual collection of rookies, vets, and ex-MLB players. I fully anticipate seeing all the big rookies here, but we shall see. This will be updated with any out of the ordinary information as it becomes known. ***Update - the checklist was released on Thursday, December 1st. As mentioned, it’s standard fare rookies, vets, and ex-MLB players. All the rookies the hobby is chasing are here including J-Rod, Witt, Wander, Tork, Seiya, Hunter Greene, CJ Abrams, Jeremy Peña, Royce Lewis, and others. All in all, no complaints about the checklist.
Ultimately, this product is about the photography. On card autos for a cheaper product are also a nice thing to find in this day and age. As long as the price isn’t outrageous, I can’t see how I don’t look to pick up some Stadium Club cards one way or another. Check out my article from 2021 with more of my thoughts on the product in general - An Ode To Stadium Club.
2022 Topps Rip
Topps dropped 2022 Topps Rip on their website on Wednesday, November 30th.
There is a single hobby box configuration which contains four rip cards. The mini’s inside the rip cards have the potential to be an auto, but there are no guarantees of a hit. The price point is essentially identical to last year at $99.99 (last year it was a flat $100). There are no other formats of this product.
The design seems to be going for a “it doesn’t really matter because your tearing this card up anyways” type of attitude. An interior border that highlights the choice of whether to rip the base card or keep it whole, the player centralized in that border, and then a five year old’s attempt at a tribal/jungle photoshop design overlaid on each side of the card. The regular minis have a bold wave like design motif, which is a lot better than last year, even if it’s not great. We also get new this year a very short print run of mini autos called “Ripped from History”. The sell sheet shows the iconic 2011 Topps Update Mike Trout rookie card design, so I am guessing each of the cards will follow a similar iconic/rookie card design of the players included. That short printed set is definitely the highlight of the design - the rest of it is underwhelming.
The checklist is pretty lengthy and includes the majority of the rookies and vets collectors will be looking for and adds in a sprinkling of ex-MLB players. J-Rod, Witt, Wander, Oneil Cruz, Tork, Seiya, CJ Abrams, etc. are all to be found in one way or another here. I don’t think there’s a lot to complain about here other than how long the checklist is when you have essentially eight cards total assuming you rip all four base cards.
I passed on this product the previous two years and will be doing so again. Part of it is that I don’t want to be faced with the choice of ripping a card or keeping it. Part of it is I saw a lot of disappointing rips last year. Part of it is the price point. At sub-$50, I probably would consider it. The rip it or keep it gimmick always feels cool when it’s a special bonus hit in Allen & Ginter. When it’s a standalone product, it feels like a lot of that magic is gone.
2023 582 Montgomery Club Membership
On Wednesday, November 30th, Topps sent out emails notifying collectors of the 2023 582 Montgomery Club Membership pricing, products, and changes to the program.
In 2022, prices rose quite a bit, especially for new memberships. Renewal rates in 2022 went from $200 in 2021 to $300 in 2022 and new memberships went from $300 in 2021 to $600 in 2022. 2023 pricing is significantly reduced - $149 for renewals and $199 for new memberships. The renewal window will open at 11 AM ET on Monday, December 5th and close at 11 AM ET on Wednesday, December 7th. The new membership purchase window will open at 3 PM ET on Wednesday, December 7th and close at 3 PM ET on Friday, December 9th.
With the reduced membership price comes a likewise reduction in early access products. There are only six products where Topps is stating MC members will get early access and Topps states that this can be changed at their discretion. Those products are 2023 Bowman Chrome Sapphire, 2023 Topps Chrome Sapphire, 2023 Star Wars Sapphire, 2023 Chrome Bundesliga Sapphire, 2023 Finest Flashbacks Baseball, and 2023 Garbage Pail Kids Sapphire. If Topps sticks to this plan, and given the reduced price of the membership, it’s safe to assume they will stick to the plan, it significantly reduces the attraction of the membership, at least from a money making perspective. We’ll see if this changes, but I’m not holding my breath.
The final component that Topps specifically called out is that they would be enforcing a one account per household rule unless having express permission of Topps to have more than one. Anyone violating this rule could have their membership cut off. It seemed like simple legal talk at first, but soon after this email was sent, various current MC members with multiple 2022 memberships (and a few claiming they only had a single membership) were posting screenshots of emails from Topps notifying them that they are ineligible to renew their memberships for 2023. It’s unclear if this was in the terms in 2022 as I’ve heard some say it was and others say it was not and have not found any concrete proof either way. It feels like there is more to come on this topic, but we shall see.
I’ve never been a Montgomery Club member and don’t see myself doing it in 2023. While I understand the reasons people do get the membership, I have chosen to pass on it every year and am glad Topps has made it pretty easy to not have much regret for passing on this next iteration. Star Wars Sapphire, depending on the price, will likely be the only thing I’ll potentially be sad to not get early access to.
2022 Topps Holiday Baseball
On Thursday, December 1st, Topps released 2022 Topps Holiday Baseball for sale on their website.
There is one configuration, a retail Mega Box. You will get either on auto or one relic per Mega Box with the odds heavily weighted towards the relic. Topps is selling these boxes for $24.99 each with a limit of 12 - shipping is not free. I expect we will see the $25 price point at retail locations as well.
The design is the base Topps Flagship design dressed up holiday style. The pencil thin line tracing the interior border is Christmas red while the nameplate gets the Christmas green background. The upper and side inner border gets dressed up with festive holly. And finally you’ll get large snowflakes liberally spread across the main background. The faux relics are often quite fun and my favorite part is often the short prints where you’ll often get snowmen, snowballs, Santa hats, Christmas lights, etc. integrated into the picture. Dare I say this might be the best Topps Holiday design to date - at the very least it rivals my favorite up until this year which was 2019 when they really leaned into the Holiday theme.
The checklist is comprised of rookies and vets with a 200 card base set. For the rookies, we get the main chases along the lines of J-Rod, Witt, Wander, Oneil Cruz, and Tork as well as secondary chases like Royce Lewis, Hunter Greene, CJ Abrams, Steven Kwan, Seyia Suzuki, and others. While Spencer Strider does not have a base card, he did get an autograph version.
Topps Holiday is one of my favorite yearly releases. The last two years underwhelmed me a bit with the design, but this year they’ve done a really good job with the base design in my opinion. Add in a strong rookie class and I’m a pretty happy camper. The only negative for me is that Topps is charging shipping to purchase it online, which for me is $10 to start. That’s a bit steep for retail products and which is why I pretty much never buy retail from Topps. But I will be regularly searching my local retail stops for this product over the next few months. One final comment is that there isn’t a ton of money to be made here typically - the main reason you should be buying this is to have fun ripping the product on your own or with your friends and family. I even wrote an article about it a couple of years ago.
2022 Topps Chrome Update Series
On Friday, December 2nd, Target began selling 2022 Topps Chrome Update Series Mega Boxes. The price is $49.99 per box with no hits guaranteed. The release date is Wednesday, December 14th and I will cover all the full product details in that upcoming This Week in Baseball Cards article.
2022 Topps Chrome Sapphire Edition
On Friday, December 2nd, Topps dropped 2022 Topps Chrome Sapphire Edition for sale on their website.
There is a single configuration - a regular Hobby box. It comes with 32 cards with two guaranteed parallels. In a change from previous years, there are no autos. In 2021, you would get one base parallel and one auto, so the switch has been dropping an auto and replacing it with a second base parallel. However, there has been no change in the price. Last year as well as this year, Topps is selling these boxes for $250. Topps is limiting this to 8 boxes per account.
The design is the same as the base flagship design but given the Sapphire treatment. Shiny and atomic or cracked ice refractor style. No inserts, just base, so no other design elements to discuss.
The checklist is roughly a combination of Series 1 and Series 2, but there have been changes to bring in the more desirable rookies from Update Series into this product. So you have Wander Franco and Oneil Cruz from Series 1 and 2, but you also get to add in Julio Rodriguez, Bobby Witt Jr., Spencer Torkelson, CJ Abrams, Seiya Suzuki, etc. from Update Series.
I skipped last year’s edition given what turned out to be a weak rookie class, and even though this rookie class is strong, the lack of an auto without a change in price also makes this a pass for me. A 660 card checklist makes the proposition of buying a 32 card box for $250 just too long of odds to hit even the base rookie cards you are chasing. Overall this feels like quite a bad decision from Topps if they had collectors in mind (they don’t).
2022 Topps Brooklyn Collection
On Friday, December 2nd, Topps dropped 2022 Topps Brooklyn Collection for sale on their website.
There is a single configuration - a regular Hobby box. It guarantees two autographs. Topps is not listing the configuration, but it’s probably safe to assume it’s similar to years past where it’s a seven card box. It’s also unknown if we will be seeing the two parallels as well that were guaranteed like it was in 2021. The price point is essentially the same year over year with it being $149.99 in 2021 and $150 in 2022. There is a limit of 4 boxes per account.
The design is based off of historical Topps designs, but I can’t exactly place the ones on the sell sheet off the top of my head. I assume the autos of Jeter and J-Rod are playing off of the 2005 Topps Flagship design as that’s what it seems closest to. Not sure about any of the others on the sell sheet. Ultimately Brooklyn Collection really doesn’t drive interest based off of the design (it used to be a 582 Montgomery Club exclusive, which drove a lot of the value and interest, and now that it’s not, it’s more about the value proposition).
The checklist is typically good with Brooklyn Collection with a mix of rookies, vets, and ex-MLB players. Again we get most of the rookie chases including J-Rod, Witt, Tork, Wander, Oneil Cruz, Jeremy Peña, CJ Abrams, etc. Vets and ex-MLB players are also a strong list. Overall the checklist is one of the better ones but is tempered by the fact that you will likely only be getting seven cards per box.
I’ve never bought Brooklyn Collection first hand. Originally it was because I did not have a 582 membership and now it’s mostly due to the time of year and hobby funds already allocated elsewhere. But I do own cards from it purchased in the aftermarket for my personal collection because they don’t tend to sell that well from a vets and ex-MLB players perspective. I will probably look to see if I can snag a Posey auto from this for a palatable price at some point.
2022 Panini Donruss Optic Baseball - DELAYED
The chrome version of Donruss baseball, 2022 Panini Donruss Optic Baseball, is scheduled to go on sale at Panini on Friday, December 2nd - most places, however, are showing a Wednesday, December 7th release date. I am going to include it this week because of the Panini online sale date. ***Update - Panini pushed the sale date back to Wednesday, December 7th on their website.
At the moment there are two hobby configurations - a regular Hobby box and a First Off The Line (FOTL) Hobby box. Last year they had a third configuration, a Choice Hobby box, but at the moment I don’t see it listed anywhere. A regular Hobby box has two autographs on average and is currently selling for around $125. FOTL Hobby boxes has three autographs on average. They were sold via Dutch Auction on Panini’s website last week starting at $300 and they hit the floor of $125. Optic tends to have all the various retail formats and I expect to see that again this year.
The design, as mentioned off the top, is essentially a chrome version of 2022 Donruss Baseball which we saw earlier in the year. The base design is very chunky and to me, not very good looking. The all-important Rated Rookie, and to a lesser degree, Rated Prospect, logos still are the main attraction even if the design is underwhelming at best. Diamond Kings are another classic branding in the product, but I have not really been into this year’s design of it. Other inserts may hold some interest, but nothing on the sell sheet grabs me - we’ll see when we get them in hand. Finally, there are 1981 Donruss and 1988 Donruss throwback autos, which are always cool to see the older designs of my youth included.
The checklist is mostly rookies and vets with one token legend player in Babe Ruth (unless I missed others). We get the big rookie names like Julio Rodriguez, Wander Franco, Bobby Witt Jr., Spencer Torkelson, Oneil Cruz, Jeremy Peña, Spencer Strider, etc. They will all have Rated Rookie base cards, but in the case of J-Rod and Witt, their autos are in the insert sets rather than getting Rated Rookie autos, which is a bad choice in my opinion. Strangely, and I mentioned it back when Mosaic came out, J-Rod has Optic Rated Rookie Autographs in the Mosaic product, which isn’t confusing at all. There is also a small prospect component with the Rated Prospects set which is headlined by Elly De La Cruz.
I like Optic Baseball a lot in general. It’s one of the unlicensed products that I like to get at least a little bit of every year. The Rated Rookie logo holds enough cachet that it often helps minimize the impact of the cards being unlicensed. This year is going to test my habit of getting this product given how little I am into the design, but I probably will grab some retail if I run across it.