Let’s take a look ahead with a 2024 Baseball Card Hobby Preview and some random musings while we wet our appetites with what’s to come!
In this post we will share some random musings and thoughts on the year to come. A quick 2024 baseball card hobby preview can apply some focus on a few hot button, highly anticipated items that collectors are surely looking forward to in the 2024 year of collectibles.
2023 brought with it a solid rookie class for baseball along with a few standout performances from vets that will live on in hobby lore. Shohei Ohtani found collector adoration paralleling that of Mike Trout fandom. Corbin Carroll, Gunnar Henderson, Josh Jung, and Adley Rutschman all answered the hype surrounding their prospect years and became huge collector targets.
Along with these positives came some negatives (um, how’s everyone’s Wander Franco collection faring?) In what was a warning to “investors” across the hobby, we got a crash course in the human element of collecting. Wander Franco, another young guy answering the hype of his prospect years with stellar play at the big league level, fell into some off field trouble that would all but doom his hobby value. There is a strong chance that Wander Franco never plays baseball, at least in the majors, ever again. This could be the hobby equivalent to the death penalty.
Let’s take that look forward to 2024 and see what we have in store. There are bound to be a few surprises along the way, so buckle up and enjoy the ride.
The 2024 Rookie Class
While Elly De La Cruz highlights the coming rookie class, and seems to be the only sure bet to be included in 2024 Topps Series 1, there are a few other names being floated about that saw the field last year and would qualify for that rookie logo.
Jasson Dominguez has Yankees fans frothing at the mouth for that first Rookie Card. It’s always good to have a Yankee in the product that people can chase, and Dominguez seems to be the next hot flavor to rise in pinstripes. We will have to wait and see how long before we know which series he will be released.
A few other names to look out for are Henry Davis, Pete Crow-Armstrong, and Evan Carter. All of these names fall into the “qualifies but may get held back” category. Surely we would see these names for Series 2 if they don’t make the Series 1 cut. My gut tells me one or two will accompany Elly in the Series 1 release. Even if they released all of these names for Series 1, the cupboard won’t exactly be bare for Series 2 as there are other guys like….
**Note: Here is a great post from Baseballcardpedia.com explaining rookie card qualifications for players
Some of the prospects that are expected to make their hotly anticipated debuts consist of Jackson Holliday, Jackson Chourio, Junior Caminero, Jordan Lawler and Paul Skenes. Among others, these guys would make for a fruitful rookie checklist in Series 2 or Update set. Not too mention, we also see the arrival of NPB phenom Yoshinobu Yamamoto. His rookie will wait for Series 2 similar to Kodai Senga’s path in 2023.
Regardless of how the 2024 rookie class shakes out, Topps will surely spread the wealth, so to speak, across each of its releases.
Old Vets, New Jerseys
Well, not necessarily old, but vets yes. 2024 brings the first cards of Shohei Ohtani in a Dodger uniform and Juan Soto in Yankee pinstripes. These two players alone donning iconic uniforms for the first time could lead to some hype all on their own. I am pretty sure Topps Series 1 can sell itself without the inclusion of any major star rookies or crazy chase concepts (Tom Brady anyone?) just being it is the first major release of the new year. Couple Elly with these two debuts and you have enough to move cases of the product.
The 2023 Rookie Class
2023 had one heck of a rookie class. Nobody would debate this, and it may be the best in recent memory for hobby purposes. The key to sustaining value for most of these players will be how they respond in 2024. Take any of the big names from last years class, if they come out strong and put on a show, it will go a long way to establishing their value in collectors minds. What we don’t want to see, and we will as it is inevitable, is second year player coming out flat or downright cold. God forbid one of your hot 2023 rookies poops the bed and gets sent down within the first month or two of the season. It takes a lot to rise back up after a volley like that.
The other side of this coin is, who can be the riser? Will we see the likes of Tristan Casas, or Brett Baty climb back up into the ranks they once were touted? It’s all possible and makes for a nice resurrection of their cards on the collector landscape.
2024 Topps Heritage
Collectors across the hobby landscape are especially looking forward to the 2024 Topps Heritage edition. This years Heritage will take on the iconic 1975 design. Collector’s of the throwback set are for sure looking forward to release day, but even those who do not collect heritage avidly are targeting this set. 1975 holds a special place in the heart of collectors and this one is already getting talked about in hobby circles. Some are even posturing that we will get special George Brett and Robin Yount Real One Autographs. Give me more please!
2024 Print Runs
The hobby will keep a close eye on print runs in the coming year. Savvy collectors are making this a conversation for every major product release over the last few years. For the first time in a song, we saw print runs decrease year over year in 2023 Bowman Draft Sapphire. Is this a hint of things to come? Is Topps/Fanatics figuring out that the large print runs water down the collectibility of their product?
My guess is we will see the printers in overdrive as usual for the larger releases like Flagship and Chrome, but maybe we see a decrease for some of the other releases? I would be happy to see print runs at the very least come to a standstill and hold ground. That would be progress in my mind.
Conclusion
You’ll notice we didn’t really touch prospecting in 2024, as we will leave that for the Bowman previews and so forth. The above mentioned items are just some thoughts I have in the back of my mind heading into 2024.
As it stands, we are getting very little info on 2024 Topps Series 1, which is odd as we usually have at least a design and some mock ups of inserts to go off. The hype has been a bit muted this time around. The release date for 2024 Topps Series 1 sits at Feb. 14th for the moment. Why the secrecy? Nobody seems to know. Maybe this is actually Fanatics way of building hype?
Regardless of when we get our first product, or what it will look like, it is sure to have some rookie chase and vet interest when it finally does arrive. There are plenty of storylines for collectors to build hype and create demand from in this year’s edition of the hobby. Enjoy the collecting in 2024 and thanks for reading! Until next time…