Panini comes back with a similar look to their 2022 product with the obvious lack of current stars due to losing their MLBPA license, but there is no shortage of highly touted prospects, as well as Hall Of Famers and former stars in this product. Prospects that just broke, or failed to break rookie status in 2023 slipped through the cracks of the MLBPA license issue, so there are some big young names such as Pete Crow-Armstrong of the Cubs, Masataka Yoshida of the Red Sox, Jordan Walker of the Cardinals, and Elly De La Cruz of the Reds, including more names.
This years’ base cards will be separated into three tiers, as are all “Select” products, including the following that have 100 cards each for a 300 card set: Base Concourse, Base Premier, and Base Diamond Level. Each level have a few non-numbered parallels and several numbered parallels to follow suit. Rookies in these levels that slipped through the license dispute are names such as Ky Bush, Jordan Walker, Tyler Soderstrom, Ben Joyce, Noelvi Marte, and Jasson Dominguez to name a few. This is a prospect and legend loaded product, to say the least.
Moving on from the three base card tiers, we have several inserts where there will be the new “Unstoppable”, “Draft Selections”, “Rookie Revolution”, “Select Names” and “Unequaled” sets making their debut, with returning chase cards in the “Color Wheel” and “Select Numbers” inserts. Also returning is the ever popular “En Fuego” set.
The autograph and memorabilia heavy product (2 autographs, 2 memorabilia, 7 parallels per Hobby box. 1 Neon Orange Pulsar Autograph and 1 other autograph, 2 memorabilia, 4 FOTL parallels, and 7 additional parallels per FOTL box.) include the following sets, starting with the autographs. 2023 Select includes a 60 card Rookie Jersey Autographs set that has base and 7 parallels (not all cards are in the base set or in all parallels), a 15 card Rookie Signatures set, 15 card Select Company Signatures set that is more focused on HOFers and retired legends of the game, as well as a Select Swatches Signatures set that is a mixture of legends, prospects, and rookies. Finally there are the 10 card Signature Selectons set, 20 card Signatures set, and 20 card Youth Explosion Signatures set. As for memorabilia, there are the following: A large 60 card Rookie Jumbo Swatch set, 19 card Select Swatches set, and 17 card Sparks Material set.
In looking at the checklist, it seems as though the Angels, Padres, Astros and Rockies have the least amount of cards, while the storied Braves, Orioles, Nationals/Expos and Red Sox have the most. Everyone else is about fairly spread out through the entire product, including a couple of Negro League cards and even a single NPB card for the Yomiuri Giants in Tomoyuki Sugano. This should make for a great Christmas gift as a Hobby Box or stocking stuffer if you can grab single packs. Happy ripping!
