The Best Sports Card Releases of 2024

A look at the top football, basketball, and baseball card products from 2024.

2024 was a great year for sports fans and card collectors! Victor Wembanyama, Paul Skenes, and Jayden Daniels each led the rookie classes in their sports and gave collectors some valuable cards to chase. As we enter the new year, here’s a look back at some of the best sports card releases of 2024.

Best Sports Card Releases of 2024: Football

Jayden Daniels, Caleb Williams, Bo Nix, Drake Maye, J.J. McCarthy, and Michael Penix Jr. led the 2024 NFL rookie class. These quarterbacks gave sports card collectors a ton of cards to chase, including the popular Color Blast and Kaboom inserts. These are football’s top 3 sports card releases of 2024:

2024 Panini Prizm Football

The top spot shouldn’t be a surprise. Prizm is regularly one of the most popular releases for a variety of sports. With 2024 Prizm Football releasing in mid-December, it’s fresh in collectors’ minds. Along with a large assortment of parallels and chase cards like the super short print Color Blast and Manga inserts.

2024 Prizm Football also comes in a variety of configurations with a range of price points. As is the case with other releases, 2024 Prizm Football Blaster and Mega boxes are the most affordable options but don’t guarantee any hits. 2024 Prizm Football No Huddle boxes guarantee an autograph and come with a variety of parallels at about half the price of the high-end hobby boxes. If your budget allows, the 2024 Prizm Football Hobby box is where you’ll find multiple autographs and get the best chance of pulling the most valuable super short-printed cards.

2024 Panini Absolute Football

Panini Absolute’s claim to fame is the Kaboom! card. It’s extremely rare and one of the most valuable inserts you’ll find in any of the sports card releases of 2024. Other popular aspects of 2024 Absolute Football Hobby boxes are the guarantee of 1 Rookie Premiere Material Autograph, 2 additional autographs, and 2 memorabilia cards. Along with the traditional hobby boxes, Absolute also comes in retail formats.

2024 Panini Mosaic Football

Rounding out the top football card releases of the year is 2024 Mosaic Football. Like Prizm, Mosaic is another classic release that collectors expect each year. There’s a large base set, lots of parallels, a few different signature sets including rookie autographs, and short printed inserts like Micro Mosaic and Stained Glass.

2024 Mosaic Football also comes in a variety of configurations and at more affordable prices than Prizm. Along with the typical retail formats, you can also find 2024 Mosaic Football Hobby Blasters and Hobby Megas. These are a step above normal blaster and mega boxes and offer exclusive parallels worth more than those found in normal retail formats. The mid-range Mosaic formals are No Huddle and Choice, and these guarantee an autograph. 2024 Mosaic Football Hobby boxes are the most expensive, but they give you two autographs and the best chance to pull the chase cards.

Best Sports Card Releases of 2024: Basketball

Victor Wembanyama is the most popular rookie in the 2023-24 NBA rookie class, but Scoot Henderson, Brandon Miller, Cam Whitmore, and Amen Thompson round out the rest of the class. Wemby is obviously the player everyone is chasing, and Fanatics flexed their exclusive autograph partnership with Wembanyama with their Topps Mercury Victor Wembanyama release that pre-sold for $10,000 a box. But without a license, no Topps product makes the list. Here are basketball’s top 3 sports card releases of 2024:

2023-24 Panini National Treasures Basketball

2023-24 National Treasures Basketball is an ultra-high-end release with only 10 cards per box, but it’s loaded with 4 autographs and 4 memorabilia cards. The iconic Rookie Patch Autographs are found in National Treasures, and all include on-card autographs and print runs of 99 or less. The Logoman RPAs are 1/1 and some of the most sought after in the set.

Other rookie hits include Rookie Jumbo Jersey Autographs, Rookie Jumbo Brand Logo Autographs, and Rookie First Edition Signature Booklets. All-NBA Signatures and Treasured Talent Signatures provide on-card ink, while Colossal Relics can include laundry tags, team logos, brand logos, and the iconic NBA Logoman.

2023-24 Panini Prizm Basketball

Thanks to its hobby and retail formats, Prizm is one of the most popular releases among modern basketball card collectors. Whether they’re building a rainbow, searching for Rookie Signatures, or chasing the new super short print Prizmania, there’s something for every collector in 2023-24 Panini Prizm Basketball.

The most affordable formats of 2023-24 Prizm Basketball are the retail options, but you’re only guaranteed hits from the more expensive boxes. Prizm Fast Break, the basketball version of football’s Prizm No Huddle, guarantees an autograph and offers exclusive parallels. 2023-24 Prizm Basketball Hobby is where you’ll pull 2 autographs, 22 Prizms, 10 inserts, and have a chance at the SSP Prizmania insert.

Although technically a separate release, we want to shout out a special Prizm release from 2024: the debut 2023-24 Panini Prizm Deca Basketball release is an homage to the original 2012-13 Panini Prizm Basketball set. It comes with the usual 2 autographs per hobby box as well as various parallels and inserts.

2023-24 Panini One & One Basketball

2023-24 One & One Basketball is another one of the best sports card releases of 2024 because this is where the Downtown insert is found! Like National Treasures, One & One Basketball is a high-end box that delivers a limited number of cards. In this case, 2023-24 One & One Basketball has just 2 total cards per box — 1 autograph and 1 other card, which can be a base card, parallel, or insert. If you’re ripping, the hope is that the second card is the short-printed Downtown.

Best Sports Card Releases of 2024: Baseball

Paul Skenes, Elly De La Cruz, Jackson Chourio, Wyatt Langford, Jackson Merrill, and Jackson Holliday headline the 2024 MLB rookie class. Along with rookie cards, a unique aspect of baseball card collecting is the popularity of 1st Bowman prospect cards. Some of the top 2024 1st Bowman prospects include Travis Bazzana, Jac Caglianone, Bryce Rainer, and Konnor Griffin. With those names in mind, here are baseball’s top 3 sports card releases of 2024:

2024 Topps Chrome Update Baseball

2024 Topps Chrome Update Baseball takes the top spot thanks to the Rookie Debut Patch Autograph mania. These are unique, 1/1 cards that include the “MLB Debut” patch worn on a player’s jersey during his big-league debut as well as an on-card autograph. These are beautiful cards with widespread appeal, but they really took off when the Pittsburgh Pirates put out an offer that included 30 years of season tickets in exchange for Paul Skenes’ 1/1 Rookie Debut Patch Autograph.

Entering 2025, the card has yet to be pulled and sealed box prices keep climbing. If you want to get in on the search for Skenes’ card, you have a few different options to choose from. 2024 Topps Chrome Update Baseball comes in Mega, Hobby, and Jumbo formats.

2024 Bowman Draft Baseball

Bowman is where you’ll find cards from top prospects poised to be future stars. 1st Bowman cards are a prospect’s first-ever official cards, and 1st Bowman autographs can sometimes be just as valuable (if not more!) than a rookie autograph in baseball. The annual Bowman Draft release focuses on players recently selected in the MLB Draft, but you can also find 1st Bowman cards for other top prospects in the Bowman and Bowman Chrome releases.

2024 Bowman Draft Baseball is released in three hobby formats: Hobby Jumbo, Super Jumbo, and HTA Choice. Hobby Jumbo boxes deliver 3 Chrome Prospect Autographs while Super Jumbo boxes give you 5 Chrome Prospect Autographs, and both give you a ton of base, parallels, and other inserts. HTA Choice is a pared down version that only has 3 cards, but all are Chrome Prospect Autographs.

2024 Topps Gilded Collection Baseball

2024 Topps Gilded Collection puts a high-end spin on the 2024 Topps Chrome release. Gilded cuts the main set in half, giving collectors a chance to focus on the 150 best rookies and veterans in baseball. While base cards in Topps Chrome have a never-ending print run, all base cards are numbered to 99 in the Gilded Collection. There are also 7 types of parallels to chase in the base set.

Autographs are the big draw with Gilded. Of the 5 cards per box, 2 will be autographed and numbered to 99 or less. Some of the best are the Gilded Champions (/50 or less), Gilded Hall of Fame Plaque Autograph (/25 or less), and the Gilded Cut Signatures (1/1) featuring cut autographs from Babe Ruth, Cy Young, Honus Wagner, and more! Along with an enticing base set, 2024 Gilded has a single insert set that’s a super short print. All Gold Storm cards are numbered to 24 and there’s also a 1/1 superfractor to chase.