NEW RELEASES: Topps Heritage, Bowman Baseball among hottest new sets on sports card market

One of the most popular baseball card releases of the year has hit the market, while another highly sought-after baseball series is coming soon.

The Topps and Bowman releases will soon be followed by a high-end Panini football set that will once again attract the attention of football card collectors.

A product that is a favorite among collectors hit the field and market last week. 2024 Topps Heritage hops into the hardball time machine and goes back to celebrate the flavorful and colorful 1975 Topps card design.

Although you won't find any original 1975 Topps George Brett or Robin Yount rookies, you will find one autograph or relic per box as well as a special box topper.

Also See: 2024 Topps Series 1 features electric, new design 

The rather large 500-card base set blends nostalgia and new-age technology as well as any product on the market.

Look for key rookie cards such as Reds star Elly De La Cruz and Yankees prospect Jasson Dominguez.

As with every product in the current market, there are a plethora of parallels, including Heritage Chrome numbered to 999 copies. There is a wide range of Chrome parallels from Blue Speckle Refractors down to 1-of-1 Superfractors.

One of the biggest draws is the wildly popular Real Ones Autographs. This popular insert combines players across generations with spectacular on-card autographs with a red ink special edition parallel numbered to just 75 copies. This is, by far, the biggest draw in the set.

Also See: Topps unveils autographed memorabilia redemptions in Baseball Series 1 

There are a number of really nice patch autos, including the new 1975 Topps Award Winner buy-back autographs. These feature players who had big years in the mid-’70s. You can also find Flashback Autograph relics featuring some of the biggest stars of the time.

Clubhouse Collection is the standard memorabilia offering in this product. As expected, there are also gold parallels numbered to 99 or less.

There are a number of fun and groovy throwback inserts. Baseball Flashbacks and News Flashbacks are both back for another season. Then and Now compares a current player with a star of a similar stat line from the past. Collectors can also find another installment of New Age Performers.

The retail product offers an entirely different wave of sparkly and shiny inserts and hits.

Hobby boxes consist of 24 nine-card packs. At a price point right around $100, this is a great rip and an incredibly interesting product for just about any collector.

At this point, the release of Bowman Baseball should be a national holiday. The day that Bowman Baseball hits the market is a special one, to say the least. The 2024 version will be available sometime around the first week of May.

Over the many decades of great Bowman products, the iconic line has transformed from the Home of the Rookie Card to the Home of the Prospect Card to the Home of the Almighty 1^st Bowman, with varying examples of colors, numbering, and in many cases, a player's first autograph card.

Also See: Bowman Tom Brady Superfractors sell for big dollars 

The base set features 100 cards consisting of rookies and veterans with an additional 150 separately numbered prospect cards.

We all know that you might have to sit on a box of these, opened or not, for a few years before some of these names start to ring bells but, in some cases, it's well worth the patience.

Parallels range from Sky Blue numbered to 499 copies all the way down to 1-of-1 printing plates and platinum versions.

The heralded Chrome prospects reach every color in the rainbow and then some, from Lunar Glow Refractors to the 1-of-1 printing plates and Superfractors. Expect to find purple, fuchsia, blue, grass, green, yellow, gold, rose gold, red, and a wide array of bright colors on these bad boys.

Chrome prospect autograph cards, especially 1st Bowmans, are landmark cards for the stars of the future. A player's first card becomes one of, if not the, player's most important card. There are also paper prospect autographs, which keep the Bowman name and lack the Chrome technology. Those are exclusive to retail with the rich run of parallels.

Also See: As Seen on TV: 1955 Bowman Baseball 

There are some really fun inserts this season, including Bowman AI, which uses advanced stats to predict future stars. The Prospect Power Up insert appears as if the collector holding it is playing a game of pinball.

Collectors can expect the usual Bowman Scouts Top 100, Bowman Spotlights and Rookie of the Year Favorites inserts.

Collectors will definitely be prospecting for the ultra-rare Hidden Gems set.

Bowman Hobby boxes weigh in at 10 cards per pack with 24 packs per box and will have collectors looking for one autograph card per box, on average.

This is one of the most significant baseball releases each season and drives the market and collectors like few other products have the power to do. There will be plenty to go around but definitely make sure to grab a box or two for yourself.

Speaking of fan favorites, Panini's Donruss Optic Football, which hits the market in mid-May, is a souped-up version of Donruss Football, and one that collectors clamor for each year. In each hobby box, expect to find 20 packs with four cards per pack. Expect to find one autograph, 20 Rated Rookies, 12 parallels and four inserts per box, on average.

At a price tag right around $850 (or more), this won't be for everyone but there will be plenty of collectors who shell out this amount of money to try their hand at Optic.

Donruss will use the Optic Chrome technology in full effect, so expect all of the bells and whistles, such as shiny Rated Rookies, My House inserts, and the wildly popular and more rare Downtown cards. Downtown inserts feature both Super Bowl and International versions this year, as if they weren't sexy enough.

Speaking of sexy, collectors can expect some slick on-card autographs from this season's hottest rookies in Rated Rookies RPS autographs.

There are some pretty spectacular Rookie Patch autographs and Legendary Patch autographs in Optic form. Look no further than the Bo Jackson patch auto for a spectacular example of the veteran version.

Don't miss some of the other inserts, including Mythical and Rookie Kings.

Although it’s not football season, this product is strong enough to drive business back to the gridiron. 

— Tony Reid has written about sports collectibles for such publications as Beckett and Sports Collectors Daily. He collects RCs of star players in baseball, basketball and football. You can reach him at @reidrattlecage on all social media platforms.