2023 Topps World Baseball Classic Global Stars: Bring Home The Excitement Of The WBC Home, In Card Form

Mike Trout, Mookie Betts, and Bobby Witt Jr. on the same team? How about Julio Rodriguez teaming up with Sandy Alcantara and Manny Machado? And who doesn’t enjoy seeing major leaguers representing the Netherlands, Israel, Great Britain, and Italy?

This can all mean only one things – the World Baseball Classic (WBC) is back! And with it, WBC cards. In this case, we’re talking about 2023 Topps World Baseball Classic Global Stars.

But what is the World Baseball Classic? And what does 2023 Topps World Baseball Classic Global Stars offer collectors?

What is the World Baseball Classic (WBC)?

The World Baseball Classic, or WBC for short, is an international baseball tournament similar to the World Cup in soccer. To ensure the best and most well-known players, the WBC includes mostly professional players, with many coming from MLB or other professional leagues.

In order to not interrupt the Major League season, the WBC takes place during spring training. In 2023, the tournament started on March 7^th and runs through the March 21 championship game. The tournament starts with a group bracket that sets the stage for a single elimination setup.

The 2023 World Baseball Classic will be the 5^th in the history of the tournament. It happens every four years, although this will be the first occurrence since 2017 due to that years WBC being cancelled due to Covid-19.

The 2023 WBC tournament field is increasing to 20 national teams, from 16 in years prior. The World Baseball Classic brings excitement about the game to countries across the world, and gives those of us in the US a taste of some excitement as the big league season approaches.

2023 Topps World Baseball Classic Global Stars release date & release format

The 2023 Topps World Baseball Classic Global Stars product is available exclusively through Topps website. They became available for sale on March 10, 2023. The boxes will ship approximately 8-10 weeks after the WBC championship game.

2023 Topps World Baseball Classic Global Stars hobby packs contain 20 cards per pack. Hobby boxes contain one pack per box.

Each box/pack contains 16 base cards, 2 parallels, and 2 inserts. Autographs are inserted 1:3 boxes.

The pre-sale price on Topps website is $29.99 with free shipping.

2023 Topps World Baseball Classic Global Stars base set & design

The 2023 Topps World Baseball Classic Global Stars set consists of 50 base cards. The checklist includes many of the biggest stars from MLB, including Mike Trout (USA), Shohei Ohtani (JAP), Julio Rodriguez (DR), Freddie Freeman (CAN), and many more. You won’t find rookie cards or prospects here, but if you’re looking for stars, this set is basically all well-known players.

The design is colorful, with a large WBC logo. Those pastel colors carry on through the design, which includes a Topps logo, reference to the WBC, the National team that the player is playing for, player name, and position. They’re more colorful than a Topps flagship release, which some collectors will like and others may not. But it’s different, which captures the spirit of the WBC.

2023 Topps World Baseball Classic Global Stars parallels

Parallels are seeded two per pack/box and come in a variety of colors and levels of scarcity.

Parallels include:

• Black Parallel – unnumbered
• Dark Red Parallel – /150
• Aqua Blue Parallel – /99
• Green Parallel – /75
• Blue Parallel – /50
• Yellow Parallel – /25
• Orange Parallel – /10
• Red Parallel – /5
• Gold Parallel – /1

2023 Topps World Baseball Classic Global Stars inserts

Inserts are seeded two per pack/box. And by inserts, we mean the ONE insert set in the product, Flags of a Nation. The 20-card set integrates the flag of the country players are representing in the WBC into the design.

Parallels include:

• Yellow – /25
• Orange – /10
• Red – /5
• Gold – 1/1

2023 Topps World Baseball Classic Global Stars autographs

Autographs are seeded one out of every three packs/boxes. The set includes 25 cards. The checklist here includes some bigger names like Wander Franco, Xander Bogaerts, and Nolan Arenado. The quality of the checklist drops off pretty quickly from there, making these “hits” maybe not as exciting as your standard autograph offering.

Parallels include:

• Green – /75
• Blue – /50
• Yellow – /25
• Orange – /10
• Red – /5
• Gold – 1/1

2023 Topps World Baseball Classic Global Stars value

With a lack of rookie cards, a single insert set, and an autograph offering with a bit of a weak checklist, the 2023 Topps World Baseball Classic Global Stars set is likely not a great buy-and-hold candidate.

These are designed to be opened and enjoyed. Some of the rarer parallels of top names will likely have some value, as will the better autographs (especially parallels of key players).

The rest are a fun way to capture the WBC action, but unlikely to be worth big money. Player and team collectors will likely enjoy adding these cards to their collections, and there may be some international interest in some cases.

Still, at a buy-in price of $30, consider these a fun break full of stars with a chance at something with additional value. If you consider “entertainment value” a portion of the cost of any break, these are something fun and different for not much more than the price of a retail blaster.

Final thoughts on 2023 Topps World Baseball Classic Global Stars

The World Baseball Classic only comes around every few years, and the same can be said of WBC cards. This Topps offering looks like it will do a nice job of commemorating the 2023 World Baseball Classic, especially when it comes to capturing the stars who take place in the games.

Who do you think wins the World Baseball Classic? And what do you think about 2023 Topps World Baseball Classic Global Stars? Let us know at Twitter @card_lines.

2023 Topps World Baseball Classic Global Stars Checklist

1 Juan Soto, Dominican Republic
2 Julio Urias, Mexico
3 Roki Sasaki, Japan
4 Jeremy Peña, Dominican Republic
5 Shohei Ohtani, Japan
6 Randy Arozarena, Mexico
7 Pete Alonso, USA
8 Miguel Cabrera, Venezuela
9 Javier Baez, Puerto Rico
10 Munetaka Murakami, Japan
11 Yoan Moncada, Cuba
12 Wander Franco, Dominican Republic
13 Nelson Cruz, Dominican Republic
14 Gleyber Torres, Venezuela
15 Jose Altuve, Venezuela
16 Luis Robert, Cuba
17 Sal Frelick, Italy
18 Ryoji Kuribayashi, Japan
19 Xander Bogaerts, Netherlands
20 Eric Sogard, Czech Republic
21 Sandy Alcantara, Dominican Republic
22 Francisco Lindor, Puerto Rico
23 Mike Trout, USA
24 Joc Pederson, Israel
25 Kensuke Kondoh, Japan
26 Harry Ford, Great Britain
27 Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Japan
28 Eloy Jimenez, Dominican Republic
29 Bobby Witt Jr., USA
30 Mookie Betts, USA
31 Hiroto Takahashi, Japan
32 Paul Goldschmidt, USA
33 Jose Ramos, Panama
34 Jose Berrios, Puerto Rico
35 Yu Darvish, Japan
36 Manny Machado, Dominican Republic
37 Jose Ramirez, Dominican Republic
38 Jung-Hoo Lee, Korea
39 J.T. Realmuto, USA
40 Edwin Diaz, Puerto Rico
41 Salvador Perez, Venezuela
42 Rafael Devers, Dominican Republic
43 Masataka Yoshida, Japan
44 Freddie Freeman, Canada
45 Tim Anderson, USA
46 Shugo Maki, Japan
47 Didi Gregorius, Netherlands
48 Julio Rodriguez, Dominican Republic
49 Vinnie Pasquantino, Italy
50 Ha-Seong Kim, Korea

Flags of a Nation

F-1 Mike Trout, USA
F-2 Francisco Lindor, Puerto Rico
F-3 Munetaka Murakami, Japan
F-4 Jeremy Peña, Dominican Republic
F-5 Freddie Freeman, Canada
F-6 Xander Bogaerts, Netherlands
F-7 Juan Soto, Dominican Republic
F-8 Roki Sasaki, Japan
F-9 Mookie Betts, USA
F-10 Shohei Ohtani, Japan
F-11 Jung-Hoo Lee, Korea
F-12 Harry Ford, Great Britain
F-13 Julio Rodriguez, Dominican Republic
F-14 Vinnie Pasquantino, Italy
F-15 Lars Nootbaar, Japan
F-16 Joc Pederson, Israel
F-17 Luis Robert, Cuba
F-18 Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Japan
F-19 Wander Franco, Dominican Republic
F-20 Miguel Cabrera, Venezuela

Alexis Diaz, Puerto Rico
Bo Naylor, Canada
Didi Gregorius, Netherlands
Eugenio Suarez, Venezuela
Gio Urshela, Colombia
Gleyber Torres, Venezuela
Harry Ford, Great Britain
Isaac Paredes, Mexico
J.T. Realmuto, USA
Javier Assad, Mexico
Jonathan Loaisiga, Nicaragua
Jose Ramos, Panama
Lars Nootbaar, Japan
Luis Arraez, Venezuela
Luis Garcia, Venezuela
MJ Melendez, Puerto Rico
Nelson Velazquez, Puerto Rico
Nolan Arenado, USA
Oscar Mercado, Colombia
Pete Alonso, USA
Trea Turner, USA
Vinnie Pasquantino, Italy
Wander Franco, Dominican Republic
Xander Bogaerts, Netherlands
Yoan Moncada, Cuba