Noteworthy Sports Card Releases October 2024

October brings more NFL cards, MLB playoffs and more. There are not a lot of products we’re excited about this month, but there are definitely a few good ones: quality over quantity, perhaps? To mark the turn of the calendar, here are the top releases in October.

As always, here are the CardLines picks for cards to watch in October 2024. And, also as always, a feature on this list doesn’t mean it’s a must-buy. We’re sharing honest thoughts on all products. 

Please note: the release schedules are very fluid and move frequently. These dates are not guaranteed (and with so many releases tentatively scheduled for October, it’s a safe bet many of these will not release this month).

Noteworthy sports card releases for October 2024

2024 Panini Donruss Elite Football (10/02)

Elite has been around for over a decade, but that hasn’t made it necessarily as collectible as you’d think. While it might be Donruss “Elite,” the vast majority of collectors would still prefer standard Donruss and its Rated Rookies.

Elite has a $349 price tag for 20 packs per box with 5 cards per pack, and you can expect to pull 2 autos, 1 memorabilia card, 3 rookies, 6 parallels, and 11 inserts among the 100 cards.

Limiting the number of rookies per box seems like a good idea because of scarcity, but the Elite rookies typically don’t hold too much value, regardless (they’re also usually in their college uniforms). This year’s product doesn’t advertise anything as “new”, so it’s probably just a rerun of a lukewarm product rollout from last year but with even fewer rookie signers. 

2024 Panini Origins NFL (10/04)

The focus for Origins football storytelling, and it’s a great product for doing exactly that. Many of the sets are built around the idea of telling origin stories, and this product is spiced up by fun narrative threads being woven into the sets.

That said, at around $380, this box is a high-risk, high-reward rip and not a great long-term hold since it hasn’t proven to hold much value. Of the 7 cards per box, you’ll pull 1 rookie autograph, 1 other auto, 1 memorabilia card, 2 parallels/inserts, and 2 base.

In other words, your rookie autograph needs to be a big one if you want any chance of stiffing a positive ROI… and this year’s set has fewer rookie signers than ever before.

2023/24 Panini Noir Basketball (10/06)

Noir is a high-end product that nobody asked for. Visually, it’s based on crime dramas from the 1920s. (I’ve always wondered what Panini product specialist said, “Hey, you know what would be a great idea for a product design…” and then suggested this), and while that might seem a bit unusual, it has some good-looking cards.

That said, each box will probably $2,500 and will contain 3 base or parallel cards, 3 memorabilia cards, and 4 autos (none of which will be Wemby, of course). It’s a lot of hits, but Noir has never been a product that feels like it will age tremendously well.

It’s too “themed,” and asking this release price for a set that doesn’t have Wemby autos feels like a crime worthy of the movies that Noir is based on. 

2024 Bowman Sterling Baseball (10/09)

Bowman Sterling 2024 is a popular high-end, legacy product. Each box contains just 30 total cards – 5 packs of 6 – and they feature Topps chromium technology to create “some of the most astonishingly clean chrome cards for the game’s top prospects and rookies once again.”

There are 50 prospect and 50 rookie cards to hunt, and 5 chrome autographs to be found in each $410 box.

2023/24 Panini Impeccable Soccer (10/16)

The 2023/24 Panini Impeccable Soccer Hobby Box offers a high-end collecting experience with some of the most upscale designs and elements in the card world. 

Each $1,200 box contains one pack with eight cards, including four autographs, one additional autograph or memorabilia card, one insert, one parallel, and one base card. 

Collectors can find features like the metal Stainless Stars and cards incorporating authentic gold and silver. 

The set includes indelible ink from some of the Premier League’s hottest stars and greatest legends in inserts such as Canvas Creations, 

Impeccable Club History Autographs, and Immortal Ink. With a star-studded checklist that magnificently melds autographs and memorabilia, this collection is perfect for serious soccer card enthusiasts.

2024 Panini Certified Football (10/30)

Pre-ordering for $325, Certified returns to claim its place as an annual staple – 25 years running. In that quarter-century, it’s never the most popular product, but it’s not bad, either.

You can think of it somewhere between 10-20 in the annual release power rankings. Each box contains 10 packs of 5 cards, with 2 autographs (including 1 Freshman Fabric Signature), 2 memorabilia cards, 10 inserts, 2 rookies and 3 numbered parallels.

While keeping the rookies fairly limited in print run, the new additions include super short print Night Moves parallel.

2023/24 Panini National Treasures Basketball (10/30)

National Treasures 2023-24 is dropping a bit earlier in the calendar year than it did last year, but this year’s still doesn’t have the appeal.

Without Wemby autographs, this product is nowhere near delivering on the $3,500 price tag it’ll likely come with. On a normal year, a Wemby RPA is an early retirement card. Without his autos? Clear stayaway. 

Each box contains 4 autographs, 4 memorabilia cards, 1 printing plate, and one base/parallel. Autographs include Rookie Patch Autographs, Treasured Tags Autographs, Logoman Autographs, and much more. 

New additions include All-NBA Signatures (perhaps a move to counter the lack of Wemby?), Rookie Patches Logoman, Rookie Jumbo Jersey Number Booklet Autographs and Rookie First Edition Signatures Booklet, and Treasured Metals in Silver, Gold, and Platinum which are numbered from to 25 to 1.

What are you looking forward to ripping or holding? 

There are some big releases dropping in October and we’ve got our eye on several. Let us know what you’re most excited about on Twitter @card_lines, and subscribe to our free newsletter right here.

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