Author: Allan Teruel from Waxstat.com
I have been fortunate enough to attend a few card shows on the west coast of the United States to begin 2024. It is very clear to see, based on attendance, that #TheHobby is moving in a positive direction. We’re almost concluding the first quarter of the 2024 calendar year and by March 31, the trading card industry will be seeing about 300 new products released.
While I cannot vouch for all aspects of #TheHobby, it is clear from Waxstat’s observations, that the new product releases are not slowing down any time soon. Here are the product lines for March 2024 that we’re looking forward to ripping the most:
2023-24 Upper Deck Series 2 Hockey Hobby Box (Release Date: March 6, 2024)
If you read nothing else, then just pay attention to this part. The big release for March 2024 is the 2023-24 Upper Deck Series 2 Hockey with the rookie card chase of Connor Bedard. The Series Two product will come out on Wednesday, March 6, in the Hobby Box, Blaster Box, Gravity Feed Box and Retail Tin configurations. There’s such high hopes for Bedard that Dave & Adams, a leading internet retailer of sealed trading card products, is offering a $1 Million bounty for the 2023-24 Upper Deck Connor Bedard Outburst Gold 1/1 Young Guns. Good luck with the million dollar chase!
2023 Panini Spectra Football Hobby Box (Release Date: March 8, 2024)
Spectra Football Hobby boxes will be released on March 8, 2024 and are currently averaging $1199 from online retailers. We took a look back at the historical prices on Waxstat, and we saw that pre-sales for Spectra were as low as $900 on December 27, 2023. In a little more than 2 months, Spectra Football Hobby saw a price increase of 33.3%. This mid-to-high-end set has 4 packs per hobby box and 4 cards per pack. You can expect on average: 4 Autographs, 4 Memorabilia cards, 7 Base/Parallels and 1 Insert/Insert Parallel. There won’t be any C.J. Stroud RPA’s, but expect a few of his 1-of-1’s to be the chase.
2024 Upper Deck Golf Hobby Box (Release Date: March 13, 2024)
Back from a long-term hiatus (2004), Upper Deck is releasing the 2024 Upper Deck Golf Hobby Box on March 13, 2024. Whether you’re a weekend hacker or a scratch golfer, you’ll appreciate a highly desired product that hasn’t seen collector’s hands in 20 years. At an average release price of $110 per hobby box, it’s an affordable set that will allow you to chase stars new and old like Victor Hovland, Justin Thomas, Annika Sorenstam, John Daly and wait for it… Tiger Woods!
2023 Bowman Inception Baseball Hobby Box (Release Date: March 15, 2024)
Not too long ago, you could easily find a hobby box that contained an autographed card for a decent price. Times have changed, but every once in a while there’s a product line that is respected among collectors without a price tag that will break the bank. For $165 per box of 2023 Bowman Inception Baseball Hobby, you’ll get the satisfaction of getting 2 Autographs per box in addition to 1 Foil Parallel and 4 Base cards. We’ll also be looking out for the Inception Inaugurations stamp that denotes the player’s first time on an Inception card.
Pokémon Scarlet & Violet Temporal Forces Booster Box (Release Date: March 22, 2024)
Pokémon is doing their big release this month with the drop of Pokémon Scarlet & Violet Temporal Forces on Friday, March 22, 2024. They’ll have several configurations releasing that day, with the Booster Box and Elite Trainer Box being two of the more popular boxes for collectors and players.
2024 Topps Big League Baseball Hobby Box (Release Date: March 27, 2024)
Big League is such a great product line for Topps because it’s affordable at $49 per hobby box. There’s a ton of cards to rip (18 packs per box with 8 cards per pack). There’s chances for To the Moon! Die-Cut Autographs and Opening Act Autographs (Elly De La Cruz perhaps). But the greatest part is that there is 1 scratch-off per box where kids 14 and under can win an opportunity to be on a baseball card. From my perspective, I’m looking forward to a potential release of cards of influencers from #TheHobby. Big League did a great job in 2023, so I’m hoping for a great product release in 2024.
2023 Pieces of the Past Historical Premium Edition Box (Release Date: March 27, 2024)
It’s not all about chasing the hottest rookies and trying to predict who the next superstar will be. Sometimes we have to look back at our past and see how decisions of people from centuries ago helped shape the world we live in today. 2023 Pieces of the Past Historical Premium Edition Box releases on March 27, 2024 for around $94 per box. Each box has 10 packs and each pack has 4 cards (all cards are produced with mirror reflective technology). Each box will have 3 Relic Hits on average. Abraham Lincoln, Donald Trump, King George IV, Barack Obama and Franklin D. Roosevelt are among the many historical figures that will have a cut autograph (1 in 10 cases). This is an awesome way to educate kids about their forefathers and enjoy collecting these cards as well.
2022-23 Panini Flawless Basketball Hobby Box (Release Date: March 27, 2024)
Calling all Paolo Banchero fans! While the official 2022-23 Panini Flawless Basketball Hobby Box Checklist has not dropped yet, it is expected that one of Banchero’s biggest on-card auto rookie chases will be in this set. Additionally, we can expect to see Logoman Autographs and Laundry Tag Autographs from the biggest names not named Lebron James 😞. Prices per box are hovering around the $10,000 price point, but that’s expected with a box break of 9 autographs and 1 memorabilia card per box on average.
2023 Panini Impeccable WWE Hobby Box (Release Date: March 27, 2024)
Panini is bringing back Impeccable WWE Hobby for its second year with a release on March 27, 2024. This mid-to-high-end set is priced at a hefty $1200 per hobby box. Each hobby box has 1 pack with each pack containing 9 cards. With a big price tag, you’re hopefully going to get your money’s worth with 5 autographs (on average). The 2022 Panini Impeccable WWE Hobby Box featured autographs from Hulk Hogan, Shawn Michaels, the Undertaker, Triple H and Brock Lesnar to name a few. I would expect many of the new and old wrestling stars to have an autographed card contained in this checklist.
Other products to keep an eye on for March 2024:
2023-24 Panini Donruss Elite Basketball Hobby Box (Release Date: March 13, 2024)
2023 Panini Illusions Football Hobby Box (Release Date: March 13, 2024)
2023 Panini Zenith Football Hobby Box (Release Date: March 15, 2024)
2023-24 Upper Deck SPx Hockey Hobby Box (Release Date: March 20, 2024)
2023 Panini Limited Football Hobby Box (Release Date: March 20, 2024)
2023-24 Upper Deck SP Game Used Hockey Hobby Box (Release Date: March 27, 2024)
2023 Panini Elite Extra Edition Baseball Hobby Box (Release Date: March 27, 2024)
2023 Panini Obsidian Football Hobby Box (Release Date: March 27, 2024)
2024 Topps Chrome UFC Hobby Box (Release Date: March 27, 2024)
