As the calendar turned to 2023, there were lots of questions about this release. Stores really weren’t sure what to expect for series 1, even to the point of not being sure they would be able to order it. In years past, Releases were often ordered six months ahead of release time. Now, coming up on the expected time for series 1, and that clarity wasn’t there. Perhaps this is the new Fanatics way, as the next expected release doesn’t seem to be offered yet, but series 1 seemed to work.

There is a rather big shake-up with this release compared to previous years. While there is the normal 330 card base set, along with a lot of parallel options, it takes a new approach to short prints. Gone are the days of three or four levels of short prints, featuring primarily stars and rookies. Instead, this year, we see a super short print version of every base card. It will be interesting to see how that plays out over time.

A box features 10 packs with 46 cards per pack. Each box also includes 1 Autograph and 2 Relic cards, along with two silver packs of 1988 Chrome cards, and an oversized box topper.

This box contained:

409 Base (329/300 different, 99.7% of set)
1 Base Golden Mirror SSP Shea Langeliers
2 Base Gold Parallels
5 Gold Foil Parallels
3 Base Green Foil Parallels
1 Base Independence Day Parallel
5 Base Rainbow Foil Parallels
3 2022 Greatest Hits
2 All Aces
2 One-Two Punch
1 Home Run Challenge
10 1988 Topps
3 Welcome to the Club
1 1988 Topps Relics Black Wade Boggs
1 Commemorative City Connect Patch Juan Soto
1 Baseball Stars Autographs Black A.J. Puk
7 1988 Topps Chrome Mojo Refractor
1 1988 Topps Chrome Green Mojo Refractor
1 Oversized 1988 Topps Leaders Mookie Betts