Topps’ hugely popular International Trading Card Cay will make its 2023 return this coming August 5th. On this day, collectors who pay a visit to their nearest participating hobby store in the US or abroad will be able to help themselves to a special 5-card pack of Topps trading cards.
Now in its second year since going global this year’s promotion comes with much more than just baseball. In all, you can receive five cards from your favorite sport or property, plus there are a couple of extra baseball cards that have also been made available and we’ll tell you how and when to get them below.
The free card packs, whose options are larger than the three that were on offer a year ago, include sets from the Major League Baseball, UEFA Champions League, Formula 1, Bowman U Football, Athletes Unlimited – a mix of other sports – plus the Garbage Pail Kids.
What’s more, each of these cards is exclusive to International Trading Card Day.
The event is set for the first weekend of August and, while no purchase is required in order to obtain the free pack, anyone who spends a minimum of $10 on Topps or Bowman products will receive a bonus sixth card from the shop that features the Los Angeles Angels center fielder Mike Trout.
Plus, collectors that make a return visit to the same hobby shop on the following Saturday (August 12th) and spend a further $10 or more can pick up an International Trading Card Day exclusive Adley Rutschman, catcher for the Baltimore Orioles, card for free.
The packs do not come free for the shops, and collectors do not get to pick and choose which packs they receive. Packs will be made up of five cards plus a topper card. As you might expect, MLB packs will be the most prominent and will make up around 40 percent of the packs allocated to a dealer.
Soccer, specifically the UEFA Champions League, will be the second most represented sport and will make up around 20 percent of the packs, while Formula One will be 15 percent, Bowman U will be 15 percent and then come the rarities which will be both Athletes unlimited and the Garbage Pail Kids at just five percent apiece.
Overall, the boxes of 100 include:
40 MLB Packs
20 UEFA Champions League Packs
15 Formula 1 Packs
15 Bowman U Football Packs
5 Athletes Unlimited Packs
5 Garbage Pail Kids Packs
What this means for collectors is that for those of you that want a baseball pack, then it would be a good idea to get down there early. It is also advisable to check with your local store beforehand to find out and confirm whether or not they will be joining in with the fun on the day.
Throughout July and August, Major League Baseball teams around the country will also be offering cards in celebration of International Trading Card Day.
Starting in 2016 and once known as National Baseball Card Day, after six straight seasons, National Baseball Card Day was rebranded instead to International Traditional Trading Card Day in 2022. Why the change? Well, 2022 was the first time that the promo, which was previously exclusively for the US market, was expanded to parts of Europe and Japan.
They also now recognize UEFA Champions and Garbage Pail Kids packs for the free giveaway. Not much has changed in the United States, however. In past years, autographed cards were randomly seeded in some packs, but we can’t say if that will be the case this year or not.
As mentioned above, shops have to purchase the packs that they give away to customers at a cost of about 50 cents per pack and cases will include a mix of the five different packs.
As mentioned, baseball will be most represented in the packs, so it will not be a bad idea to get down there early if you want to make sure that you get a MLB pack before they run out.
