Juan Soto Rookie Cards Checklist and Top Prospect Cards
Juan Soto rookie cards are moving and many collectors have been on board for years. His explosive MLB start at such a young age has fans looking his way and has directed a lot of hobby attention toward the budding talent.
After signing with the Washington Nationals as an international free agent in 2015, the first Juan Soto cards came in 2016. Additional prospect cards in 2017 and 2018 gave way to the Juan Soto rookie cards following his MLB debut in May 2018.
While his RC options started late in the collecting season, he is found in most of the 2018 Baseball Products that released after August.
The guide below highlights all the rookie cards and the key prospect cards for Soto.
Juan Soto Rookie Cards Checklist and Gallery
Click on the card listings below to shop for specific cards or track prices on eBay. Bolded sets go directly to detailed product profiles.
2018 Bowman's Best Juan Soto RC #29
2018 Bowman's Best is home to the only true base Juan Soto rookie card under the Bowman banner. The hard-signed Best of 2018 Autograph card is also popular, as is his Best Performers autograph.
2018 Panini Chronicles Juan Soto RC (Multiple Options)
Soto may not have a rookie card in the base set for 2018 Chronicles Baseball, but the multi-brand release still claims the title of most Juan Soto rookie cards under one roof. He is found in Donruss Rated Rookies, Illusions, Optic Rated Rookies, Prizm, Select, and Spectra. Soto is also in several of the signed inserts, including Contenders Season Ticket, Illusions Autographs and Prizm Signatures.
2018 Panini Flawless Juan Soto RC #20 Diamond #/20
2018 Flawless provides quality memorabilia pieces and on-card autographs for Soto, but his base card sticks to diamonds and a print run of just 20.
2018 National Treasures Juan Soto RC #64 Autograph Relic #/75
Offering the first premium rookie for Soto, 2018 National Treasures Baseball features the young slugger on a hard-signed card that adds a decent swatch, with many of the cards displaying patch pieces. A low base print run of 75 has pushed prices quite high for the Rookie Material Signatures card.
2018 Topps Update Series Juan Soto RC #US300
There was a long wait for the Juan Soto flagship rookie but it finally arrived in 2018 Topps Update. Collectors can also find image variations, autographed versions of the variations, and signed inserts in 1983 Topps, Legends in the Making, and Topps Salute.
He has a miniature flagship base card in the online-only 2018 Topps Mini Baseball, as well.
2018 Topps Baseball Silver Pack 1983 Chrome Juan Soto RC #134
For the first time, the special Silver Pack promo had three series to match all three sets in flagship MLB. Previous releases only covered Series 1 and Series 2. Soto entered the 2018 Topps Baseball Silver Pack 1983 Chrome lineup in the Update Series packs with a base card, Refractor parallels and sticker autograph (numbered to 99).
2018 Topps Chrome Update Series Juan Soto RC #HMT55
Not long after Update came 2018 Chrome Update Series. The Target-only set offers a base RC, Refractor parallels and a sticker autograph version for Soto.
2018 Topps Archives Juan Soto RC #73
The first pack-pulled Juan Soto rookie card arrived in 2018 Topps Archives Baseball. The retro-inspired set pays homage to multiple Topps designs of the past, including the 1959 design shown for Soto. The card will be remembered as the first and for the odd Archives release schedule that saw Retail boxes come out over two months before Hobby boxes.
2018 Topps Brooklyn Collection Juan Soto RC Autograph #BC1/BC2-JSO
An expensive option exclusive to Topps online with boxes priced at $1,000 apiece, 2018 Brooklyn Collection has two different on-card Juan Soto autographs. Both are numbered to 25 with a few parallels limited to 15 or less.
2018 Topps Dynasty Juan Soto RC Autograph Patch #AP-JS (3 versions)
Rare, high-end and part of the pricey 2018 Dynasty, all these Juan Soto rookies are hard-signed and numbered to 10 copies or less. Although there are three different versions in the main set, the overall total is still small and the prices are high.
2018 Topps Fire Juan Soto RC #181
2018 Topps Fire Baseball is an inexpensive option with a unique design for those looking outside the norm. The Target-exclusive set also has multiple foil parallels spread across the various formats.
2018 Topps Five Star Juan Soto RC #FSA-JSO Autograph (Redemption)
As one of the most ornate options for Juan Soto rookie card collectors, the hard-signed 2018 Five Star base autograph is a top choice. There was a wait, though, as it originally came as a redemption.
2018 Topps Gallery Juan Soto RC #126
2018 Gallery MLB gives retail fans a basic Juan Soto rookie option in the Walmart-only release. Featuring the artwork of John Giancaspro, the image appears to be taken from the same photo used in Archives. Collectors can also find a sticker autograph version of the base card that was originally inserted as a redemption.
2018 Topps Gold Label Framed Autograph Juan Soto RC #FA-JSO (Redemption)
Despite being an October release, Juan Soto still somehow missed the cutoff for the 2018 Gold Label Baseball base set. However, he is in the Framed Autograph set, albeit as a redemption. These on-card autographs should be a favorite with collectors in the long run.
2018 Topps Heritage High Number Juan Soto RC #502
With 2018 Heritage High Number Baseball came another budget base Juan Soto rookie card for the collection, plus a hard-signed Real One autograph issued as a redemption. Collectors also showed considerable interest in the Chrome parallels.
2018 Topps Holiday Bowman Juan Soto RC #TH-JSO
Provided in promo packs at card shops during November, the 2018 Topps Holiday Bowman card for Soto is very simple but the holiday-themed parallels spice things up a bit. This includes Green Festive (#/99), White Snow (#/50), Turkey (#/35), Red Festive (#/10), and Gold Festive (1/1).
2018 Topps Living Set Juan Soto RC #43 (PR=28,572)
Featuring Mayumi Seto artwork done in the style of 1953 Topps, 2018 Topps Living Set offers a very unique Soto rookie card. Part of an online-only release sold for just one week, collectors pushed the print run to 28,572 copies.
2018 Topps Now Juan Soto RC #235 (PR=6,815)
The earliest card for Soto to display the RC logo, the print-to-order 2018 Topps Now Baseball release sold just over 6,800 copies. Issued for his May 21 start, the card notes that he made early noise in the league with a home run on his first pitch. Soto has multiple Topps Now cards since then.
Soto was also the Card of the Month subject for June. Although part of the on-demand brand, these once-per-month cards can only be redeemed by select collectors who are members of the Topps Now loyalty program.
2018 Topps Transcendent Collection Juan Soto RC #TCA-JS Autograph #/25 (2 versions)
Even among the many high-end sets, 2018 Transcendent Collection stands apart. That is largely due to the $20k+ price tag per box, but the low-numbered cards look very nice, as well. The framed and hard-signed versions for Soto include a horizontal and vertical orientation.
2018 Topps Triple Threads Juan Soto RC #RA-JS Autograph #/99
The TTT rookie for Soto is impressive in design, and the rarity combined with an on-card signature give collectors an appealing chase in 2018 Topps Triple Threads.
Key Juan Soto Prospect Cards
2016 Bowman Chrome Prospect Autographs Juan Soto #CPA-JS
Found in 2016 Bowman Chrome, many collectors view this as the most important and true Juan Soto rookie card. Of course, it's not a rookie card, but the on-card signature, Bowman Chrome Prospect brand strength, and colorful Refractor parallel assortment put it in a league of its own. If there is one criticism to point out, Soto looks to be very unhappy with something. Perhaps Topps could have picked a better image.
2016 Bowman International Ink Juan Soto #II-JS Autograph #/99
The International Ink insert in 2016 Bowman comes in both an unsigned base version and a limited autograph version. Capped at 99 copies, Soto was issued as a redemption. He also has signed parallels numbered to 10 and one-of-one.
2016 Panini Elite Extra Edition Juan Soto #165 #/999
If you want an early Juan Soto card that is a bit more affordable, take a look at 2016 Elite Extra Edition. Soto has a base card displaying the distinct "X" design. While values are more reasonable, prices are helped by the main print run of 999 copies, and the various Aspirations and Status parallels, including die-cuts.
2017 Bowman Chrome Prospects Juan Soto #BCP-180
Two more noteworthy Juan Soto base prospects released in 2017 Bowman products. 2017 Bowman Chrome came first with Soto running in a red jersey. Naturally, there are multiple Refractor parallels, as well. There is a smaller option of this card in the 2017 Bowman Chrome Mini factory set.
2017 Bowman Draft Chrome Prospects Juan Soto #BDC-162
There is also a 2017 Bowman Draft base prospect card for Soto. He has a paper version with parallels and a Chrome option with multiple Refractors.
2017 Bowman Chrome Scouts' Top 100 Juan Soto #BTP-60 Autograph #/50
Inserted into 2017 Bowman Baseball, the Bowman Scouts' Top 100 line features up-and-coming stars in a base set with a signed version for Soto numbered to just 50 copies. There is also a one-of-one Superfractor.
2017 Bowman Platinum Top Prospects Autographs Juan Soto #TP-JS
Outside of the BCP card, the earliest Juan Soto autographs have very low print runs. Although the base Top Prospects autograph in 2017 Bowman Platinum is not numbered, these still don't appear in huge supply on the secondary market. Part of that can be attributed to the Walmart-only release. Soto has several rare parallel tiers, as well.
2018 Leaf Juan Soto Autographs
Offering a cheaper choice much of the time, Leaf supplied Juan Soto autographs in several different 2018 sets, including Flash, Metal and Ultimate. The appeal here is that they are hard-signed and the low-numbered versions are easier to obtain.
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IndyJefrey
This just shows have crazy the industry has become. When will we hit the breaking point for saturation?
Thanks for pulling this together.