Venezuela beat Team USA 3-2 on March 17 at LoanDepot Park in Miami. First WBC title in the country's history. The winning run came on a Eugenio Suarez RBI double to left center in the top of the ninth. Maikel Garcia took tournament MVP honors after hitting .385 with 10 hits and seven RBI across the entire event.
Bryce Harper had tied it with a two-run homer in the bottom of the eighth. Didn't matter. Venezuela answered in the ninth and closed it out.
Now the question every collector is asking. What do you buy?
The Topps Now WBC Checklist
Topps released individual Topps Now cards throughout the tournament on 48-hour windows. Each card has an open print run. Topps prints exactly as many as get ordered. That matters for long-term value. The more people who ordered, the more copies exist.
Here are the key cards and their print runs.
WB4. Shohei Ohtani. 1st Career WBC Grand Slam. 132,078 copies. That is not a typo. Over 132,000 people ordered this card. It's the most popular Topps Now card of the tournament by a massive margin. Japanese collectors drove the demand after Ohtani crushed a grand slam during Japan's 13-0 win over Chinese Taipei on March 6. He followed it with the John Cena "You Can't See Me" gesture, which spawned its own card.
WBCO. John Cena / Shohei Ohtani Crossover. 55,002 copies. A dual card featuring Ohtani and Cena after the grand slam celebration. The 1/1 FoilFractor version includes dual autographs from both Cena and Ohtani. That card will be worth thousands if it ever surfaces. Parallels run from /50 gold foil down to /5 red foil and the 1/1 FoilFractor.
WB8. Aaron Judge. HR in 1st WBC At-Bat. 12,508 copies. Much lower print run than Ohtani. Judge slugged a homer in his very first World Baseball Classic plate appearance for Team USA.
WB20. Paul Skenes. 7 Ks and a Win in WBC Debut. 7,570 copies. Skenes made the All-Tournament Team after dominating on the mound. His second card, WB35, celebrating Team USA's semifinal win, printed 16,243 copies.
WB41. Eugenio Suarez. Game-Winning RBI Secures Nation's 1st Championship. Print run not yet finalized. This is the walkoff card. The moment that won Venezuela the title. If the print run comes in low, this becomes the most collectible individual card of the tournament.
WB42. Daniel Palencia. Closes Out 1st WBC Crown. The final out card.
WB43. Team Venezuela. 1st World Baseball Classic Title. The celebration card.
WB19. Ronald Acuna Jr. Joins Cabrera as Only VEN Players With HR and SB in Tournament Game. 1,090 copies. That is a tiny print run for a superstar of Acuna's caliber.
WB33. Ronald Acuna Jr. Leadoff HR Sets Tone in Win Over Defending Champs. His second card from the tournament, commemorating Venezuela's quarterfinal upset of Japan.
The Venezuela Championship Team Set
This is the one to pay attention to.
Topps released a 2026 Topps Now Team Venezuela WBC Championship Team Set. 15 cards total. 14 players plus a team card. Available through March 25 on Topps.com and Fanatics for $74.99.
Every set purchased directly from Topps or Fanatics through the deadline comes with a bonus. Either a numbered parallel, a short-printed image variation, or an autograph. That guaranteed extra is what makes buying direct worthwhile over grabbing it secondhand.
The player checklist reads like a fantasy roster.
Ronald Acuna Jr. Luis Arraez. Jackson Chourio. William Contreras. Willson Contreras. Salvador Perez. Eugenio Suarez. Maikel Garcia. Gleyber Torres. Wilyer Abreu. Ezequiel Tovar. Eduardo Rodriguez. Daniel Palencia. Miguel Cabrera.
Parallels include WBC Logo Green Foil /99, Gold Foil /50, Orange Foil /25, Black Foil /10, Red Foil /5, and FoilFractor 1/1. The 1/1 FoilFractors are in play for autograph versions.
Team sets also exist for USA (print run: 20,322), Japan, Dominican Republic, Korea, and Puerto Rico. Each follows the same format.
What to Buy Right Now
The Venezuela Championship Team Set. Direct from Topps before March 25. You get the base set plus a guaranteed parallel or auto. At $74.99 this is the best value play of the entire WBC card run. Championship sets from the winning team always carry a premium over losing finalists. You have four days.
WB41. Eugenio Suarez walkoff card. The defining moment of the tournament on a single card. If the print run comes in under 5,000, hold it. Walkoff moments in championship games have a long shelf life in the hobby.
Maikel Garcia cards outside the WBC set. Garcia's regular Topps and Bowman cards are where the real opportunity sits. He signed a five-year, $57.5 million extension with the Royals. He won the Gold Glove in 2025. He made his first All-Star team. Now he's a WBC MVP. His floor just got a lot higher. A 2013 Prizm Draft Picks Prospect Signatures Auto Black Prizm 1/1 sold for $700 on March 12. His base cards are still cheap.
WB19. Ronald Acuna Jr. Only 1,090 copies printed. That print run is absurdly low for one of the best players in baseball. Acuna called this win one of the biggest moments of his entire career. His 2017 Bowman Chrome Prospects Autographs Superfractor 1/1 has sold for $430,000. This $10 Topps Now card with a four-digit print run is a different tier, but the demand floor for Acuna product is real.
Jackson Chourio's team set card. Chourio is 21 years old, Venezuelan, and already one of the most exciting young players in baseball. Being on a WBC championship roster at his age puts him in rare company. His regular Topps and Bowman cards are where the long-term value lives, but the team set card ties him to this specific moment.
What to Avoid
WB4. Ohtani Grand Slam. 132,078 copies. That print run will crush any secondary market premium. The card itself is iconic. The moment was electric. But supply kills value on Topps Now products. This is a display piece, not an investment. The 2023 WBC Ohtani cards tell the story. His WBC-71 from the Trout strikeout printed 42,273 copies and is selling for around $11 right now. Down nearly 50% in the last 30 days alone. The 2026 version printed three times as many.
WBCO. Cena/Ohtani Crossover base card. 55,002 copies. Same problem. Fun card. Massive supply. The parallels and the 1/1 dual auto redemption are a different conversation entirely, but the base version will settle into the $5-$10 range.
Any base Topps Now card with a five-figure print run unless you're buying it to keep, not to flip. These are print-to-order products. The market on base versions almost always declines within 6-12 months.
The 2023 WBC Lesson
The 2023 WBC produced some of the most memorable baseball moments in recent history. Japan beat the USA in the final. Ohtani struck out Mike Trout to close it. That card, WBC-71, printed 42,273 copies and was the most popular Topps Now card of 2023.
Today it sells for around $11.
Lower print run WBC cards have held up better. The lesson is straightforward. On Topps Now products, print run is the single most important variable for long-term value. Not the player. Not the moment. The number of copies that exist.
That's why WB19 (Acuna, 1,090 copies) and WB41 (Suarez walkoff, print run TBD) are the cards to watch. The championship team sets carry their own appeal because of the parallel and auto chase. But for individual Topps Now cards, you want the lowest number you can find attached to the biggest moment.
The Bigger Picture
Ohtani's game-worn WBC jersey just sold for $1.5 million at auction. That's the jersey from Japan's 13-0 win over Chinese Taipei. The same game as the grand slam. The same game as the Cena gesture. One jersey. $1.5 million.
The WBC is not a sideshow anymore. It's becoming a legitimate driver of sports collectibles demand. Venezuela's upset win adds another layer. International baseball moments create passionate collector bases that sustain demand long after the tournament ends.
The March 25 deadline for the Venezuela championship team set is real. After that, you're buying on the secondary market at whatever premium the market decides. Four days. Make your call.
