2023-24 Upper Deck DC Annual - Is it worth opening?

In mid-2024, Upper Deck announced it had acquired the license to DC Comics. The trading card company, best known for its sports cards, already had rights to Marvel Comics and has recently expanded into other properties such as Looney Tunes and Halo. I’ve opened several Marvel products before, so I was excited by the news that they were working with DC. This week, I had the chance to open up two boxes of UD’s DC Annual 23-24, and here are my initial thoughts.

What comes in a box of DC Annual 23-24?

DC Annual features a 100-character card Base Set and an additional 100 Variant cover cards! There are also several parallels, sticker cards called “Backscatters” with different parallels, cards related to events such as Beast World and Knight Terrors, autographed cards from creators, sketch cards, and even rookie cards.

Each box comes with five card packs (with one premium insert) and 16 packs per box.

You can see the complete checklist here.

How much does it cost?

Depending on where you get it, the box generally costs in the $125-160 range. A blaster box costs in the $25-$30 range.

Who is the box made for?

Part of the reason I was so excited for this box was that the material was purely ripped from the comics. Most cards use covers or images right from the comics, with the back of the cards showing you what comic issue they are from — I do wish Upper Deck would take it a step further and include the various artists’ names on every card. However, props for including signatures and sketch cards from creatives. Look at this Tom King auto I pulled? That was incredibly exciting to see as a comic fan.

It’s cool to see the set feel like sports cards with rookie cards, set numbers, and the first release representing a season (2023-24).

Can I recommend it?

The short answer is yes. I’ve been following Upper Deck’s non-sports output for a long time. This is the best format they’ve done thus far, as the base checklist doesn’t feel insane given the amount of cards you get into a single box, but that doesn’t mean it’s all base. Ultimately, give artists more credit, and this is the perfect product for both new and old comic fans. Even with that caveat, it’s worth checking out.

Thank you to Upper Deck for providing 2 boxes for review.