Sports stars, celebrities, and even cryptocurrencies have rookie cards…but does Santa Claus have one? These are the questions you might ask yourself after taking a little too much nutmeg. And now that the season of giving is officially upon us, we want to spread some Christmas spirit by highlighting a niche market that's bigger than you might think: Christmas-themed trading cards.
So let's dive into a fun corner of the world of trading cards. A corner ruled by Old St. Nick, a gift-giver.
A Brief History of Santa Claus Trading Cards
1891 Woolson Spice Card. (Photo: eBay)
There is no specific origin story for Santa Claus trading cards, but some of the first examples in the United States date back to the late 1800s. Ohio-based Woolson Spice has created several artistic Christmas trading cards depicting Santa sitting around a tree with children or riding in a sleigh. Woolson Spice used the back of the card to promote its products, including Lion Coffee.
Technically, there is no 19th century card coined by the collecting community as Santa's “true” rookie card, but one of the most well-known cards of the time was included in the 1890 Duke Holiday Set. I am. The popular tobacco company produced a 50-card set featuring three Christmas cards, but only the U.S. version included Santa Claus. According to the Professional Sports Authenticators (PSA) stage population report, the company has certified fewer than 15 copies. An example of this card is also in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
1890 Duke Holiday Christmas Card, USA. (Photo: Metropolitan Museum of Art)
It's interesting to see how Santa Claus was portrayed back then and the evolution of Santa Claus today. Many of the early picture cards depicted a leaner version of the figure, wearing a green or brown suit. It was Coca-Cola advertising starting in the early 1930s that established the image of Santa Claus that we have today (although political cartoonist Thomas Nast created the image in the 1860s). ). And yes, there are trading cards from the 1990s featuring old Coke ads.
In the late 1980s, the sports card industry exploded in popularity and more and more sets began to be produced. One of the first Santa Claus cards to catch the attention of modern collectors was the iconic 1989 Pro Set football card. This promotional card was distributed to card shop owners and dealers during the holidays and was in high demand as they could not be removed from packs.
1989 Pro Set Promo Card. (Photo: eBay)
The front of the card lists Santa Claus as a “player and coach” and depicts him wearing a baseball cap with his name on it and a red satin jacket with the NFL logo on it. Inexplicably, he holds up a trading card exactly like the one he owns, creating a mind-boggling loop of card acceptance. Behind Santa Claus, through a snow-covered window, are two Proset executives dressed as elves (Leif reworked this card in 2021, replacing it with famous characters from Donald Trump to Pele). (This may complicate the search for more valuable originals.) The back of the card contains important information about Santa Claus and a scouting report.
It was such a hit that professional sets started including Santa Claus cards in their sets starting in 1990. They were all printed in much larger quantities and are therefore easier to obtain today, but the '89 cards are still very popular. gem mint” PSA 10 grade copies sell for about $500 to $750.
As the sports card industry continued to innovate in the 1990s, new opportunities opened up to celebrate the holidays through autographed and souvenir cards. One of the first autographed cards of Santa Claus was featured in the 1991 Pro Line Portraits, and the rarest version is limited to 200 copies.
In 1998, Upper Deck created an oversized Kris Kringle promotional card featuring the velvety red portion of his “holiday-worn jersey” exclusively for members of the company's Collector's Club. This card is available on eBay for about $20.
In 2007, Topps created its most comprehensive offering to date. A special Santa Claus holiday set that includes 18 cards, all with a Kris Kringle relic card, an autograph card, and a rookie card that pays homage to Mickey Mantle's famous 1952 Topps card. The autographed cards in this set are “Tops Santafied Autographs” rather than “Tops Certified Autographs,” and the back of the cards says, “Santa himself signed this card with the pen he used to create all the lists.” ” is emphasized. Naughty and kind children around the world. ” says the back of the relic card, which features a portion of Santa's suit. Revisit whenever they want. ”
2007 Tops Holiday Set. (Photo: eBay)
In recent years, Topps has produced a large number of Santa Claus autograph and relic cards for holiday baseball sets (more on that later), but their releases have become decidedly less whimsical. “The relics on this card did not come from any source,” the back of the 2019 offering reads.
Over the past decade or so, the hobby's annual holiday set releases have produced more Santa Claus trading cards than ever before. In the latest Topps Holiday Set release, collectors can draw rare chase cards of other classic North Pole characters, including Mrs. Claus, Frosty the Snowman, and the Gingerbread Man.
Holiday themed sports set
The sports card industry offers several holiday-themed sets that bring a seasonal feel to collecting, including unique holiday sweater cards and festive super-short print variations for players to wear.
The main baseball card release that centers around this festive time of year is Topps Holiday. First created in 2016, this set features holiday-inspired designs of MLB rookies and stars, and you'll find hidden elves, snowflakes, and Christmas lights on the cards. Collectors can pull autograph cards, player-worn Christmas hat relics, and the aforementioned Santa Claus rare relic/auto card. The Tops Holiday Set is a retail exclusive available online and in stores like Target and Walmart.
2024 Tops Holiday Bobby Witt Jr. Image Variation. (Photo: eBay)
A few years after the release of the first Topps Holiday, Panini, which makes licensed trading cards for the NFL and NBA, began offering Hoops Basketball and Donruss Football holiday-themed sets, which also became popular with collectors. It has become. For Donruss Football 2022, Panini has released a visually stunning Santa Claus downtown insert. The ultra-rare case hit (traditionally Downtown inserts were only available once in every few hundred packs) remains in great demand, with copies of PSA 10 selling for more than $1,500. A unique Cleary Donruss holo parallel of this card sold for $3,234.71 in June of this year. It's the highest price ever for a Santa Claus card, according to CardLadder's database, which tracks card sales across major online marketplaces.
I think these items are more collectible and have lower monetary value on average than many other sets, but there are still chase cards and autographed artifacts from top rookies and stars that can fetch hundreds of dollars. are provided in abundance. PSA 10 Topps Holiday-based rookie cards of superstars like Aaron Judge and Shohei Ohtani sell for more than $100.
classic holiday movie trading cards
This Peter Billingsley autographed Christmas Story card sold for $750. (Photo: eBay)
One of my favorite holiday traditions is drinking eggnog and relaxing and watching Christmas movies. This genre has now found its way into trading cards as well. This year, actor Chevy Chase released the Christmas Vacation 35th Anniversary box set, which offers autographed cards from the Griswold family and a personally used Chevy Chase relic card. The limited edition release of 300 boxes sold out quickly, but a few have arrived on eBay.
Cryptozoic Entertainment and Marquee Trading Cards recently launched a similar set based on the popular holiday movie “A Christmas Story” to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the film’s release. Collectors will have the chance to obtain single or dual autograph cards with cast autographs, hand-drawn sketch cards, and serially numbered chase cards. The sealed box sells for about $130 on eBay and also includes a 1/1 Peter Billingsley (Ralphie) autograph card inscribed with “I want Red Rider!” It has already been taken out of the pack and sold for around $1,000.
Billingsley also autographed Leaf's cards, some of which read “Oh Fudge,” and are sold for $99 each. That's exactly what someone would say if their loved one found out they spent $99 on a card signed by Ralphie.
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(Top photo: Stephen Pond/Getty Images)
