December Sports Card Drops: Presale Isn’t Price
Sports Drop Radar · Nov 13 – Dec 18, 2026
The three December sports card drops on Topps’ calendar are 2026 Bowman U Signature Football on Dec 4 (6 autographs per box), Topps Chrome Update Series Baseball on Dec 9 (1 autograph per Hobby box) and Topps Stadium Club Football, which Topps’ own product page now lists for Dec 17, not the Dec 10 date many retailer pages still show. Topps presales for all three Hobby boxes show sold out, and the first eBay presale sales for two of them ran above the presale price. That premium is a resale price for a box nobody has in hand yet, not the price of the product.
This radar picks up where our Nov 6 Inception Football radar left off and runs through mid-December. For every live board, start at the Upcoming Drops hub. If you’re still deciding on football Chrome, our Topps Chrome Football cost-per-auto breakdown covers the Nov 18 formats, and the November sports card drops radar has the early-month releases.
How to read this radar
Late November to December board at a glance
| Date | Release | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Nov 13 | 2026 Topps Midnight Football (Hobby, 12pm ET on Topps) | Street |
| Nov 18 | 2026 Topps Chrome Football (Hobby / Jumbo / Value / Hanger) | Street |
| Nov 18 | 2026 Panini Crown Royale WNBA Basketball | Street |
| Nov 25 | 2026-27 Upper Deck Black Diamond Hockey | Street |
| Nov 25 | 2026 Topps Gilded Collection Baseball | Street |
| Dec 2 | 2026 Topps Chrome Football Mega Box | Street |
| Dec 4 | 2026 Bowman U Signature Football | Street |
| Dec 9 | 2026 Topps Chrome Update Series Baseball | Street |
| Dec 11 | 2026 Panini Three & Two Baseball | Watch |
| Dec 17 | 2026 Topps Stadium Club Football (was Dec 10) | Moved |
| Dec 18 | 2026 Panini Immaculate Collection Football | Watch |
The December headliners
2026 Bowman U Signature Football
Topps’ Hobby box page lists Dec 4 with 6 packs of 5 cards and 6 autographs per box, and the presale shows sold out. It’s a college set: Topps names Heisman Legends Autographs, Fan Autographs, Legend Relic Autographs and on-card autographs from Sam Bradford, CJ Carr, Arch Manning and Darian Mensah. The presale price was reported at $379.99, which Card Chase works out to about $63 per guaranteed autograph. Resell.ing found one completed eBay presale sale at $499.99 on Nov 2.
Why it matters: six autographs in 30 cards is a hit box, not a set-building box, and one sale is not a market.
Pictured: 2026 Bowman U Signature Football Hobby box. Image source: Topps
2026 Topps Chrome Update Series Baseball
The Topps Hobby page lists Dec 9, 20 packs of 4 cards and 1 autograph per box, with Hobby, Jumbo, Mega and Value all sold out. The headliner is the return of the one-of-one Rookie Debut Patch Autographs, alongside Alter Ego Super Heroes, Major League Minis and a new retail-exclusive Glass Canvas insert. Checklist Insider lists presale prices of $239.99 Hobby, $449.99 Jumbo (2 autographs), $69.99 Mega and $39.99 Value, up from $199.99 for last year’s Hobby presale. Its First Day Issue Jumbo opened at $2,000 and sold out at $1,600.
The resale gap is already visible. Resell.ing logged the first seven eBay presale Hobby sales at $360 to $400 on Nov 4–5, and HobbyMonitor showed listings around $380 on Nov 12. Listings are asking prices, not sales.
Why it matters: if you missed the $239.99 presale, you’re buying a promise to ship on Dec 9 at a premium, before anyone has opened a box.
Pictured: 2026 Topps Chrome Update Series Baseball Hobby box. Image source: Topps
2026 Topps Stadium Club Football
Topps’ Stadium Club Football Hobby page now says Dec 17, while retailer presell pages such as DA Card World still show Dec 10. The Hobby box is 16 packs of 8 cards with 1 autograph, and it’s the first NFL Stadium Club since 2008. Presale prices at the Nov 9 open were $169.99 Hobby, $49.99 Mega and $24.99 Value, per Resell.ing and Haus of Sportscards. Hobby boxes and cases show sold out on Topps; Mega and Value were not marked sold out when we checked Nov 13.
Why it matters: if you’re buying a Stadium Club box as a Christmas gift, a Dec 17 street date leaves little shipping room, so plan around the later date.
Pictured: 2026 Topps Stadium Club Football Hobby box. Image source: Topps
“That premium is a resale price for a box nobody has in hand yet, not the price of the product.”
Still on the November board
2026 Topps Midnight Football
Topps lists Hobby as available Nov 13 at 12pm ET. Midnight Oil Marks, Moonlit Materials Signatures and Dark Matter Autographs make their football debut. Our Nov 6 radar has the cost-per-auto math against Inception and Chrome.
Why it matters: Midnight lands five days before Chrome Hobby, so decide which one fits your budget before Nov 18.
2026 Topps Chrome Football and Panini Crown Royale WNBA
Topps Chrome Football Hobby, Jumbo, Value and Hanger street Nov 18, with the Mega box following Dec 2. Panini Crown Royale WNBA, the first WNBA Crown Royale, also lists Nov 18 on hobby calendars.
Why it matters: Chrome Football is the month’s NFL-licensed Chrome release; Crown Royale WNBA is the basketball option that same day.
Upper Deck Black Diamond Hockey and Topps Gilded Collection Baseball
Upper Deck 2026-27 Black Diamond Hockey lists Nov 25 on distributor pages (1 pack of 6 cards, 10 boxes per case). Topps Gilded Collection Baseball is on Topps’ release calendar the same day.
Why it matters: both close out November, so check each box’s guaranteed contents before you order.
Watch list
Panini Three & Two Baseball moved from Nov 13 to Dec 11 on hobby calendars, and Immaculate Collection Football shows Dec 18 on calendar sites only. Neither has a dated Panini product page we could confirm, so treat both as unconfirmed until they do.
Three rules for December presales
For baseball collectors building a collection rather than chasing boxes, our sister site’s guide to collecting baseball cards covers the basics.
Bottom line
December sports card drops are already sold out at the source. Bowman U Signature (Dec 4) is the autograph-count box, Chrome Update (Dec 9) is the rookie debut patch chase, and Stadium Club Football has moved to Dec 17 on Topps’ page. If you didn’t get a presale, the honest move is to wait for real post-release sales before paying a premium for a box that hasn’t shipped.
Image sources for the featured collage: Topps product pages for 2026 Bowman U Signature Football, 2026 Topps Chrome Update Series Baseball and 2026 Topps Stadium Club Football. Dates from Topps product pages (checked Nov 13, 2026), Checklist Insider, distributor and hobby release calendars.