A Guide to Christmas-Themed Trading Cards: From Santa Claus to Clark Griswold

Sports stars, celebrities and even Cryptocurrency Everyone has rookie cards…but Santa Claus? This is a matter it’s possible you’ll be asking yourself after consuming just a little an excessive amount of nutmeg. And for the reason that season of giving is officially here, I would like to spread just a little holiday cheer by highlighting Christmas-themed trading cards, that are more area of interest than you may think.

So let's dive right into a fun corner of the trading card world dominated by the GOAT of gift-giving: Old St. Nick.

A Brief History of Santa Claus Trading Cards

There isn’t any specific origin story for Santa Claus trading cards, but among the first examples within the United States date back to the late Nineteenth century. Ohio-based Woolson Spice has created several artistic holiday trading cards Santa Claus sits across the tree with children or on his sleigh. Woolson Spice used the back of the cards to advertise its products comparable to Lion Coffee.

Technically, there isn’t any Nineteenth-century card that is taken into account a “true” rookie Santa card within the collecting community, but one among his most famous from this era will be present in the 1890 Duke Holidays set. The popular tobacco company produced a 50-card set -Set of three Christmas cards, but only the US variant included Santa Claus. According to a tiered population report from Professional Sports Authenticators (PSA), the corporate has authenticated fewer than 15 specimens. An example of the map is even included Collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

It's fascinating to follow the evolution of Santa Claus then in comparison with now. Many early court cards featured a thinner-looking version, sometimes wearing a Green or brown Men's suit. It was Coca-Cola promoting from the early Thirties solidified the image of Santa Claus that we have now today (even though it was the political cartoonist Thomas Nast who emerged it within the 1860s). And yes, there’s Trading cards with those old Coke commercials which were manufactured within the Nineties.

In the late Eighties, the sports card industry grew in popularity and commenced producing increasingly more sets. One of the primary Santa Claus cards to capture the eye of contemporary collectors is the long-lasting 1989 Pro Set Football Card. The promotional card was distributed to card shop owners and retailers in the course of the holidays and couldn’t be faraway from packs, increasing demand for it.

The front of the cardboard lists Santa as a “player-coach” and shows him wearing a baseball cap together with his own name and a red satin jacket with the NFL logo. For some unknown reason, he holds up the very same trading card he’s on, creating a tremendous card receiving loop. Behind Santa Claus, two Pro Set executives dressed as elves will be seen through a snow-covered window (Leaf redesigned this card in 2021, as a substitute adding a choice of notable figures from Donald Trump to Pelé, which can complicate the seek for the more precious original). On the back of the cardboard you will see essential details about Santa Claus and an exploration report.

The success was so great that Pro Set began placing Santa Claus cards into his sets From 1990. All of those examples were printed in much larger editions, making them easy to acquire today, however the 1989 card remains to be highly wanted, with examples graded “Gem Mint” PSA 10 selling for around 500 to 750 US -Dollars are sold.

As the sports card industry continued to innovate within the Nineties, it opened up recent ways to rejoice the vacations with autographed and commemorative cards. One of Santa's first autographed cards will be present in the Pro Line Portraits from 1991 with the rarest version limited to 200 copies.

In 1998, Upper Deck produced an oversized model Kris Kringle promo card with a velvety red “holiday worn jersey” piece that was exclusive to the corporate's Collector's Club members. The card is offered on eBay for about $20.

In 2007, Topps created its most comprehensive offering so far with a special offer Santa Claus holiday set This includes 18 cards, all featuring versions of Santa Claus on the preferred Topps designs of all time, including a Kris Kringle relic card, an autograph card and a rookie card that pays homage to Mickey Mantle's famous 1952 Topps card. The signed card on this set isn’t a “Topps Certified Autograph,” but slightly a “Topps Santafied Autograph,” where the back of the cardboard reads, “Santa himself signed this card with the exact pen he uses which he makes his list of all the naughty and nice children of the world.” The back of the relic card, which depicts part of Santa Claus' suit, reads: “Topps acquired this suit from Santa Claus himself, who therefore asked us to spread it as far and wide as possible so that everyone can cherish and enjoy a piece of their Christmas spirit. “Visit us again at any time.”

In recent years, Topps has produced more Santa autograph and relic cards for its holiday baseball sets (more on that in a moment), however the reveals have grow to be significantly less whimsical. “The relic on this card comes from nothing at all,” it says on the back a suggestion for 2019.

Over the last decade, the hobby's annual holiday set releases have produced more Santa trading cards than ever before. In the newest Topps Holiday set releases, collectors can pull rare chase cards of other classic North Pole characters like Mrs. Claus, Frosty the Snowman, the Gingerbread Man and more.

Holiday-themed sports sets

The sports card industry offers several holiday-themed sets that add a seasonal feel to collecting with unique, player-worn holiday sweater cards and festive super-short print options.

The premier baseball card release surrounding this festive time of 12 months is Topps Holiday. First produced in 2016, the set features holiday-inspired designs of MLB rookies and stars where you’ll find hidden elves, snowflakes and Christmas lights on cards. Collectors should buy autograph cards, player-worn Santa hat relics, and the rare Santa relic/automobile cards mentioned above. Topps Holiday sets are exclusive retail items available online and in stores Goal And Walmart.

Just a few years after the initial release of Topps Holiday, Panini, which produces NFL and NBA-licensed trading cards, began offering Hoops Basketball and Donruss Football-themed holiday sets, which have also grow to be popular with collectors. In 2022, Panini released a visually stunning Donruss Football Santa Claus in town center insert. The extremely rare fall hit (traditionally there was just one Downtown insert per a number of hundred packs) remains to be in high demand, with PSA 10 examples selling for greater than $1,500. This card's unique Clearly Donruss Holo parallel sold for $3,234.71 in June of this 12 months – a record for a Santa Claus card, in response to CardLadder's database, which tracks card sales on major online marketplaces.

I might say that these products are geared more towards collectors and have a lower monetary value on average than many other sets, but they do offer loads of chase cards and autograph relics from top rookies and stars that may still fetch tons of of dollars. PSA 10 Topps Holiday base rookie cards of superstars like Aaron Judge and Shohei Ohtani are selling for over $100.

Classic Christmas Movie Trading Cards

One of my favorite holiday traditions is kicking back with a glass of eggnog and watching Christmas movies, a genre that's now making its way into trading card formats. This 12 months, actor Chevy Chase released A Christmas Vacation thirty fifth Anniversary Box Set This features signed cards from the Griswold family and personally used relic cards from Chevy Chase. The limited edition of 300 boxes sold out quickly, but some were already sold out made it to eBay.

Cryptozoic entertainment and Marquee Trading Cards recently released an identical one Sentence Based on the favored Christmas film “A Christmas Story” to rejoice the fortieth anniversary of the film's release. Collectors have the chance to snag single and double autograph cards signed by the solid, hand-drawn sketch cards and serial numbered chase cards. Sealed boxes are available on eBay for about $130 and a 1/1 autograph card of Peter Billingsley (Ralphie) with the inscription “I want a Red Ryder!” was already pulled from a pack and sold for just below $1,000.

Billingsley too signed cards for Leafsome labeled “Oh Fudge” that sell for $99 each – exactly what someone would say if their family members came upon they spent $99 on a card signed by Ralphie.