Topps Holiday Football drops Friday, and the rookie run is the reason to care

2026 Topps Holiday Football hits shelves Friday, October 23, and I'm not going to pretend it's subtle. It's a 200-card set: 150 base veterans and stars up front, then a 50-card rookie class from #151 to #200. Every one of those rookies is on the checklist page already, and I've got them flagged.

The rookie run is the part to watch. It opens with #151 Fernando Mendoza (Raiders), and right behind him are #152 Ty Simpson (Rams), #153 Garrett Nussmeier (Chiefs), #154 Drew Allar (Steelers) and #155 Carson Beck (Cardinals). Jeremiyah Love (Cardinals) is #159. The back end of the run closes with #199 Caleb Downs (Cowboys) and #200 Dillon Thieneman (Bears). If you collect the 2026 class, this is a cheap way to get a whole page of first-year cards in one set.

Past the base cards, here's where the chase lives. The full-art Holiday Spirit Variation runs across both base and rookies. Holiday Back Variation short prints and Chrome Variation parallels are in the mix. The inserts are Hidden Elf, Snow Globe Moments, Deck the Fields and Frozen Fields. Then there are the autographs: base and rookie autos, with the Dear Santa autograph relic subset at the top of that pile.

Where we stand: I don't have any Holiday in the CardStrike catalog yet, so the "In stock" column on the checklist is empty for now. I'm not going to tell you what a Mendoza Spirit Variation is worth either. It's not out, and anyone quoting you a price today is guessing. The sold-comp links on the checklist page are there for after it ships.

My plan is the same as always. Rip some, sell enough to pay for the next box, keep the ones I actually want. Mendoza and Love rookies are going in the keep pile if they show up.