2020 Topps Holiday Baseball Cards – Review, Checklist, and Top 5 Cards

Releasing a bit later than normal it is finally here. Topps MLB flagship cards once again don their seasonal attire in celebration of the holidays.

This retail-only annual release received mixed reviews initially but has now become one of the collector’s favorite and a great stocking stuffer.

2020 Topps Holiday: The Basics

The Topps base card set features a large 200 card checklist not including a staggering 100 card variations. This set isn’t far off from what Topps offers in their annual releases and features the games brightest stars and promising young rookies.

Collectors busting one of these mega boxes are guaranteed one hit per box and one of the new bonus ornament inserts. ON top of this you will also RECEIVE five metallic parallels and at least one short print variation card. Each box comes with a total of 100 cards. The packaging breaks down to 10 packs containing 10 cards each.

One of these mega boxes will run you about $22 at retail price, although retail is hard to come by these days. With 100 cards in each mega box, this comes out to be about $2.20 per pack and $0.22 per card.

2020 Topps Holiday Design

The design is what makes this product unique. While it is the same cards as Topps flagship set, the cards are decorated with holiday accents and colored up a little bit. Including things such as garland and snowflakes. There are a ton of different fun photoshopped image variations to collect as well.

2020 Topps Holiday Base Set

This set, as mentioned above, includes a 200 player standard checklist. Outside of that checklist though there is still a lot to collect. There are many variations included in this product that adds extra holiday flair to the cards.

This product will also dish out the occasional autograph, but that is not the draw of the product. The draw here is those holiday photo variation cards.

To add to the base there are three different categories of variation and they are:

• Short Print Variations: 1 in 7 packs
• Rare Variations: 1 in 20 packs
• Super Rare Variations: 1 in 161 packs

2020 Topps Holiday Photo Variations

The main draw to this product has always been the photo variation cards. They continue to provide a fun and festive alternative to the traditional cards Topps releases every year (i.e. 2020 Topps Gold Baseball).

There are 100 total variation cards among the three tiers of variations mentioned above. Variations can be sort of tough to spot because a lot of the image changes aren’t massive and noticeable. There are a ton of different variations such as candy cane bat, Santa belt, mittens, light necklace, etc.

Trending: 2021 Topps Chrome Baseball Release Date

The easiest way to tell if your Topps Holiday card is an image variation is to check the very end of the legal information at the middle of the bottom on the back of the card for the last few digits of the serial number on the back. This number should be the very last portion of the legal information. The last three digits will tell you what you need to know:

• Base Cards – 465
• Short Print Variations – 471
• Rare Variations – 472
• Super Rare Variations – 47

2020 Topps Holiday Inserts

On top of the plentiful photo variations in this box, each mega box guarantees one hit and one of the new bonus ornament inserts. The hits that you may receive in the box include either a relic, autograph, or autograph relic. Among these can include player-worn Holiday Hat Relics and Autograph Relic cards. The checklist for the players that you can get hits from is good as well with players like Mike Trout, Fernando Tatis Jr, and Bo Bichette gracing the list.

A new addition to the Topps Holiday box this year is the, MLB Ornament die-cut insert. These cards come are oversized and come one per box in a separate pack. They feature a circular ornament design with a player photo.

2020 Topps Holiday Mega Box Buyer’s Guide

Overview:

What to expect in a retail mega box:

100 cards, 10 packs, 10 cards per pack

• Hits – 1 (relic, autograph, or autograph relic)
• Ornament Insert – 1
• Metallic Inserts – 5
• Photo Variations – 1 (at least)

2020 Topps Holiday Review:

What started as a sort of gimmick has now turned into one of the most fun releases of the year for collectors. Topps Holiday’s trademark design is one that a lot of people enjoy and is especially unique. There are not many products that feature holiday designs as the base card.

These cards are fun to collect and are a great choice to itch that need to rip open some packs. The value that this box can provide is extremely dependent on the somewhat divisive image variations.

The downside to this product is a bit larger than most flagship Topps releases. These cards struggle to hold their value, especially the photo variations, which tend to lose about half their value only a few weeks after release. Rookie cards from this set do not hold value like traditional Topps flagship rookies.

The hits in this box are also extremely lackluster as the design for them this year isn’t great. Unless you get a big name it’s usually a disappointment. As for the ornament card, its fun I guess? These cards are not something that will be worth anything and do feel very gimmicky.

Buy Rating: Pass (1.5 out of 5)

Bottom Line: Holiday is always a divisive product as some see it as a gimmick by Topps to make more money and some see it as a fun rip to celebrate the holidays. The only reason I would pick one of these up is if I was desperate to open some packs at a low cost. However, the lack of real long-term value and extremely low possibility of a big hit makes this product feel like a bit of a disappointment. You would be better spending your money on one of Topps’s more mainstream releases.

Best 5 2020 Topps Holiday Baseball Cards

• HW2 Luis Robert (OF, White Sox)
• HW94 Bo Bichette (SS, Toronto)
• HW123 Mike Trout (OF, Los Angeles)
• HW105 Yordan Alvarez (1B, Houston)
• HW169 Kyle Lewis (OF, Seattle)

2020 Topps Holiday Checklist

Base Set Checklist

Topps Holiday 2020 Short Prints

Base Short Print Variations Set Checklist

2020 Topps Holiday Baseball Autograph / Auto Relic Checklist

Autographs Set Checklist

Autograph Relics Set Checklist

Holiday Relics Autographs Set Checklist

2020 Topps Holiday Baseball Relic Checklist

Relics Set Checklist

Holiday Relics Set Checklist

Holiday Faux Relics Set Checklist

2020 Topps Holiday Baseball Topper Checklist

Oversized Ornaments Die-Cut Set Checklist