Baseball cards have been collected by fans of America’s pastime for over a century. While the tradition of collecting cards has evolved over the years, the joy of discovering new additions to one’s collection remains timeless. In the spirit of the holiday season, baseball card companies have created advent calendars that allow collectors to open a “window” each day in December, revealing a surprise baseball card behind it.
Advent calendars have their origins in the Christian tradition of counting the days of Advent leading up to Christmas. The modern advent calendar was created in Germany in the early 20th century as a marketing tool to promote the sale of chocolate. In recent decades, advent calendars featuring other treats like candy or small toys have become popular holiday items. Baseball card manufacturers saw an opportunity to create advent calendars that would appeal to collectors hoping to grow their collections during the holiday season.
One of the pioneers of the baseball card advent calendar was Topps, the iconic brand best known for its iconic designs and massive baseball card releases each year. In 2008, Topps released its first limited edition baseball card advent calendar. Each window contained a surprise current or retired player card from that year’s Topps series. The cards featured were not of star players, but rather less prominent players, prospects, and rookie cards. This created intrigue for collectors, as opening each window was like a baseball card grab bag.
The 2008 Topps advent calendar was an instant hit, selling out quickly online and in hobby shops. It helped reignite interest in the holiday tradition of opening a window each day in December. Subsequent years saw Topps refine and expand the concept. Windows were made of thicker cardboard to prevent peeking. Later advent calendars from Topps contained 24 total cards instead of the original 25. This aligned with the traditional countdown to Christmas. Memorabilia cards like autographs and relic cards started appearing behind select windows as a bonus.
Topps wasn’t alone for long in the baseball card advent calendar market. Competitors like Upper Deck, Leaf, and Panini saw the opportunity. In 2009, Upper Deck released its first advent calendar with a mix of baseball and football cards. Each contained a serially numbered parallel card only available in the advent calendar. Leaf followed suit the next year with a calendar focused solely on baseball. It contained a mix of prospects, stars, and retro designs only found behind the windows.
Panini entered the baseball card advent calendar arena in 2012. Known for its exclusive NFL and NBA licenses, Panini used the format to highlight players under MLB licenses it held. Memorabilia cards and serially numbered parallels became more prevalent bonuses across manufacturers. Advent calendars were now stocking stuffers for serious collectors, not just casual fans. Production runs remained limited to preserve the specialness of the surprise each day.
As the baseball card advent calendar concept grew in popularity, manufacturers experimented with new themes and variants. Topps released a vintage-themed calendar in 2014 featuring retro designs and players from the 1970s and 80s. Upper Deck followed suit with a “Greatest Hits” advent calendar highlighting star sluggers like Babe Ruth, Hank Aaron, and Barry Bonds. Insert cards became more elaborate with on-card autographs and game-used memorabilia pieces appearing.
Exclusive parallels remained a hallmark of advent calendars. Topps debuted “Snowflake” parallel cards that were frosted and glistened like snow. Panini introduced “Holiday” color variation parallels. Numbering became increasingly low, often in the hundreds, to fuel demand. Memorabilia cards grew more extravagant with rare game-used bats, jerseys, and even signed balls finding their way behind windows. Higher end advent calendars emerged containing hits valued at $100 or more per window on average.
As the collectibles market evolved, so too did baseball card advent calendars. Digital platforms like eBay allowed for pre-orders and release day sales. Advent calendars themselves grew larger, containing 30 windows instead of 25. Multiple tiers were introduced at varying price points. Higher end “elite” versions guaranteed expensive memorabilia cards in every pack. Insert sets themed around holidays or winter sports complemented the standard rosters of players.
Today’s baseball card advent calendars have become a highly anticipated annual tradition for collectors. Manufacturers continue innovating with new variants, exclusive parallels, and elaborate memorabilia cards hidden behind each window. Whether containing modern stars or vintage greats of the past, the surprise and anticipation of discovering new additions to one’s collection each day in December keeps the spirit of the advent calendar alive for baseball card fans. As the popularity of collecting shows no signs of slowing, manufacturers will likely continue finding new ways to creatively package the thrill of the hunt during the holiday season.
