Reselling

2026 Topps Collector Kit Wave 2: Worth Flipping?

· 5 min read · By the Friends & Family team

Seven packs of baseball and football, a binder, sleeves and top loaders for $39.99. The Topps Collector Kit is a great starter box for a new collector. As a flip, ML, who runs sports cards in our Discord, is passing on it completely. Here's why.

The 2026 Topps Official Collectors Kit Wave 2 box, showing Update Series Baseball, Chrome Baseball and Flagship Football packs
Image: Topps, via topps.com

The 2026 Topps Collector Kit Wave 2 went up for pre-order on topps.com on September 28 at $39.99. It's a starter box: a mix of this year's baseball and football packs plus everything you need to store the cards. Short version: it's good value if you're getting into collecting, but Wave 1 showed there's plenty of it around and the eBay margin is thin. We're passing on it as a flip.

What's in the 2026 Topps Collector Kit Wave 2

Topps lists one format, the Collector Kit box:

  • Price: $39.99
  • Packs: 7 packs per box. That's 6 retail packs plus 1 exclusive pack:
    • 3 packs of 2026 Topps Flagship Football
    • 2 packs of 2026 Topps Update Series Baseball
    • 1 pack of 2026 Topps Chrome Baseball
    • 1 exclusive 11-card Collector Kit pack with 5 MLB and 5 NFL players, one of which is a parallel (so one exclusive parallel per box)
  • Supplies: 100 sleeves, 25 top loaders, a magnetic case and a binder
  • Release: pre-order now on topps.com. Checklist Insider lists the release date as October 28, 2026. Topps' product page doesn't show a date, so treat that as reported, not official.

What collectors will be chasing:

  • The exclusive pack. Checklist Insider says the Wave 2 lineup includes Aaron Judge, Bobby Witt Jr., Juan Soto, Josh Allen, Fernando Mendoza and Carnell Tate. The parallels of the top rookies are what people look for.
  • Hits from the retail packs. Chrome Baseball and Update Series can have autographs, and Update can have relics. Flagship Football is Topps' first fully licensed flagship NFL set in more than a decade. Don't expect a hit in any given box, though.

One correction to how this has been described: Wave 1 was also 7 packs (6 retail packs plus the exclusive pack), not more packs than Wave 2. And only the exclusive pack has 11 cards; the retail packs have their usual counts.

Why collectors are paying attention

Wave 1 (MLB and NBA, released March 25) had the same $39.99 price and the same setup: an exclusive 11-card pack, 6 retail packs (Heritage and Series 1 baseball, Flagship and Chrome basketball) and the same supplies. It sold in 8-box cases.

Wave 2 swaps basketball for football, and new football product is in demand right now. Topps is the NFL's licensee again, and collectors want 2026 Flagship Football packs. That's the case for Wave 2 doing a bit better than Wave 1.

The case against it: Wave 1 was never hard to find. It showed up at stores like Dick's Sporting Goods and other big retailers, and anyone who wanted one could get one.

Retail vs. eBay: what it's selling for

Retail is $39.99 per box on topps.com. Here's the eBay picture from sold listings, checked September 29:

  • Wave 2 presales: only two boxes have sold so far, both on September 28 (the pre-order day): $69.99 and $79.99, both with free shipping. These are presales, meaning nobody has the product yet, and two sales is too few to count as a market. Active Wave 2 listings start around $60 plus shipping.
  • Wave 1, for comparison: about 16 single sealed boxes sold in the US in September, from $45 to $68. A typical sale was around $55, with shipping from free to about $10 on top. One auction closed at $26 plus $25 shipping, and a batch of auctions from an overseas seller closed at $32 to $46 plus shipping. Sealed 8-box cases sold for about $395 to $430, roughly $50 to $54 a box.

Now the math. eBay's trading card fee is 13.25% plus $0.40 per order, charged on the sale price plus shipping and sales tax. A Wave 1 box that sells for $55 with free shipping loses about $7.70 to fees, leaving roughly $47. Compared with $39.99 plus sales tax (about $43 in many states), that's around $4 a box before you pay to ship it. The box has a binder and a magnetic case in it, so it isn't a cheap envelope. Shipping can take all of that and more.

A $70 Wave 2 presale would leave about $60 after fees, which looks better. But that's two early sales. A Wave 1 presale also sold for about $70 in April, and Wave 1 boxes now sell for around $55.

Flip, hold or pass? Our take

ML, who runs sports cards in our Discord, is passing on this one completely. Three reasons:

  1. There's no shortage. Wave 1 was at local Dick's stores and other retailers. There's no reason to think Wave 2 will be harder to find.
  2. eBay moves slowly. Wave 1 sales in the $40 to $60 range were profitable for some sellers and not for others, and there aren't many sales.
  3. The margin is too thin to risk. After fees, tax and shipping, a typical Wave 1 sale barely clears retail.

The exception: if you did well with Wave 1 or already have buyers lined up (a local shop, a breaker, or someone buying gifts), a few boxes can make sense. Otherwise skip it.

For a new collector, or as a gift, it's a good buy. $39.99 gets you 7 packs and supplies that cost real money on their own.

What to watch

  • Release-day stock. If Wave 2 turns up at big-box retailers like Wave 1 did, expect prices to drift toward retail.
  • Early pulls from the exclusive pack. Strong prices for the top rookie parallels could lift sealed boxes. Wave 1's exclusive rookie parallels mostly sold for a few dollars.
  • Football demand. Collectors want football product. If Flagship Football packs stay in demand, Wave 2 could hold up better than Wave 1.

Also on the sports card calendar: our take on 2026 Topps Holiday Football, another low-price retail release we're holding off on. New to this? Start with how to start reselling, or browse more sports card guides.

Get the sports card calls in our Discord

Every Topps drop gets a full breakdown in our sports card channel before it goes live: pricing, what's worth entering, what to skip, and the details you need on drop day. When ML says "pass," members keep their money. When ML says "enter up for all," they're ready at the drop.

And when it's time to sell, you don't have to rely on eBay. Our WTB and WTS channels are where big sellers, breakers and collectors in the community buy and sell with each other every day, and that's often the fastest way to move sealed boxes and cases.

Sources

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