It’s been almost a week since the release of 2026 Bowman Football, and collectors are already paying thousands of dollars to get their hands on some of the most short-printed cards of the release.
Case hits such as Anime, Garbage Pail Kids and Crystallized are proving to be the most sought-after SSPs of 2026 Bowman Football, which features professional and collegiate players together for the first time ever.
The NFL side of the release has seen strong SSP interest for top hobby quarterbacks, including Tom Brady, Patrick Mahomes, and Josh Allen.
But what cards are commanding the highest sales so far? Let’s take a look at the top NFL SSP sales for 2026 Bowman Football:
5) 2026 Bowman Football Fernando Mendoza Garbage Pail Kids SSP
Sale Price: $3,800
Card Notes:The iconic Garbage Pail Kids (GPK) brand and design, combined with the No. 1 overall pick, was always a good bet to make this list. Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Fernando Mendoza’s features him with the moniker “Musical Mendoza” and, with not many 2026 releases out yet, is one of the No. 1 pick’s best cards.
4) 2026 Bowman Football Josh Allen Crystallized Chrome SSP Gold /50
Sale Price: $4,000
Card Notes: The only Crystallized case hit on the list is for Josh Allen, the Buffalo Bills quarterback and former Most Valuable Player who is off to a strong start to his 2026 campaign. This card is even more short-printed than the base since it’s the Gold Crystal Refractor /50 version. Allen is one of 13 NFL players to be featured in the Crystallized set.
3) 2026 Bowman Football Patrick Mahomes Garbage Pail Kids SSP
Sale Price: $5,400
Card Notes: The Mahomes renaissance is here, and the hobby is taking notice. This sale of the “Magical Mahomes” GPK is the highest-value NFL SSP of the release for a player not named Tom Brady. Mahomes is a wizard on the field, so this is a very fitting card for collectors seeking something for their collection that’s high-value and not run-of-the-mill.
2) 2026 Bowman Football Tom Brady Garbage Pail Kids SSP
Sale Price: $6,500
Card Notes: It’s hard to beat a card that looks like this. Brady’s seven Super Bowl victories are memorialized with seven rings on seven fingers on his non-throwing hand. Add in that the GPK alliteration theme for the nameplate is met with “Bejeweled Brady,” and this could very likely be a grail card for collectors who chase Brady the player and not him only as a Patriot or Buccaneer.
1) 2026 Bowman Football Tom Brady Anime SSP
Sale Price: $7,800
Card Notes: The top three NFL SSP sales of the release are Brady Anime cards. One went for $7,800 on Saturday, and on the same day, a second was sold for $7,140 and a third fetched $6,500. The Anime cards, like GPK, are top chases in Bowman sets, and new Brady cards continue to be extremely popular among collectors.
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DANNY SHAPIRO
Danny Shapiro is a Phoenix native who has suffered through years of Arizona sports futility, but is still giddy when collecting his teams’ players from the newest card releases. He is a former journalist turned communications professional who got back into collecting in 2024 after years of putting together binders as a child. He is likely one of the hobby’s biggest Lourdes Gurriel Jr. collectors and enjoys traveling, concerts and a good crime documentary.
