2026-27 Topps Flagship Basketball Preorder Gets New Date

With the start of the new NBA season less than 30 days away, Topps is getting fans and collectors ready with the release of the 2026-27 Topps Flagship Basketball. After last year’s highly successful return to the NBA license, Topps will be hoping to keep up the momentum thanks to a strong rookie class and the first cards of several superstars in their new teams.

When will Preorders for the 2026-27 Topps Flagship Basketball Begin?

Preorders for Topps’ first new product of the upcoming 2026-27 NBA season will begin on September 29. While pricing information and exact times have not been disclosed, Topps typically sets up preorders for individual hobby and jumbo boxes, along with the blaster and mega boxes that show up at big box retailers like Target and Dick’s Sporting Goods. Cases are also available for preorder in limited quantities, but more stock will likely become available on the actual release date.

Unlike the recent Topps Chrome Update Basketball release that featured a mad chase to be the first to pull the Rookie Debut Patch Autograph cards of Cooper Flagg, Kon Knueppel, or Dylan Harper, Flagship Basketball is a more accessible and affordable product that will be printed in massive quantities and available in hobby and retail stores without having to worry about egregious mark-ups.

What cards will be included in Flagship Basketball?

Among the cards that collectors will be on the hunt for this season are the first true rookie cards - featuring the revised Topps NBA Rookie Card logo - of a loaded draft class that includes AJ Dybantsa (who already has cards selling in the thousands from his college days), Darryn Peterson, Cameron Boozer, and Caleb Wilson. Autographs from these rookies and more are also included, with Wilson’s Rookie Photo Shoot Signature cards the first to be revealed by Topps on their social media.

Other firsts in Flagship include the first base cards of LeBron James and Jaylen Brown as members of the Philadelphia 76ers, Giannis Antetokounmpo with the Miami Heat, and all of the players that switched addresses during a very wild off-season. Topps has also announced James will have autographs in this product, so his interesting new crown signature will now be featured in Sixers colors instead of the purple and gold of the Los Angeles Lakers.

Parallels and the chase to complete the rainbow of a particular player are one of the big draws of any Topps product. 2026-27 Topps Flagship Basketball will include the return of the slightly confusing Golden Mirror Image Variation, a card that looks like a regular base card on the front except for the gold Topps logo and the golden finish on the back, and the debut of a new parallel called Clear Variations.

Not to sound presumptuous, but Clear Variations will more than likely be cards with an acetate finish that you can see right through. Hopefully, those will come with autograph versions as well because it’s fun to see signatures in reverse.

Topps Flagship Basketball will also offer fans plenty of inserts and short-prints that are sure to keep people guessing on release day, which are the easier pulls and the actual case hits. Fans of the instantly iconic All-Kings insert will be pleased with the return of the set, along with a golden one-of-one version. Old school collectors will get to relive the past with a retro set that honors the 1981-82 Topps Basketball design with the usual offering of base and autograph versions.

Juan Martinez

From video game journalism to veteran of the sneaker blog era to podcasting about well, everything, Juan is smiling through it all and can't believe this is his life. His current hot take is that people are really underrating the Psyduck trading card market. Email: juan@soleretriever.com Instagram | Twitter | Bluesky | Threads : @ezyville