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Panini is wrapping up the year in style with the 2025 Absolute Football Countdown Calendar, a holiday-themed twist on one of the company’s most consistent football lines. Designed like an advent calendar, it comes with 24 small doors hiding 24 festive packs, giving collectors a new reason to count down the days before kickoff or Christmas. It’s a mix of hobby tradition and seasonal fun that feels as much like an event as it does a product release.

Each pack contains three cards—one base card, one rookie, and one insert—so opening it feels like unwrapping a daily collectible surprise. Somewhere inside each calendar hides one Holiday Suit memorabilia card, a special insert featuring fabric from festive player gear. Panini’s official release date is set for November 12, but a few lucky collectors have already found them hitting retail shelves early, adding to the buzz.

The 2025 base checklist totals 200 cards, divided evenly between veterans and rookies. The base design features a plaid holiday pattern running through the card, a fun seasonal nod that makes even standard cards stand out. There are 100 veterans and 100 rookies, meaning every position and every team gets some love. Inserts are spread throughout the packs, and the mix keeps things interesting, combining the familiar Absolute favorites with some festive flair. Inserts include By Storm, Draft Diamonds, Hog Heaven, Introductions, and Rookie introductions. Each pack guarantees one insert, so you’ll have a complete spread of them by the time you reach the 24th day.

The big chase is the exclusive Rookie Holiday Suit memorabilia cards, which appear once per calendar. These cards feature pieces of player-worn “holiday gear,” keeping with the seasonal theme while maintaining Panini’s tradition of memorabilia cards that actually mean something to collectors. For those who love a true hunt, the toughest pulls include the always-popular Kaboom inserts and the Red Square versions of Rookie Signatures, each limited to 150 copies.

Each advent-style box includes 24 three-card packs, adding up to 72 total cards per calendar. There are eight calendars per case, giving breakers and collectors some structure for case hits and odds. Panini estimates that every box includes one Holiday Suit memorabilia card and one insert per pack.

The base checklist features the usual mix of NFL stars, from Patrick Mahomes, Joe Burrow, and Jalen Hurts to veterans like Tyreek Hill, Justin Jefferson, and CeeDee Lamb. Rookies include headline names such as Caleb Williams, Marvin Harrison Jr., Drake Maye, Jayden Daniels, Bo Nix, Rome Odunze, and Brock Bowers, giving fans a full look at the 2025 draft class in Absolute’s clean design format.

Collectors will also spot rookies in festive backdrops, creating an unusual twist that looks different from standard Absolute Football releases. Each card’s red and green versions add to the holiday display factor, giving the set that seasonal pop when laid out together.

The Rookie subset alone is a reason to get in early, featuring 100 newcomers like Shedeur Sanders, Quinn Ewers, Travis Hunter, Luther Burden III, and Emeka Egbuka. With a checklist this deep, team and player collectors will have plenty to chase long after the holidays end.

This countdown edition of Absolute isn’t about over-the-top hobby hits or exclusive parallels. Instead, it’s a clever concept that gives collectors 24 days of excitement and a full lineup of rookies and veterans to enjoy one door at a time. Between the guaranteed memorabilia card, the mix of rookies and legends, and the occasional surprise Kaboom, this release captures what makes collecting fun in the first place—anticipation, nostalgia, and a touch of holiday magic.

The 2025 Panini Absolute Football Countdown Calendar officially releases November 12, 2025, but the spirit of it fits any time of year. It’s festive, simple, and perfectly built for collectors who love the thrill of ripping packs as much as the game itself.