{"id":215452,"date":"2025-10-15T14:38:10","date_gmt":"2025-10-15T14:38:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/215452\/"},"modified":"2025-10-15T14:38:10","modified_gmt":"2025-10-15T14:38:10","slug":"topps-regains-nba-trading-card-role-will-launch-game-worn-patches","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/215452\/","title":{"rendered":"Topps regains NBA trading card role, will launch game-worn patches"},"content":{"rendered":"

After a 16-year absence, Topps has reemerged as the NBA and NBPA\u2019s exclusive trading card licensee and is launching a pair of on-court initiatives this season that turn a player\u2019s live performance into desirable memorabilia.<\/p>\n

Under the umbrella of Fanatics Collectibles<\/a>, Topps will place a \u201cDebut Patch\u201d on the jersey of every NBA rookie for their opening game this month — then remove it, authenticate it and insert it into a 1-of-1 Topps Rookie Debut Patch Autograph card. For instance, when the Mavericks face the Spurs on Oct. 22, the No. 1 and 2 overall picks Cooper Flagg and Dylan Harper will each wear the patches, sign them afterward and see them enter the trading card market. <\/p>\n

\u201cFor fans, it\u2019s a chance to hold a piece of the game in their hands,\u201d said Matt Holt, the NBA\u2019s EVP, head of merchandising partnerships.<\/p>\n

In addition, the reigning Kia MVP (Thunder G Shai Gilgeous-Alexander), Kia Rookie of the Year (Spurs G Stephon Castle) and Kia Defensive Player of the Year (Cavaliers F Evan Mobley) will each wear a limited-edition \u201cGold NBA Logoman Patch\u201d on the back of their jerseys throughout the season — and have the patches periodically removed and inserted into trading cards.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou think about this, in some ways, as art for sports fans,\u201d Fanatics Collectibles CEO Mike Mahan said. \u201cThink about if someone had Michael Jordan\u2019s Debut Patch or LeBron James\u2019 Debut Patch. Think about what that would mean. Or the Gold Logoman MJ [might have] wore after one of his MVPs.<\/p>\n

\u201cThose are big deals. And so we think about all the stars that are yet to come. And having the Debut Patch, which is really the first time they ever step on the court, having a piece of that moment \u2026 that\u2019s the ultimate rookie card.”<\/p>\n

Topps — acquired by Fanatics Collectibles in January of 2022 — last produced fully-licensed NBA and NBPA trading cards during the 2009-10 season, succeeded then by Panini<\/a>. Its new multiyear deal with the league and players\u2019 association was negotiated in-house, and the upcoming rookie patch cards mirror what it\u2019s done with MLB.<\/p>\n

\"CooperCooper Flagg has an exclusive deal with Fanatics Collectibles. Fanatics Collectibles <\/p>\n

For instance, a 1-of-1 Pirates P Paul Skenes rookie Debut Patch card was auctioned for $1.11M through Fanatics Collect last March, piquing the interest of the NBA. \u201cWe\u2019ve seen the success Topps has had with the MLB patch program and that type of fan engagement is something we want to replicate on the basketball side,\u201d said Josh Goodstadt, the chief commercial officer at THINK450, the licensing, partnership and innovation arm of the NBPA.<\/p>\n

The Gold NBA Logoman Patch, meanwhile, is a first for the league — integrating on-court awards into trading cards. \u201cIt\u2019s a great way to just kind of provide a tip of the cap to players that had the best season,\u201d Mahan said. \u201cTypically the paradigm of trading cards has been all about the rookies. How trading cards predominantly worked is you went after the rookie card and you hoped that that was the next LeBron James or the next Steph Curry or the next Kevin Durant. You wanted to get in while they were just a rookie. And if that player becomes a superstar or generational player, whatever the case may be, then that rookie card becomes the most valuable card.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd so now we\u2019re saying, no, no, no. We want trading cards to also have providence to achievement. We want to be connected to players when they\u2019re accomplishing great things. So the beauty of the Gold Logoman is \u2026 how many MVPs is SGA going to win? This could be the last time that ever happens. Or it could be one of many. \u2026 That\u2019s a massive transformation and innovation relative to how it\u2019s been done in the past.”<\/p>\n

The launch of the overall 2025-26 Topps Basketball collection will assimilate players from all 30 teams, as well as Basketball HOFers such as Magic Johnson, Shaquille O\u2019Neal and Dwyane Wade. The aggregation also includes special cards from players who have exclusive deals with Fanatics Collectibles such as James, Spurs C Victor Wembanyama and the rookie Flagg — whose relationship with the company begins with the Debut Patch.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"After a 16-year absence, Topps has reemerged as the NBA and NBPA\u2019s exclusive trading card licensee and is…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":215453,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[557],"tags":[64,63,590,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-215452","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nba","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-nba","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/215452","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=215452"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/215452\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/215453"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=215452"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=215452"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=215452"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}