Hockey enthusiasts with a taste for nostalgia and a keen eye for collectibles share a collective shiver of anticipation this season. Topps, the well-known champion of trading cards, is orchestrating a subtle yet flamboyant comeback into the icy heart of the hockey collectible world. While the average fan might expect to find a resurgence of good old trading cards, what Topps is offering is not cards in the traditional sense. Instead, they are gracing the market with something visually akin but profoundly more expansive—an offering that playfully tips its hat to its trading card roots while staking out new territory.
Having turned the page on traditional hockey trading cards two decades ago, when Upper Deck acquired exclusive rights to the NHL’s trading card license, Topps found itself sidelined in the Canadian national pastime. Since that 2003-04 season, the brand’s absence has been noted, but all things seem to beckon a return. Yet, the comeback doesn’t follow the usual script.
Enter Topps Under Wraps: Emanate 2024-25. This initiative does not involve cards you might slip into plastic pockets or trade on the schoolyard. Instead, Emanate is a collection of 8×10 autographed photos that practically shout their allure like oversized trading cards, complete with front and back designs that mimic the look and feel of a classic card layout. It’s an extravagant marriage of art and nostalgia, promising to catch the eye of avid collectors and casual fans alike.
Sal Barry, a seasoned collector and dealer in the trade of fangoods, quipped in his PuckJunk.com newsletter that “these even have photos and information on the back,” underscoring the nuanced homage these oversized creations pay to the classic composition of a card.
Every photo in the Emanate series is a masterpiece in its own right, hand-signed—yes, you read it right, no stick-on signatures here—and each one is serial-numbered and hologrammed to ensure that authentication shines as brightly as the signatures of the stars who sign them. Topps, true to form and ensuring the premium nature of this offering, packages these artistic prints in a magnetic, ready-to-display folio case. It’s the kind of high-class presentation that echoes an art gallery vernissage rather than a mere product launch.
Collectors with a hunger for variety will be spoilt for choice with six distinct color variants to pursue:
– Gold (#/50)
– Orange (#/25)
– Blue (#/10)
– Red (#/5)
– Iridescent (1/1), setting the rarity stakes and adding a good deal of spice to the chase.
More than 70 players make the list for the Emanate series, flaunting talent from each of the 32 NHL teams. This illustrious roster includes names that both echo through the hallowed halls of hockey history and dazzle today’s game: Connor Bedard, Auston Matthews, Alexander Ovechkin, Nathan MacKinnon, Igor Shesterkin, Macklin Celebrini, and Mark Messier, to name but a few.
Bringing extra flair to an already enticing lineup, Topps is tantalizing collectors with ultra-rare multi-signed editions. Amongst these treasures is a magnum opus, a 1/1 triple-signed piece that, with inscriptions from Ovechkin, Bedard, and Matthews, evokes the sensation of encountering the holy grail on an ice rink.
One might wonder the cost for a piece of this artistic and nostalgic venture. Each box, akin to opening a treasure chest, contains a single photograph and comes with a price tag set at $130.
So, after all this, one must ask, is Topps officially back in hockey? Strictly speaking, they’re not back to the business of pack-ripping, rookie card chasing, or amassing base-parallel-variants. However, Topps Under Wraps: Emanate is more than just toeing the line. It’s a bold foray, with the beautifully signed photos acting as their front-line skates, sliding into view with style and ambition.
With Fanatics, the proprietor of Topps’ brand, wielding the power of the hobby’s most influential licenses, the potential narrative arcs for Topps’ presence in hockey are vast and intriguing. This striking foot in the door hints heavily at a future with yet more imaginative paths for collectors to explore. As the brand spreads its wings beyond cardboard confines, fans old and new can eagerly await the next chapter, wondering just how much Topps might redefine the hockey collectible landscape.
