STICKER SHOCK

What’s the main attraction of the Toronto Sport Cards and Memorabilia Expo? For some, it’s the big-name autograph guests, the cool stuff waiting to be discovered at the dealer booths or even the BGS table.

For me, it’s the chance to catch up with old hobby friends … especially the ones I didn’t expect to see.

At the recent Fall Expo, I was surprised to run into the folks from Topps, who were on hand to promote a new NHL release.

Of course, Topps has been around in hockey’s digital space since 2016 with the Topps Skate program, but the lateNovember release of the 2019-20 NHL Sticker Collection marks the company’s return to the physical, rip-open-thepacks, got-em-need-em world. And that’s a very welcome return indeed.

A er the show, I asked Dave McCarthy, the NHL’s Vice President, Consumer Products Marketing, why the league brought Topps back to the table.

“We value their creativity and wide distribution,” he said. “Topps did an amazing job creating a visually appealing album with quality stickers featuring several subsets such as Rookie Debuts, Stanley Cup Playoffs, NHL Awards and All-Stars.”

Priced around a buck a pack, this sticker product is the perfect gateway to the hobby for kids and the sturdy sticker stock will ensure these singles appeal to star and team collectors as well.

Of course, collectors will want to know if this release hints at something else, like maybe a traditional card set, somewhere down the line.

McCarthy made it clear that this deal is strictly in the sticker category...but Topps isn’t limited to what sticker collectors have seen in the past, especially in terms of content and distribution.

“We expect them to continue to innovate in both the digital and now physical space,” he said.

One of those innovations will be the weekly, online-exclusive sticker packs available through the Topps NOW platform.

“ese will commemorate key moments and milestones throughout the season,” McCarthy said. “A set of nine will be available each week for fans and collectors as they celebrate the amazing accomplishments of our teams and players.”

So yes, we’ll get some cool stuff that we haven’t seen before but we shouldn’t expect cases of Topps Chrome or Heritage to be airdropped to our LCS any time soon.

But will this be a foot in the door for the venerable manufacturer? We’ll see.