eBay Live brings Topps Basketball release to collectors in a big way
With the NBA season now in full swing, it’s only fitting that Topps’ long-anticipated return to fully licensed NBA cards finally arrives this Thursday, October 23, with the debut of 2025–26 Topps Basketball.
For collectors, it’s not just a comeback. It’s a relaunch of one of the hobby’s most iconic brands, now powered by Fanatics and re-entering a basketball market hungrier than ever. And to feed the hunger, fans can head to eBay Live, where a dedicated channel features dozenes of top breakers stocked with 2025-26 Topps Basketball.
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A New Flagship for a New Era
This year’s set spans a 300-card checklist of stars, legends, and emerging rookies—led by Cooper Flagg, the Mavericks phenom and cover athlete for the release. Each Hobby box offers 20 packs of 12 cards and guarantees one autograph or relic, while collectors can chase rare Golden Mirror Image Variations, Victory SSPs, and the comic-book-inspired Home Court and Comic Court inserts.
RELATED: The Return of a Classic: Topps and Fanatics Bring the NBA License Home
BREAKING: Three players will wear a GOLD NBA LOGOMAN this season 🏆
— Topps (@Topps) October 20, 2025
Topps & NBA have partnered on a brand-new Gold NBA Logoman program. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (MVP), Stephon Castle (ROY), and Evan Mobley (DPOY) will be the three Kia Award Winners who wear the Gold Logoman for… pic.twitter.com/XA36tGOfQ7
Rookies to Watch
Topps couldn’t have timed its return better. The 2025 rookie class is being talked about as one of the most exciting since LeBron’s 2003 draft—and that energy radiates through every insert. Cooper Flagg headlines as the undisputed chase, an athlete whose play and first Topps cards in a Mavericks uniform are already the buzz around collectors. Right behind him is Ace Bailey, the Jazz’s explosive wing and early Rookie of the Year contender, with instant-offense potential on a rebuilding roster built around youth.
Chases, Inserts, and SSP Magic
This flagship isn’t only about rookies. It’s also about the inserts—each one a blend of Topps heritage and Fanatics-era creativity. Rise to Stardom captures the new class with foil and FoilFractor parallels that shimmer like spotlights. MVP Vault honors past and present league MVPs—from LeBron to Jokić—with the same layered foil treatment Topps uses for its baseball legends. No Limit leans into graffiti-style design, channeling ’90s attitude, while Levitation turns dunk photos into lenticular illusions that practically hang in mid-air.
2025–26 Topps Flagship Basketball drops THURSDAY!@eBay Live will have a bounty for Golden Mirror SSP image variation cards, rewarding buyers with a free sealed case of 25/26 Topps Chrome Basketball Hobby AND rewarding the room with a penny drop case break when a hit card is…
— Collecting OnSI (@CollectingOnSI) October 20, 2025
The buzzed-about Class of 2025 SSP insert bridges Bowman U’s college roots with NBA uniforms, and the headline chase—the Number Variation Parallel—ties each print run to a player’s jersey number. One Wemby. Twenty-three LeBrons. Seventy-seven Lukas. It’s the kind of clever twist that makes the hunt personal again.
Chase Cards, Bounties, and Breakers: eBay Live Brings the Heat
If you missed the pre-sales or just can't wait for your order to arrive, there are plenty of options on eBay Live, where breakers, collectors, and fans are gearing up for a full-court celebration of the 2025–26 flagship launch. Throughout release weekend, featured sellers like North of 7, Lil Pullman,AMT Memorabilia, and OPC Baseball will rip everything from Hobby to Jumbo boxes live, with exclusive bounties, giveaways, and chase prizes on the line. Think box auctions starting at $1, player and team breaks, and the chance to score exclusive chase cards to add to your collection—or list on eBay.
Every break becomes a courtside experience — collectors can bid, chat, and celebrate hits together, Expect wild reactions, instant wins, and plenty of friendly rivalries as eBay Live transforms the flagship launch into an interactive showcase for the modern hobby.
Between the star-studded rookie class, the nods to vintage design, and the wave of modern short prints, 2025–26 Topps Basketball feels like the perfect bridge between eras. It’s a celebration of what made the hobby fun in the first place—ripping packs, chasing rookies, comparing hits—and a sign that the NBA license returning to Topps isn’t just nostalgic, it’s necessary.
Lucas Mast is a writer based in California’s Bay Area, where he’s a season ticket holder for St. Mary’s basketball and a die-hard Stanford athletics fan. A lifelong collector of sneakers, sports cards, and pop culture, he also advises companies shaping the future of the hobby and sports. He’s driven by a curiosity about why people collect—and what those items reveal about the moments and memories that matter most.
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