Opinion: How to Improve Lacrosse Cards

For the past two months I have written about the history of lacrosse cards and shared the knowledge I have acquired over 10 years of researching and collecting these little cardboard gems. This week I am changing direction a bit. I will take that same lacrosse card experience, combine it with my 40+ years in the overall trading card hobby, and offer my personal views on the future of the lacrosse card genre; the good, the bad, and some suggestions that I feel would improve this area of the hobby and help bring new members into the lacrosse card world.

You don’t have to be around lacrosse very long before hearing someone talk about the collective desire to “grow the game.” Lacrosse is for everyone and we need to find ways to break down the barriers to entry, which are often found in the pricey equipment needed to begin playing this game.

The problem I see is too many entities thinking their way is the best way to accomplish this goal and not enough people setting aside individual desires and working together for growth that ultimately benefits all. I believe some of these same issues also plague the lacrosse card landscape.

COLLABORATION

Lacrosse for everyone is a wonderful concept and one that should continue to be shouted from the mountaintops. However, we can’t overlook the fact that our game can be quite confusing when viewed from the outside. Men’s and women’s; field, box and sixes; college, amateur and professional; Junior B, Junior A and NLL… All with different rules, field and goal configurations and strategies.

It is an awful lot to digest for the budding hobbyist (or new lacrosse fan) who is simply warming to the idea of collecting lacrosse cards. If they view their card collections at least partially as an investment, as many in the hobby do, what is the best way to spend their money? On what type of lacrosse do they spend their hobby dollars?

Furthermore, Hall of Fame (HOF) induction has a significant effect on all hobby genres. Halls of Fame define the greatest participants in each sport and many hobbyists focus their collections on HOF members alone.

Just as there are many types of lacrosse, there are many lacrosse Halls of Fame. We have the USA Lacrosse Hall of Fame (which is also called the National Lacrosse Hall of Fame), the Professional Lacrosse Hall of Fame, the Intercollegiate Women’s Lacrosse Hall of Fame, the National Lacrosse League Hall of Fame, the Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame, not to mention the many regional Halls of Fame across Canada and the U.S. But which one is THE HALL OF FAME, the one for collectors to look to and build collections around? At this point it doesn’t appear that we have one and that is a problem.

COMMUNICATION

The opportunity to get information about trading cards directly from the professional leagues is practically non-existent. If the lacrosse leagues want collectors to view their cards as legitimate collectibles like other sports, then better communication is necessary.

The lacrosse card hobby is in its infancy and when new releases cannot be expected to be released at certain times of the year, then we need better information from the leagues as to when, why and how new cards will be released. Reliable checklists are crucial.

The PLL and AU releases are infrequent and we have yet to see a league-wide NLL offering. Simply put, lacrosse needs to earn the trust of the greater hobby community and that cannot be accomplished without reliable communication. Sporadic and ill-informed trading card releases ultimately take on the feeling of quick money-grab attempts rather than a collectible product with desirability and potential long-term value.

EDUCATION

Most people understand that lacrosse was shared with us by Indigenous peoples who have played it in one form or another for centuries. But beyond that, the knowledge of lacrosse history is not widespread or even easy to find. All baseball fans have heard the stories of Babe Ruth, Jackie Robinson, Willie Mays and the like. But who are the lacrosse equivalents to these legends?

Granted the history of lacrosse is not as seamless and linear as other sports, but that does not mean the pioneers of our sport should be ignored. And trading cards can be a wonderful teaching tool when they include classic images and relevant information in the text.

QUALITY

Quality Control is a big issue for hobbyists and from my perspective is a responsibility to be shared between the lacrosse leagues and the companies producing the cards. As I have mentioned earlier, the lacrosse card genre is in its infancy and general understanding of our sport is not nearly as widespread as it is for the NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL or WNBA.

Therefore, someone with actual lacrosse knowledge must be involved in every step of card production, from checklist design to copywriting and final proofing before cards go to print. Poor attention to detail shines like a beacon to those with an understanding of the sport. The following are just a few of the issues we have seen with lacrosse cards in the past few years.

Zed Williams – Recycling the same image to be used on different cards is an unfortunate regularity for Topps lacrosse cards, but one case has been particularly bad. For two years running an image of Williams blatantly thumbing the ball have been used on his Topps cards. No one recognized this obvious foul after the image was first used on his 2021 First Edition card and it was recycled in the 2022 Flagship set.

Serial Numbering – A serial number on a card is supposed to serve as a specific identifier. In essence, serial-number stamping makes each card an individual entity. Unfortunately Topps has gotten lazy with its numbering in general, but it is also seen in lacrosse cards. The rainbow parallel from 2021 First Edition is a /5 series, yet the Blaze Riorden and Trevor Baptiste rainbow cards are stamped /6. Multiple 2022 red cards, a /10 parallel, have appeared with 1/1 stamps, and more than one collector owns two 2022 Jack Near cards numbered #01/50.   

Rob Pannell – The longtime star was a subject in the 2021 SkyBox Metal Universe set. Though Pannell first played professionally as a member of the MLL’s New York Lizards in 2013, his cardbacks state that he made his professional lacrosse debut on July 26, 2020. In fact, that is when he made his PLL debut with the Atlas, seven years after his actual professional debut.

Copywriting – Aside from the parallel issue, 2021 PLL First Edition is a nice set loaded with rookies and star players. The copy on cardbacks is perfectly reasonable in terms of the information presented for each player. However, Topps used the same exact text for its Flagship issue the following season; nothing was updated.

Atlas SSDM Danny Logan, for example, has two cards in base 2021 First Edition (#10 and #40) and one card in base 2022 Flagship (#138). The text is identical on all three cards, including the fact that he is listed as a rookie with zero years of experience on Flagship in spite of having a full statistic line showing nine games played. Every player featured in both First Edition and Flagship were treated in the same fashion with outdated and/or inaccurate copy in the latter issue.

Combine that with the fact that First Edition cards feature a PLL Rookie Card symbol when applicable and yet list these same players as rookies with no experience the following year, and the inaccuracy simply breeds confusion.

Creative Cards – The Award Winners, All-Pros and Field Generals insert sets found in the Flagship issue are all very basic concepts; low-hanging fruit in terms of trading cards. Goal Getters is a case hit (cards that appear on an average of one per 12-box case), making it a rare and desirable series, but I have never heard the term “goal getters” used in lacrosse.

I’d love to see someone really put some thought into these insert sets. What about a series called Family Ties that shows siblings in the game? Who wouldn’t want low-number cards featuring the Gaits, Thompsons, Powells or Curriers on the same card? Or a One-on-One set with stunning imagery of classic battles between the game’s greatest?

Lyle Thompson vs. Michael Ehrhardt, Trevor Baptiste vs. TD Ierlan or Jeff Teat attempting to whip one by Blaze Riorden? In a dream world the PLL, NLL and AU could get together to include the leading players from each league on a single card. I’d personally love a 2023 top goal scorer card with Marcus Holman (PLL), Jeff Teat (NLL) and Charlotte North (AU). This sport is fascinating and fun, which should absolutely be celebrated in corresponding trading cards.

There is a lot of opportunity for lacrosse right now in the trading card world. Popularity has never been greater, there have never been more games broadcast via national television deals, and lacrosse has even broken into the sports betting scene. All of this bodes well for increased attention by collectors. But this window will not stay open forever. The PLL, NLL, AU and those involved with NIL need to act quickly and properly. Collectors will respond in kind. Together we can grow the game and this part of the hobby.