Lacrosse Card Landscape: Collecting the NLL Finals

In any professional sport, championships separate the good from the great.

They also factor heavily into the desirability and ultimate value of trading cards. Many of the biggest names in the trading card world – Mickey Mantle, Tom Brady, Michael Jordan and Wayne Gretzky – had individual postseason success and helped their teams win championships. 

Lacrosse is no different, but the fledgling lacrosse card community has yet to make a direct connection between league championships and hobby popularity. Many collectors should get a jump on things now and acquire certain cards before this market develops further and prices increase for individual cards. 

WIth the National Lacrosse League (NLL) Finals upon us, let’s take a look at what the card world has to offer for the Buffalo Bandits and Albany FireWolves. Unlike more developed hobby genres, lacrosse, especially box lacrosse, does not have an annual card set on which to rely. As a result, we are forced to look back at Bandits and FireWolves team issues, and look into various field lacrosse sets for those individuals who play both versions of the game.

The images you see in this article can be found on my website www.laxcardarchive.com

And in case you have missed the rest of this series on lacrosse cards, find it here!

ALBANY FIREWOLVES

In just their third season as an NLL franchise, there are not yet any FireWolves trading cards to collect. The NLL has never issued a league-wide set and the team has not yet produced cards of their own. As a result we have to look through the team roster to find the players who may have trading cards in other sets. A handful of FireWolves have cards with other teams or leagues.

Joe Nardella – has base level, autographs and a full run of parallels in the 2020 Topps Championship Series and 2022 Topps Flagship sets.

Leo Stouros – has a card in the 2019 Georgia Swarm team issue.

Jeff Trainor & Ethan Walker – These young men have identical card offerings with base and full parallel runs in the 2021 First Edition and 2022 Flagship sets. 

BUFFALO BANDITS

The Bandits have been in existence since the Major Indoor Lacrosse League (MILL) days. In that vein there are actually a fair number of Bandits trading cards that have been produced over the years, beginning with the 1992 STX set that contains eight bandits cards including John Tavares and Rich & Darris Kilgour rookie cards, in addition to a Bandits 1992 MLL Champions card.

In the years since, the Bandits have released team-issued sets in 2001, 2015 and 2016. Any Bandits’ players from ‘01 are long since retired (though current head coach John Tavares is part of the set), but from the 2023-24 team only Dhane Smith, Steve Priolo, Nick Weiss and Tavares are in the 2015 and 2016 sets. 

Fortunately, several current Bandits team members have cards issued by other teams and leagues.

Max Adler (currently on protected player list) – has several cards in the 2019 MLL Parkside set in addition to base and a full run of parallels in 2020 Topps Championship Series. 

Frank Brown (currently on injured list) – has a base card in the 2019 Parkside MLL set.

Adam Bomberry – has a card in the 2016 Rochester Knighthawks team issue.

Josh Byrne – has base, autos and a full run of parallels in the three Topps PLL sets.

Chris Cloutier – has base, autos and a full run of parallels in the 2020 Topps Championship Series and 2022 Topps Flagship sets.

Paul Dawson – has a card in the 2016 Rochester Knighthawks team issue.

Connor Farrell – has base, autos and a full run of parallels in the 2020 Topps Championship Series and 2022 Topps Flagship sets.

Chase Fraser – has base and a full run of parallels in the 2022 Topps Flagship set (no image available).

Ian McKay – has base, autos and a full run of parallels in the 2020 Topps Championship Series and 2022 Topps Flagship sets. Of note is that McKay is one of 17 players listed to have auto cards in the 2022 Topps Flagship set, though none have been seen publicly.

Tehoka Nanticoke – has a Sports Illustrated for Kids card (May, 2019 issue) as a member of the University of Albany Great Danes.

Steve Priolo – has cards in the 2015 & 2016 Bandits team issues.

Dhane Smith – in addition to the 2015 & 2016 Bandits team issues, he has base, autos and a full run of parallels in the three Topps PLL sets.

Matt Vinc – has cards in the 2014 Peterborough Lakers and 2016 Zweigle’s Rochester Knighthawks team issues.

Nick Weiss – has cards in the 2015 & 2016 Bandits team issues.

For collectors wanting to add these NLL championship players to their collections, there is a variety from which to make a selection. In addition to the manufactured rarity of low-number parallels (1/1, /5, /10. etc.), the team issues are very tough to locate and should provide a considerable challenge for those willing to put in the effort. But when the results come in the form of Dhane Smith and Matt Vinc’s first trading cards, then the treasure is worth the journey to obtain it.

Good luck to both teams and fanbases! Enjoy the action!