Fanatics President of Trading Cards David Leiner

South Wales Guardian

6 days ago

The release attracted a diverse range of fans looking to start their new collections while footballing legends like Steven Gerrard, Rio Ferdinand and Alan Shearer were also in attendance.
With players from all 20 Premier League clubs featured in the collection and more genuine player autograph cards s than ever before, Leiner relished the collection's ability to provide something for every collector.
'[The feedback has] been great. The product screams Premier League. There's so many different hooks in the product and different ways to collect,' he enthused.
Fanatics President of Trading Cards David Leiner was delighted to see the reaction from fans as the Topps Premier League 2026 collection launched at their flagship London store on Regent Street on Thursday. (Image: Topps) 'This is our most broadly distributed Premier League product so we want fans of all ages, income levels, everywhere [to access it]. There's so many fun collecting journeys to be had.
'Whether you want to go on a high-end journey and chase some of the big hits or you want to collect your favourite club and gather up all the players, chase some of the fun insert parts we have in there, there are so many different ways to collect. It's a beautiful product.'
For Leiner, who is a collectibles enthusiast himself, that journey will most likely start with an ambition to go back to traditional ways and complete a set.
'I'm a little old school and I'm a set collector, so I still love building the sets, chasing all the players. That's what I'm going to do,' he explained.
'I really like when you take the base set and chase those rare parallels, so I'm going to have to go chase after a few guys.
'I've got my eye on a few Chelsea players. There's some young guys that are interesting, so I'll see where my collecting journey takes me.'
Fanatics, who acquired the Topps name in January 2022, won back the Premier League rights for the upcoming season and have left no stone unturned in ensuring their collectibles are a hit product.
The all-new Topps Premier League 2026 collection is a stand-alone range outside of Match Attax and boasts an extensive parallel programme with 15 colour variations across unnumbered and numbered parallels.
And fans can also expect further surprises to come throughout the season.
'We are really excited to get the Premier League rights,' said Leiner. 'We had been a partner of the Premier League in the past, we were the original partner of the Premier League when it formed in the early 90s, and now the rights are back home where they belong.
'I couldn't be more delighted to see the rights back with us. We're going to delight fans and collectors with a bunch of products all throughout the season, but this is the first one.
'When you talk about domestic league football, you have some of the biggest clubs in the world and you have the best players. This is incredibly important to us, incredibly important to fans of the UK, but also all over the world.'
Alongside Shearer, Gerrard and Ferdinand there was also a host of other legends in the Fanatics London store like Theo Walcott, Jermaine Defoe and Joleon Lescott.
As avid collector and current Premier League and Chelsea star Tosin Adarabioyo also made an appearance, it is clear Topps are engaging players and fans at all levels of the game in their collecting journey.
'A big belief we have is if the athletes are going to care about the cards, then the collectors and fans are going to care,' explained Leiner.
'When they see their favourite athletes collecting, that's going to further their interest and really help us further develop the category. That's been very important.
'We continue to market the category like it's never been marketed before. Having a flagship store like this in London is a big marketing vehicle for us, but it's also a big educational vehicle, and it's a big community building vehicle.
'We sell products and that's important, but community is what this is really all about.'
Marking the launch of the Topps Premier League 2025-26 collection were football icons Alan Shearer, Steven Gerrard, and Rio Ferdinand, joined by Jermaine Defoe, Joleon Lescott, Theo Walcott and Tosin Adarabioyo, alongside Fanatics CEO Michael Rubin in a star-studded celebration.