Lescott hails the boom in football trading cards
Lescott was amazed by the reaction of hundreds of fans who flooded in to get their hands on the new collection and enjoyed the celebrations alongside legends like Alan Shearer and Steven Gerrard.
'It's crazy because now it helps a younger generation recognise me for my playing days and probably even more than when I was playing. It's a nice feeling,' he said.
The former Manchester City star was in attendance for the launch of the Topps Premier League 2026 collection at the Fanatics flagship London store on Regent Street on Thursday. (Image: Topps) 'I'm impressed by the enthusiasm of it and learning the difference in the meaning of them.
'Obviously, you're aware that cards are rarer than others but there's more detail than that.
'When I was younger, there were five cards, one was shiny and you knew you would get a badge in there, but now there are beast mode cards and all that stuff.'
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.
It features players from all 20 Premier League clubs featured in the collection as well as legends and more autographs than ever before.
The launch evoked nostalgia for Lescott who remembered collecting himself as a child and also funding the passion of his youngest son.
'My first collection was Gladiators and then I went into this world [of football]. But my youngest son is an avid collector of cards,' he recalled.
'He used to use them as his version of Subbuteo. He played cards, so he used to collect the cards and put them in teams and would entertain himself, so I'm aware of this world.'
It was fitting, too, that Gerrard was in attendance alongside Premier League stars like Theo Walcott, Jermaine Defoe and current Chelsea star Tosin Adarabioyo as Lescott recalls a particularly impressive card from his son's collection.
'He was collecting them before it was as big as it is now. I told him the industry of collectibles, especially in American sports, were massive and it was transitioning over to football,' he said.
'I told him to start collecting some of the rarer players but he just wanted to play with them, he wasn't thinking about collecting them.
'We were lucky enough to be at a Steven Gerrard event years ago and he got honoured with a card and it was a Premier League legends card. So he's got that one, but that's still in the case he's still protecting that one.
'But overall, he hasn't got any ones that would be worth using because they're all frayed at the ends.'
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.
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