NRL Traders 2025 Official Thread

Kinda mixed on the Select news. On one hand I have heard the horror stories of the membership system and trying to get limited releases through them but the card stores themselves mostly prefer dealing with Select and are optimistic it'll be at least a little more accessible to them, especially products like Elite which in recent years haven't even been available direct from the distributor.

On the topic of "team equity" in the inserts as well, I believe that TLA are mostly appealing to the breakers, with certain teams already being hard enough to sell spots for it'd be even more difficult if a team only had a handful of "hits" and could completely whiff in any given case

There are way too many insert sets.
And yes, I bang on about common numbers, but why not just have 15-18 commons but you designate ( and/or stamp) one card as the CLUB HERO, 2-3 cards as the RISING STARS, 1-2 POWER FORWARD, a KICKER, a TOP TRY SCORER, TOP TACKLER etc? Then 9 cards per NRLW team.

Then the insert sets can be:
Retirements
Dally M
State of Origin
All Star
National Rep
Signature set - 1 per team
Predictors
Premiers
Legend

I actually like STR cards for the memories.

And do wrapper mail ins.

And p*** of all the parallels and cartoon cards. It’s pure junk. The starter pack cards are a million times shit. Pure and utter shit. The cricket ones are 4 levels times 32. 128 parallels of 32 packed in cards. The club heroes last year just trash.

And not having a binder card in ALL binders is an absolute rort.

The Mad Hatter said:

There are way too many insert sets.
And yes, I bang on about common numbers, but why not just have 15-18 commons but you designate ( and/or stamp) one card as the CLUB HERO, 2-3 cards as the RISING STARS, 1-2 POWER FORWARD, a KICKER, a TOP TRY SCORER, TOP TACKLER etc? Then 9 cards per NRLW team.

Then the insert sets can be:
Retirements
Dally M
State of Origin
All Star
National Rep
Signature set - 1 per team
Predictors
Premiers
Legend

I actually like STR cards for the memories.

And do wrapper mail ins.

And p*** of all the parallels and cartoon cards. It’s pure junk. The starter pack cards are a million times shit. Pure and utter shit. The cricket ones are 4 levels times 32. 128 parallels of 32 packed in cards. The club heroes last year just trash.

And not having a binder card in ALL binders is an absolute rort.

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Why not? Be sure this makes too much sense. Simple is better.

The Mad Hatter said:

There are way too many insert sets.
And yes, I bang on about common numbers, but why not just have 15-18 commons but you designate ( and/or stamp) one card as the CLUB HERO, 2-3 cards as the RISING STARS, 1-2 POWER FORWARD, a KICKER, a TOP TRY SCORER, TOP TACKLER etc? Then 9 cards per NRLW team.

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It worked fine doing that back in the Dynamic days.

All I can say with select and AFL “if” they do NRL or you want TLA to go the same way is last 3 years they have smashed out same retired legends autos. Yes it opens up to everyone to get one, but second hand card values have tanked!

Eg Nathen Buckley Collingwood.

He originally had
- 1994 Gold Series
- 2001 Captains
- 2001 ESP Signature
- 2003 Brownlow Medal
- 2003 Triple Brownlow
- 2003 Norm Smith



Now

2019 Supremacy
2022 Optimum Dual
2022 Optimum Single
2024 Brownlow Booklet
2024 Supremacy Franchise Greats
2024 Supremacy Franchise Duel
2024 Supremacy Evolution
2024 Hall Of Fame

Same has happened with Lockett, Voss, Dunstal, Hird, Riewoldt ect

Yes it’s great but hurts previous cards “scarcity” values.


I remember this point being echoed on 2018 Glory with Buderus, Ryan, Locky and Hindmarsh. Cards being to high print run for signature of highend players hurting previous select values and legends signature.

Form businesses point, fair play to them I would do the exact same and they are giving everyone a crack at the cards they want. Extremely hard to fine balance. End of the day we will always find a way to have a whinge

Brandboy20 said:

All I can say with select and AFL “if” they do NRL or you want TLA to go the same way is last 3 years they have smashed out same retired legends autos. Yes it opens up to everyone to get one, but second hand card values have tanked!

Eg Nathen Buckley Collingwood.

He originally had
- 1994 Gold Series
- 2001 Captains
- 2001 ESP Signature
- 2003 Brownlow Medal
- 2003 Triple Brownlow
- 2003 Norm Smith



Now

2019 Supremacy
2022 Optimum Dual
2022 Optimum Single
2024 Brownlow Booklet
2024 Supremacy Franchise Greats
2024 Supremacy Franchise Duel
2024 Supremacy Evolution
2024 Hall Of Fame

Same has happened with Lockett, Voss, Dunstal, Hird, Riewoldt ect

Yes it’s great but hurts previous cards “scarcity” values.


I remember this point being echoed on 2018 Glory with Buderus, Ryan, Locky and Hindmarsh. Cards being to high print run for signature of highend players hurting previous select values and legends signature.

Form businesses point, fair play to them I would do the exact same and they are giving everyone a crack at the cards they want. Extremely hard to fine balance. End of the day we will always find a way to have a whinge

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I can't speak for the AFL market as I have never collected or follow that market. The bloke who owns my LCS is a mad AFL fan, and he indicated that the Brownlow release tanked price wise, despite how good those cards looked.

Back when Select first held the NRL license, I always felt they were quite conservative with how many higher end cards produced. However, the hobby has changed so much in the past 12 years, being conservative with the volume of releases and signature cards might not be an option. I often wondered if it was the AFL who were pushing for higher volumes or Select were trying to keep up with ESP / TLA / TGI.

I recall the 2018 Glory comments and it was so far off the mark, it was hilarious. The values for Future Famers Signatures (FFS) have remained very consistent between $40-$70 each and I am yet to sell a Lockyer for under $150. On a personal level, a higher print run with bigger names isn't a terrible idea as I wouldn't really chase a Lockyer, Smith, JT at the high-end prices. Being able to own one, such as an FFS of Locky or even the un-numbered 2012 LE rep signatures is a great option for myself (and dozens of other collectors shared this sentiment). If it hurt the values of previous high end Select signatures, I didn't see it, Lockyer aside, the other three named only had one high end Select signature each (05 Power - Buderus, 07 Invincible Hindmarsh, 09 Classic Ryan).

I think the biggest point is that you can't please everybody. For me, the biggest detriment on the market is the high volume of numbered cards and an in particular, numbered parallel inserts. White Authentic / LS, Black Authentic / LS, Team Authentic / LS, just constant repetition.

For whoever attains the license, this is the basic structure I would like to see.

S1 - Released 1-2 weeks before the season starts. 18 cards per team which includes a logo (not a checklist) with last season's record, a Coach card, a Captain card, a Rising Star / Hot Prospect card. I would also add in WNRL but until each NRL team has one, it would make it tough. I don't mind a parallel or 1:1 insert but themes could be mixed up each year with jersey cards etc. Have no more than 3 non-numbered insert sets. 1:9, 1:18 and 1:36. I would also have Premiership Predictors 1:36, not numbered and redeemable as a full set / premiers for ALL cards produced. From 1:72 is where I would look to bring in numbered cards and then a rising star / rookie signature per club.

S2 - Released just prior to Magic Round with 9 cards per team including any players not captured in S1. This series could bring in the Dally M predictor and CCM predictors and maybe start a HOF release that carries across several releases and eventually covers all members of the HOF. This release could also have a SOO themed subset.

S3 - Would be the Elite style release with only one variant per signature type and include LS style as well as different themes each year for retired players. For example, the high end could be the Magnificent Seven promo MIL ran years back. The best 7 HBs numbered.

S4 - This would be the ultimate high end and should be produced in line with the finals. Limited print signatures and themed subset cards (loved the AFL Finals Folklore and retired legend / HOF signatures.

Any idea when we could see the checklist.

Paul_Ambrey said:

Any idea when we could see the checklist.

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Someone told me sometime in February but I hope its released ASAP!

Smartdawg101 said:

Someone told me sometime in February but I hope its released ASAP!

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Does the checklist usually come out one month before the release date?

Usually 2 weeks I think

Mattstorm said:

Usually 2 weeks I think

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Okay thanks Matt

Rocket1908 said:

On the topic of "team equity" in the inserts as well, I believe that TLA are mostly appealing to the breakers, with certain teams already being hard enough to sell spots for it'd be even more difficult if a team only had a handful of "hits" and could completely whiff in any given case

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This would def be a big part of it, and I totally hadn't considered it. Case breaks such a big part of hobby - and as a team collector who hasn't busted a box in a decade I've contributed to it.
I think there's a chicken and egg aspect to it. I became a team collector partly because I was overwhelmed at the large size of insert sets (and how lame and small the base sets were). But when there were only 5 gold cards in a series in 1994, I didn't really care that none of them were Panthers. I just wanted em.

I'd like to think there's a middle ground that's achievable.

MJD said:

This would def be a big part of it, and I totally hadn't considered it. Case breaks such a big part of hobby - and as a team collector who hasn't busted a box in a decade I've contributed to it.
I think there's a chicken and egg aspect to it. I became a team collector partly because I was overwhelmed at the large size of insert sets (and how lame and small the base sets were). But when there were only 5 gold cards in a series in 1994, I didn't really care that none of them were Panthers. I just wanted em.

I'd like to think there's a middle ground that's achievable.

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I think Traders and Elite both have some really nice "equity inserts" - Rising Stars, STR, Club Heroes, New Recruits, etc. Maybe 1 or 2 rotating themed sets per release would pad that count out nicely.
As for the non-team sets I definitely think Dally M is a good one, bringing back the Origin/Rep stars and Chart Toppers in either release would fill that spot nicely too. Decent balance between keeping team collectors happy and making an enticing master set.
I don't mind an 8 or 9 player base set, but if they're going to do Rivalry I think they should just go all in, 12 players per team with a handful of usual suspects + focus on debutants and uncommon players. Little value in that set with only 4 players per team and only parallels to chase. Revolution is a decent blueprint for that concept but still too pricey IMO.

2025 Traders checklist is up on their website now

Not being in Aus, and therefore not seeing cards on any store counters, I struggle to understand what the strategy of Rivalry/Revolution/Best&Less is. On top of Traders, it presents a lot of entry level options, and I wonder if they'd be better to push one definitive set to collect.

I don't collect US sport cards, but like to check what designs and ideas they've got going on, and I often marvel at how Topps endures (and I assume) succeeds with a strong sense of tradition, both in design and customer expectations. (I'm sure the exclusive baseball licence doesn't hurt either.)

I've always valued the Dally M / Team of the Year sets, and thought TLA should have made the stat-focused League Leaders cards (similar to Char Toppers) a series regular, could have top three players in say six key stats, for an 18 card set. I think a higher end small set,, featuring the 5-10 best players from previous year would go off. Could use Middleton's Rugby League Annual choices like Dynamic did, or - dare I say - go with Buzz's selections in the Telegraph.

Overall a pretty ordinary release in my opinion.

Darrenemu said:

Overall a pretty ordinary release in my opinion.

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Certainly lots of battlers among the sigs, which is often the case with Traders. Feels like it's a decent insert set shy. Whereas in the past there'd be The Creator or 4&2, there's nothing in that space.