News
Top 10 sports mascots and their most popular trading cards
Trading cards featuring sports mascots can be lots of fun to pull out of a pack or purchase from a showcase or dollar box at a show.
There have been many memorable cards over the past few decades featuring a team mascot. Some have become the stuff of lore and a must for collectors.
Some mascots are lovable, while others can be frightening. Either way, here are 10 must-have mascot cards — spanning four major sports leagues — immortalized on cardboard you should consider for your collection.
1982 Donruss The Chicken #531
The San Diego Chicken is among the most popular mascots in all American sports. The same error-riddled Donruss set from 1982 that features Cal Ripken Jr.’s rookie card also includes the famed mascot’s first-ever card. We did mention that this set has errors so, no surprise, there are two variations to this card. The error failed to feature the “TM” — as in trademark — near the words “The Chicken.” The correct version has it.
1992 Donruss Triple Play Phillie Phanatic #133
Like the San Diego Chicken, the Phillie Phanatic is one of those beloved baseball mascots. Known even outside Philadelphia for his dancing skills above the dugout, one of the most popular mascot cards of the 1990s featured the furry green monster — in his first-ever appearance on cardboard — as part of the Donruss Triple Play set.
2000 SI for Kids Gorilla #893
Sports Illustrated for Kids got in on the mascot craze by featuring the ball-dunking gorilla in the year 2000. The card is part of a larger collection featuring other mascots. While Phoenix Suns fans are known to go bananas for the Gorilla, the back of the card features the question, “Does a gorilla walk on two or four limbs?” The answer is four limbs.
2006 UD Mascots Mr. Met #MLB-3 Mets
Mr. Met, the official team mascot of the New York Mets, first appeared in 1963 as a cartoon drawing in team programs. The following year, he came to life in the form of a costumed mascot with a giant baseball head. It wasn’t until 2006, however, that Mr. Met got his own card in Upper Deck’s “Collect the Mascots” insert set, part of that year’s UD Series 2 checklist.
2004-05 Topps Total The Raptor #430
The Toronto Raptors were an NBA expansion team in 1995. But the team’s red dino, known as The Raptor, made his first appearance on a trading card a decade later as part of 440-card Topps Total basketball set.
2015 Panini Alabama Crimson Tide Big Al #1
Who says college sports can’t get some cardboard love for their mascots? Perhaps the most exuberant among all mascots, NCAA sports are a hotbed of team spirit. Among the most popular is Big Al, the lovable elephant who got the first card in this Panini multisport look at the SEC school.
2016 Topps Opening Day Rally Monkey #M-3
Opening Day sets have long been the place most collectors seek when trying to obtain mascot cards. While the subset has plenty of cards featuring humans in costume, it’s not typical that a real animal is featured. This card is a tribute to Rally Monkey, which became a thing with the Los Angeles Angels in 2000 when a comeback took place following a clip from the “Ace Ventura” movie.
2018-19 UD SP Authentic Gritty Young Guns #SP-GR
One of the biggest surprises to come out of SP Authentic during the 2018-19 NHL season was a Young Guns card dedicated to the then-new Philadelphia Flyers mascot. Standing seven feet in height with bulging eyes, Gritty is hockey’s response to the Phillie Phanatic. Upper Deck had originally handed out an oversized version of this card at a regular-season Flyers game. The short-printed card, in its smaller size, can be had in either gold or silver variations.
2021-22 UD MVP Youppi Gaming Card M-16
A mascots subset appeared in Upper Deck’s MVP set designed to have the look and feel of a Pokemon card. The 30-card set features all your favorite NHL mascots, including Gritty. Among the most popular is Youppi, the official mascot of the Montreal Canadiens. Youppi had previously served as the former longtime mascot of the Montreal Expos. He was designed by Bonnie Erickson, who had worked with Jim Henson of Muppets fame. The hairy, orange giant had been a fan favorite at Olympic Stadium prior to the Expos’ move to Washington, D.C. in 2005.
2022-23 UD Buoy Young Guns Series 2 No. 499
Hockey’s love affair with mascot cards continued into this season when Upper Deck made the decision of featuring Buoy, the Seattle Kraken’s mascot, as part of the Young Guns set in this year’s Series 2. This short-printed card is historic in that it is the first time in card history that a mascot received the honor of being part of the much-coveted Young Guns checklist.
Clemente Lisi
