Women’s hockey fans waited a long time for mass-produced, easy-to-find card sets of their favourite players sporting the uniforms of their professional clubs. With some gaps, card manufacturers like Classic, Upper Deck, Leaf and In The Game have regularly produced women’s hockey cards since Manon Rheaume became the first women’s hockey player to appear on one in 1992 [https://thehockeynews.com/womens/other-news/how-the-first-women-s-hockey-card-inspired-a-generation-of-players]. The majority of women’s hockey cards printed between 1992 and 2023 featured athletes on Canada’s senior national team. Despite including the best female hockey players on the planet and future Hockey Hall of Famers like Angela James, Geraldine Heaney, Danielle Goyette, Jayna Hefford, Hayley Wickenheiser, Kim St-Pierre and Caroline Ouellette, the women’s cards typically received second or third billing behind their male counterparts. Beckett’s description of the 2023 Upper Deck Team Canada Juniors Hockey release says that the set contains “a mix of players from the U18 and U20 men’s teams as well as Canada’s Women’s National Team.” Finally, in January 2025, a year after the launch of the PWHL, Upper Deck released the first-ever set dedicated to a professional women’s hockey league. The long-awaited (and delayed) Upper Deck PWHL First Edition was released on January 17, 2025 and proved difficult for many women’s hockey fans to purchase. There have been many reasons speculated: 1. Too little product was ordered by retail shops, 2. The product was short-printed by Upper Deck (a theory that many have attempted to debunk by projecting the total print run, which had not been released), 3. The product was bought up by resellers before newer collectors had a chance to get their hands on it. Whatever the case, the reported suggested retail price of hobby boxes containing 12 packs of the inaugural set was in the ballpark of $100 CAD. However, the price of boxes quickly rose above $200 and continued to rise as retailers adjusted pricing to reflect the high demand of a product with little initial supply in stores. Earlier this month, Upper Deck released its follow-up to the wildly successful First Edition. The 2024-25 Upper Deck PWHL Hockey set featured new inserts and, unlike its predecessor, contained autographed cards [https://thehockeynews.com/womens/pwhl/tLtarl2VEzNgbn1VgZ5Z]. This time, presale prices began above $250 CAD, later crossing the $300 threshold. Last month, I conducted a survey of women’s hockey collectors from card collecting communities on social media (Reddit, Instagram, and Facebook) to ask them about the first two Upper Deck PWHL releases, what they’ve appreciated and what they think needs to improve. CARDS DEEMED INACCESSIBLE AND UNAFFORDABLE FOR SOME The overwhelming consensus was that boxes and packs should be easier for girls and women’s hockey collectors to get their hands on without having to go through resellers. Many of the fans polled expressed frustration at seeing boxes become so expensive that they could no longer afford them: > 💬 “Make hockey cards more accessible. Overpriced and unaffordable for most > people.” > > 💬 “The price for the latest release is astronomically high, and for many PWHL > fans who haven't been in the card-collecting space for long, the price set by > retailers is unattainable.” > > 💬 “Make it easier for younger girls to have a chance at buying cards. Right > now, the prices make it only available to people with money.” > > 💬 “There is massive upselling by retail sellers. Seems like it just keeps > getting more expensive, which makes it inaccessible to new sports fans.” > > 💬 “These sets need to be for the fans - cheaper, accessible, fun pulls. The > cornerstone of women’s hockey is youth programs, and growing the girls' game > should be the priority. If you price them or their parents out, fans will get > frustrated and lose interest in your products.” > > 💬 “It’s disappointing that 10-year-old girls who are desperate to collect > women’s hockey cards can’t because they sell out to collectors immediately.” > > 💬 “People buying for profit are making it hard for genuine fans to get their > hands on the product. This happened with the January release, and it meant > that the set sold out almost immediately as card openers were buying cases of > it, and the average fan never stood a chance at getting a box.” - LOVE FOR UPPER DECK'S YOUNG GUNS In 2004, Cammi Granato became the first woman to appear on a Young Guns card [https://www.tcdb.com/ViewCard.cfm/sid/5736/cid/1297819/2004-05-Upper-Deck-199-Cammi-Granato]. Until the PWHL First Edition, no other women had appeared on the popular insert. While some cheekily pointed out that veterans like 36-year-old Hilary Knight weren’t exactly young, many were elated to see their favourite stars featured for the first time on chase cards that included one-of-one Gold Outburst parallels. When asked about a memorable moment from collecting cards from the first two sets, hitting Young Guns was a common answer: > 💬 “Pulling an Ambrose Outburst Young Guns in the first pack that I opened! > Screamed so loud I woke the dog! 😆” > > 💬 “The very first pack I opened had an Exclusive Taylor Heise Young Guns. > Never in a million years did I think I'd get a fancy card from one of my > favourite players, let alone on the first pull. I was truly over the moon.” > > 💬 “Hunting down the first set's YGs. It was quite exciting to watch the > values of cards and see the level of interest in women's cards.” > > 💬 “Pulling a Heise Young Guns!!” > > 💬 “Pulling a Natalie Spooner Young Guns and my first Outburst - an Ella > Shelton Young Guns.” > > 💬 “I was able to buy a single pack on ePack when it was available for a day > or two and hit a Silver Outburst YG of Alina Mueller, one of the top players > for my team.” - PERCEIVED DISCONNECT WITH THE WOMEN'S HOCKEY COMMUNITY Survey responders questioned why Upper Deck products haven’t been available for purchase through the PWHL, especially through their website. Blaster boxes (5 packs per box vs 12 packs in a hobby box) of the 2024-25 release were made available through the website but sold out quickly and haven’t been restocked. It is yet to be seen if hobby boxes will be made available for sale through the PWHL website in the future. Many expressed frustration at feeling like the shopping and collecting habits of the women’s hockey community had not been considered, with many new collectors expressing the desire to have cards available for purchase at PWHL games or girls' hockey events. > 💬 “More products, consultation with fans and better visibility and promotions > at PWHL games.” > > 💬 “More integration into normal game-day events (team set giveaways, > contests, etc.).” > > 💬 “Presence at playoff games/Takeover Tour games, collabs with groups like > Black Girl Hockey Club, Jocks in Jills.” > > 💬 “Take steps to ensure cards get in the hands of new and young collectors, > especially girls and women. Offering cards for sale at PWHL games would be a > great way to do this.” > > 💬 “Would love to have different designs or products specific to the PWHL. > Some people like that it's the same as the NHL's Series 1/2/Extended, but for > a very different league, I feel like we should get a very different design.” > > 💬 “Put together some primers. A lot of PWHL fans are new to hockey, new to > card collecting, or even both. I feel like the initial set assumption was that > PWHL fans already know what Upper Deck card types are and know what exists for > the NHL to have some foundation. Most didn't or don't.” > > 💬 “I'm happy that UD released the 5-pack blaster boxes as a cheaper > alternative to hobby boxes but they need to make them more widely available! I > know Canadians have been having a rough time getting their hands on the new > blaster boxes since they immediately sold out on the PWHL website.” > > 💬 “I think women's hockey fans should be polled on the kind of products and > cards they actually want to see.” > > 💬 “I would like to see Upper Deck make a meaningful attempt to connect with > the women's hockey community.” > > 💬 “Many of us are new to collecting and would like to purchase complete sets > rather than ‘chase’.” > > 💬 “Would love the opportunity to just buy base card sets.” - OPENING PACKS AND SHARING JOY A set like the First Edition was something collectors had been waiting for for a long time. Ripping packs was a special moment for those who were able to get their hands on boxes of the inaugural PWHL set. It also created memorable moments shared with family, friends, fellow hockey fans, and PWHL players: > 💬 “It was the first ever case of cards I bought. You won't top that feeling.” > > 💬 “Seeing Madison Packer in the stands at a Sirens game and my daughter > getting her card signed.” > > 💬 “I was one of the only genuine true fans of the women's game to open a box > of the first PWHL set on YouTube, and reading the comments people left on the > video made me so happy. Many folks noted how nice it was to see someone who is > a true fan open the product because I knew the teams, I knew how to pronounce > player names, and I had a true, genuine interest in what I was opening. I did > it to share something I love and enjoy with others who truly love and enjoy > it.” > > 💬 “The friends I have made buying, selling and trading with. I also find it > easier to follow the league when I have players’ cards to reference.” > > 💬 “My daughter bonded with my husband over this!” > > 💬 “Having the Ottawa Charge players surround us while we were getting them to > sign their first cards and seeing how excited some of them were to finally > have a card of themselves.” > > 💬 “The 2024 set was my first sports cards, kick-starting a new hobby which > has also expanded to soccer & international womens sports cards.” > > 💬 “Getting the whole base set and then beginning the chase search! Two > friends and I each got a box and then pooled them together/did > trades/completed two full base sets.” > > 💬 “I give away free Boston Fleet base cards. One for each child in my Fleet > fan Facebook page. And the parents send me a picture or video of their child > (female) holding the card and thanking me or writing me a letter.” > > 💬 “The inaugural set was the first box of cards that I had gotten myself in > years.” - DESIRE FOR DEEPER CHECKLISTS While most of the league’s stars received a card in the first two PWHL sets, many fans found it frustrating that certain players, especially notable fan favourites, were not included in either set, including Carly Jackson, Zoe Boyd, Hayley Scamurra, Jesse Compher, Denisa Křížová, Shiann Darkangelo, Claire Butorac, Allie Munroe, Sidney Morin, Amanda Pelkey, Natalie Snodgrass, Kaitlin Willoughby, Kayla Vespa and Amanda Boulier. > 💬 “While I understand not all players can get cards (same goes for the NHL), > I find it weird that some very popular players (in terms of popularity within > the league/fans), such as Zoe Boyd & Carly Jackson, have not had cards.” > > 💬 “Have more players featured in the sets.” > > 💬 “Expand the checklist to include fan favourites that we haven’t seen. How > has Carly Jackson not had a card yet?” > > 💬 “Would love to know how they decide on who is included in the Young Guns.” > > 💬 “Maybe increase the number of base cards and decrease the number of > inserts? We should get way more different insert types for that price.” - HONORING PIONEERS OF THE GAME When asked which group they would most like to see receive recognition in future PWHL sets, the overwhelming response was the pioneers of the game (aka players that were active before the PWHL was formed). Keeping in mind both the challenges of rights clearances for branding and the reluctance of the PWHL to highlight previous women’s hockey leagues (Premier Hockey Federation, Canadian Women’s Hockey League, National Women’s Hockey League), perhaps a creative solution could be found for bringing attention to the women who paved the way for the existence of the PWHL. One suggestion would be to use minor hockey pictures of retired players who currently work for the league or its teams alongside recent pictures of them on the job. A “Then & Now” card could feature: * Cassie Campbell-Pascall (Special Advisor, PWHL) * Kori Cheverie (Head Coach, PWHL Montreal) * Brianna Decker (Assistant Coach, PWHL Minnesota) * Cara Gardner Morey (General Manager, PWHL Vancouver) * Jayna Hefford (Senior Vice President of Hockey Operations, PWHL) * Haley Irwin (Assistant Coach, PWHL Ottawa) * Gina Kingsbury (General Manager, PWHL Toronto) * Geneviève Lacasse (Corporate Sponsorships & Sales Manager, PWHL) * Carla MacLeod (Head Coach, PWHL Ottawa) * Danielle Marmer (General Manager, PWHL Boston) * Caroline Ouellette (Assistant Coach, PWHL Montreal) * Tuula Puputti (Hockey Operations Manager, PWHL Toronto) * Meghan Turner (General Manager, PWHL Seattle) ADDITIONAL INSIGHTS * Most significant change Upper Deck/retailers could make to improve the experience for women’s hockey fans: Making hobby boxes more affordable * Additional PWHL Upper Deck product most requested: O-Pee-Chee * Favourite insert: Young Guns * Least favourite insert: Elevated Talent * Insert most wanted to see in future sets: Clear Cut, with UD Canvas a close second * Common question: "Why weren't the odds of hitting autographed cards published for the 2024-25 PWHL Hockey set?"
