SPORTS ILLUSTRATED: Topps Basketball Launch Turns Fifth Avenue Into a Hobby Frenzy

The 2025–26 Topps Basketball launch turned Fifth Avenue into a scene of collector frenzy, as fans lined up for hours—and NYPD stepped in—to celebrate the brand’s first NBA-licensed release since 2009.

Hundreds of collectors packed Fifth Avenue outside the NBA Store this morning for a moment more than fifteen years in the making—the return of licensed Topps Basketball. The long-awaited flagship launch drew such an overwhelming crowd that NYPD officers were called in to manage and eventually disperse the line, which wrapped around the block hours before events were underway.