The eight-bit crowd noise, the blocky touchdown dance, and the referee character who didn’t resemble a real referee but managed to become iconic are some of the sounds that people associate with the Tecmo Super Bowl rather than the actual game. Topps is making a big wager that there are still a lot of people like this, that they still have money to spend, and that they still have feelings when they see those pixels.
The 2025 Topps Chrome Football, Topps’ first licensed NFL card release in over ten years, is currently the result of that wager. The Tecmo Super Bowl, the 1991 football game that was the first ever licensed by the NFL and the NFL Players Association, is the focal point of an insert series that is hidden inside the set. The game’s touchdown celebration screen, which every player who has ever owned a Nintendo remembers clearly, is the direct source of inspiration for the design.
When the product was introduced at the Topps Industry Conference in Phoenix, Mike Mahan, CEO of Fanatics Collectibles, didn’t try to hide his excitement. The fact that he is still willing to compete against opponents in spontaneous Tecmo Bowl competitions suggests how deeply ingrained this attachment is among those who are actually approving these products. It’s not a marketing department speculating about external nostalgia. Executives who experienced it now have the funds to recreate it.
The checklist combines modern stars like Josh Allen, Jayden Daniels, and Saquon Barkley with greats like Bo Jackson, John Elway, and Joe Montana. But the real flex is in the autographed versions. These cards use white ink against black, with the word “TOUCHDOWN” taken directly from the game’s celebration screen, rather than the customary blue ink signature on a white background. It’s a minor design decision, but it’s the kind of detail that distinguishes something collectors genuinely admire from a lazy retro cash-in.
The hardest technical challenge, according to Topps’ design team, wasn’t conceptual; rather, it was getting pixel art and Chrome’s reflective finish to work together without overpowering one another. The pixel grid actually allows chrome glints to shine through the player silhouettes, something you don’t usually see on contemporary cards, according to graphic designer Preston Linzy II. For what is ultimately an homage to an arcade game from the 1980s, that is a fairly specific engineering headache.
Early sales indicate that, for the time being at least, the risk is paying off. Within days of its release, a Bo Jackson Tecmo insert reportedly sold for $6,000, with a Josh Allen version following closely behind at about $5,000. Some Patrick Mahomes and Walter Payton cards are asking well into five figures, and eBay listings have risen even further. It’s difficult to determine whether buyers at those prices are speculators or collectors, and it’s important to keep in mind that early hobby pricing frequently runs hot before it settles.
This is a larger pattern that is worth observing. Pokémon cards have been experiencing a similar wave of nostalgia, and Topps has previously experimented with retro gaming aesthetics with sets such as 8 Bit Ballers. The hobby appears to have discovered that adults with stable incomes will pay actual money to hold a tangible item associated with a particular childhood memory, particularly one as visually distinctive as the pixelated touchdown screen of Tecmo Bowl.
The duration of this specific wave is less obvious. Five-figure asking prices on unproven autograph variants seem optimistic, and nostalgia products can quickly lose their appeal once the novelty wears off. Nevertheless, Topps has accomplished something uncommon for a few weeks at least: making a 35-year-old video game seem like the most fascinating release in the entire hobby.
