Young Fan’s Auston Matthews Hockey Card Costume Gets Him a Day with the Maple Leafs
Dressing as a sports card was a popular trend for kids for Halloween this year. Topps and Panini both shared children going all out on their cool custom trading card costumes — with lots of parents taking out their craft tools.
One young fan dressed up as an Upper Deck hockey card of his favorite player, Toronto Maple Leafs Auston Matthews, for Halloween — and even got to meet him!
Grayson Joseph got to attend Toronto’s practice last week in his costume to meet Mathews, according to the team’s Instagram, and fooled plenty of Matthews’ teammates with the likeness. He spent the day watching practice and even calling his nana to give her the details.
The 7-year-old has a sharp sense of humor telling Matthews, “You look like me.”
Mathews told the mini lookalike, “Your mustache is better thought”
While Halloween is a time to don outfits of movie characters, firefighters, Pokemon characters and more, many kids opted to be a trading card.
It’s certainly a costume that gets noticed and has brought plenty of attention on social media.
Grayson got more treats than he expected for his Halloween. Upper Deck noticed his adorable outfit and even promised to send him more packs to rip.
While at Maple Leafs practice, Grayson made many memories, including going a round with Ryan Reaves.
He told Reaves, “Let’s drop the gloves.” The longtime enforcer told Grayson, “You got to drop them first. I don’t drop first.”
Then the two dropped gloves, had a mock scuffle and had fun tapping their helmets.
All in all, what an unforgettable day for Grayson, who got more than candy this year.
Susan is an award-winning journalist who spent over a decade working in the sports card industry. You can follow her at twitter.com/yanxchick