Why Does Stefon Diggs Have Topps and Panini Rookie Cards?

Diggs is apart of an era in sports cards where he has both rookie cards from the largest sports cards companies.

Oct 13, 2024; Foxborough, Massachusetts, USA; Houston Texans wide receiver Stefon Diggs (1) reacts before a game against the New England Patriots at Gillette Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brian Fluharty-Imagn Images / Brian Fluharty-Imagn Images

After being traded last season from the Bills to the Texans, Stefon Diggs was looking to have a promising start with his new team. Unfortunately, his season has ended early due to a torn ACL sustained in Week 8.

Texans WR Stefon Diggs out for rest of season with torn ACL. pic.twitter.com/4iV11cRLQP

— NFL (@NFL) October 29, 2024

Diggs is part of a unique era in sports cards. As a 2015 rookie, he entered the NFL during a time when both Topps and Panini were still producing football cards. Basketball cards, on the other hand, didn’t experience this overlap; the Topps license for NBA cards expired in 2009, during Steph Curry’s rookie year.

In 2012, Panini introduced its Prizm line for football and basketball, which is why you can find both a Topps Chrome rookie and a Panini Prizm rookie for Diggs. Which one is more valuable is a bit harder to determine because non-quarterback cards do not have the same value as quarterback cards. The value of Topps vs Panini does range depending on the player.

The 90s, often called the "Junk Wax Era," featured multiple companies producing sports cards. Rather than the single-brand, multi-product model we see today, that era had various companies each releasing one or two products.

In 2015, Topps made its final licensed NFL set, so Diggs, along with players like Jameis Winston and Marcus Mariota, had rookie cards from both Topps and Panini. Topps Chrome is widely regarded as the best base rookie card from that year, but it wasn’t the only product Topps released.

2015 Topps Football Sets / Images Courtesy of https://www.tcdb.com

In 2016, Panini debuted one of the first all-Panini NFL product lines, increasing from around 15 NFL products the previous year to over 30. While the number of products has varied, it now sits at around 40 different NFL releases as of 2022.

Currently, both Topps and Panini are producing football cards, but until the exclusive license changes, only Panini can create cards featuring official NFL and team logos.

Apparently Topps told folks at the industry conference today the anticipated time-of-arrival for the big two sports

Topps NBA — Oct 2025
Topps NFL — Spring 2026

Sounds like NBA license actually begins with start of 2025-26 season.

— Satchel Price (@SatchelPrice) April 30, 2024

In the next few years, both the NFL and NBA licenses will transfer to Topps. Earlier this year, rumors surfaced about which years Topps would start making licensed cards, but until then, Topps football and basketball cards will continue using photoshopped images to exclude official logos.