Tim Hortons, the beloved coffee giant that Canadians can’t start their day without, has once again teamed up with Upper Deck, the storied trading card company that has immortalized sports figures in paper and gloss for decades. Together, they’ve whisked up a 2024-25 hockey card release that’s sure to have collectors tearing into packs with the kind of gleeful anticipation usually reserved for a perfect double-double.
The collaboration’s latest creation, the “Retrospective Rookies” set, is a glorious mishmash of history and modern-day marvels all compacted into a 100-card series that’s poised to become a prized possession in any hockey fan’s collection. But don’t let the term “retrospective” mislead you into thinking this is just about current rookies on the block. This isn’t merely the varsity team warm-up act—it’s a grand stage spanning time, gliding across frozen ponds to bring you celebrated players from the not-so-distant past.
This collection does something exceptionally clever: it marries the tales of legendary players with emerging talents and notable faces from the Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL). You get an eclectic snowball of rookie-year splendor, each card embossed with the triumphs, tribulations, and golden-threaded tales of yesteryear, materializing and shimmering in your hands.
The set doesn’t just give us 100 cards for the base enthusiast to amass like a squirrel with too many nuts. It ups the ante with six insert sets that every completist will feverishly chase. You have “Initial Strides,” for those first-baby-steps-on-ice moments; “In the Books,” capturing the record-setters; “Celebrated Prodigies,” all about recognizing those who burst onto the scene like a cosmic event; and “Take a Bow,” a nod to those whose performances turned heads and won hearts during their rookie campaigns.
But oh dear, the sweet siren call of autographs! Yes, autographs have always been like freshly brewed maple syrup over crispy pancakes—or, in this case, hockey cards. The collection is sprinkled with 16 signers under “Debut Autographs,” though collectors face divine odds of one in 7,200 packs for a taste. And rarer still are the “Debut Season Autographs” from hockey megastars Sidney Crosby and Nathan MacKinnon—the former limited to 75 beckoning copies, the latter to a nail-biting 25.
Easily affordable yet just enough to keep things interesting (the financial equivalent of deciding if you want just a coffee or a donut to dip in it), each pack can be yours for $1.50 CAD when purchased with a beverage—because nothing pairs with hockey history like Canadian brew—or for $1.99 on its own. But put a pin in your global jet-setting, for these treasures are exclusive to Tim Hortons locations scattered across the vast, majestic landscape of Canada.
Alas, for those valiant hockey card heroes not residing in the Great White North, hope alights on the wings of cardboard brokers on platforms like eBay, where the cards—and even the coveted official album binder—are being bought, sold, and fiercely bid upon.
Whether you’re on a retro quest to honor legends of yore, a deep scout of future titans whose skates might still need breaking in, or merely find joy in reliving those vibrant rookie moments that defined timeless careers, this year’s Tim Hortons set offers a cacophony of thrills and nostalgia. An odyssey awaits in every sealed pack, connecting hearts with ice, and memories with moments, in the exuberant dance of history and future embraced by all puck lovers.
