When I was a 10-year-old boy growing up on the east side (of the suburbs) of Kansas City, I had as many of the latest NFL player cards by Topps as I could con my poor mother into buying for me. She couldn't walk me down a checkout lane without my begging mercilessly in hopes I'd land my latest prized Barry Sanders or Dan Marino card.

Well, beginning in July, it'll be Thierry Henry and Robbie Keane gracing the latest set of Topps player cards, as the Sports Business Journal reported on Monday that Major League Soccer and the trading-card company have signed a six-year deal that is set to launch at or around the 2013 MLS All-Star Game in Kansas City.

MLS makes Topps its official card ... first #MLS collection to debut in July - sportsbusinessdaily.com/Journal/Issues… via @sbjsbd twitter.com/courtemancheML… — Dan Courtemanche (@courtemancheMLS) May 13, 2013

I think the biggest question on everyone's mind, though, is this: Who will headline the "Designated Player Flops" special collectors series to debut a couple years down the road? Denílson? Jéferson? Luis Ángel Landín? Or the most recent, Kris Boyd?

You'll obviously want to load your kids' stockings and birthday cards with pack after pack of these hot, new MLS Topps player cards. The actual cards haven't yet found their way onto eBay as of yet – as everything does ahead of release these days – but be sure to snag your 2013 MLS Team Checklist for the low, low price of one American dollar today!

What do you think? Will you be tempted to buy your soccer-playing child a pack or two, in hopes that it will increase their level of knowledge and interest in MLS?