I have been a collector of sports trading cards since I’m a kid and while my sons Bradley and Jared have followed suit and continue to stockpile their collections, I tend to focus these days on a few cards here and there that catch my eye as well as unique sports cards that find their way onto the market. When a new team or league starts up operations, it’s always exciting when they release trading cards and while a team could produce it’s own and give them out on a promotional night, a new league generally looks to a card company to strike a deal.

Well that’s what’s happened with the brand new Alliance Of American Football that kicked off a few weeks ago. The new spring football league that features both players trying to make it to the NFL and some familiar names trying to work their way back has teamed up with Topps on a 200 card set featuring players like Christian Hackenberg, Trent Richardson, and Aaron Murray along with AAF coaches like Steve Spurrier, Mike Martz, and Mike Singletary.

“We’re excited to collaborate with The Alliance Of American Football”, said David Leiner who is the Global Sports and Entertainment General Manager for Topps. “Topps is a storied company that takes pride in its heritage and innovation. The Alliance is melding high quality football and innovation, making them a perfect partner for Topps.”

A digital version of the AAF cards and available through Topps NOW but boxes of the actual cards will be available starting on March 22nd. Each box will have 24 packs of ten cards and there will also be autographed cards inserted randomly in the packs with three of those cards in each box.

This is not the first time that Topps has worked with upstart football leagues as they also produced cards for the USFL from 1983 to 1985 and the original XFL in 2001. The neat things about these cards and the set that Topps will make for the AAF is that you could wind up with a diamond in the rough. What if a player goes from the AAF to the NFL and becomes a star and his rookie card is actually an AAF card? Also, cards like these make for great keepsakes and can be a big part of your collection.

My sons and I are looking forward to collecting these AAF cards because it will be fun to check out the designs, photos and other features of the cards. From the time I was a child, the first thing that comes to mind when sports cards are discussed is Topps and it’s appropriate they’re the company making the cards for the brand new Alliance Of American Football. Regardless of how long the league exists, the cards can always be a part of one’s collection.