Now that Topps has the Premier League license the Merlin brand is back home where it started. Topps has been using the Merlin brand for UEFA products for years now. This should bring back some nostalgia for older collectors who remember collecting Merlin EPL over 3 decades ago. Like with past UEFA products this set ties heavily into the Wizard theme. Some of the case hits and designs carry over and some are brand new. Take a look at the breakdown below to see what you can expect if you are getting involved with 2026 Topps Merlin Premier League.
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2026 Topps Merlin Premier League EPL Breakdown
Checklist – HERE
Box Makeup – Hobby (Search On Ebay) – 18 packs, 4 cards, 1 autos, ~4-5 # parallels
Blaster – 7 packs, 4 cards, 1 #’d card (Search On Ebay)
Print Run – ~44,00 hobby boxes (~3,700 cases) and ~228,500 blaster boxes (~5,700 cases) Note the blaster/Retail odds sheet does not add up so I am not as certain about the total there. If you go by the Retail exclusive insert odds it’s ~1,600,000 packs. If you go by the cards that are in both hobby and retail it’s closer to ~1,000,000 packs. This also makes calculating some of the case hit print runs harder. I tried to give an idea on most of them.
Soccer Cards HQ Review – One of the best things about 2026 Topps Merlin Premier League is the Merlin’s Magical Ink Gold on-card autos (Search On Ebay). These look like premium high-end cards. The checklist for these is also pretty good with the likes of Max Dowman (Search On Ebay), Rio Ngumoha (Search On Ebay) and Shea Lacey for top rookies. You can also hit current starts like Mo Salah and Erling Haaland along with legends like Wayne Rooney, Thierry Henry, Zlatan and David Beckham to name a few. These won’t be easy to hit as they fall ~1 in every 4.5 hobby cases, but the payoff should be nice. You can also hit them in blasters where they fall ~1 in every 38 cases. Merlin’s Match Ball Signatures (Search On Ebay) carries over from UEFA products as a case hit in 2026 Topps Merlin Premier League as well. The Match Ball checklist is not quite as good as the Mythical Ink and these cards have never got all that much love. Maybe the new UK collectors will have more appreciation for them. The rest of the auto checklists are about what you would expect except for the Spellbinding Trios which only true team collectors will love.
Topps really leaned into inserts in 2026 Topps Merlin Premier League. Renaissance (Search On Ebay) and The Shiny (Search On Ebay) are 2 crossovers from UEFA that collectors will be familiar with. Renaissance fall 1 in every ~3.5 hobby cases and 1 in ~26 cases of blasters. I am usually a big fan of the Renaissance design but this one is not for me. Others may feel differently. The print run will be between 50 – 60. The Shiny are a little easier to hit at 1 in every ~2.5 hobby cases and 1 in ~6.5 blaster cases with a print run of 110-125. There are 1/1 Gold Speckle parallels which should do quite well since they are the only parallel. One thing that interests me about The Shiny checklist is it looks like Topps tried to get one for each team, which is great, except somehow there are 2 Chelsea players and Zola falls where it looks like a Manchester United player should have been since the checklist is in alphabetical order by team.
Merlin’s Mythical Art (Search On Ebay) are also hobby case hits. These cards look pretty cool and there are numbered parallels. Since they are hobby exclusive, I can put the base print run at ~300. I don’t understand what Topps did with the Merlin Premier League 1996 Edition case hits. They look like normal Merlin cards on the front. Only the back is throwback. Magic In His Boots (Search On Ebay) will appeal to some as they have a unique design and there are likely only ~30 off them. I just wish they would have made the Red and Superfractor parallels stick out more from the base card. Merlin’s Magnum Opus (Search On Ebay) are very interesting not only for the design, but for the fact the print run is likely ~10. Rainbow Flick is a blaster only case hit that we have seen in other Topps Chrome soccer card sets. The print run on the base will be ~200 and there are Black, Red and Superfractor parallels. Finally, Viktor Gyokeres gets his own single card insert, Mask Off, because everything came up Arsenal in the 2026 Premier League. This will be extremely hard to hit at over 1 in 100 hobby cases and 1 in 150 blaster cases. Even at that hit rate there will be at least 50 of the base version along with the parallels.
The base set almost feels like an afterthought in 2026 Topps Merlin Premier League which is weird to say. The design is very classic Merlin style and the parallels really pop. Maybe I am just saying that as it is the same design Topps used for 2020-21 Merlin Chrome UEFA that I like. I guess they wanted to stay consistent on the designs for the first time they produced each set. You have seen a lot of the big RCs before, but there is one interesting one to me. Mateus Mane (Search On Ebay) gets his first pack pulled card. He only has a Topps Now so far. With it being so late in the release schedule that could be significant. I am sure that Arsenal cards will do well like they have in other 2026 Topps Premier League sets now that they won the title.
Topps release 2026 Merlin Premier League at $240 per hobby box and $30 per retail blaster box. This provides the classic Topps dilemma. Do you want more parallels, or do you want the guaranteed auto? The price of hobby boxes seem to have settled above $275 while there are still places you can buy blasters for $30. 2026 Merlin Premier League is now about the same price as 2026 Topps Finest Premier League per hobby box. It’s just personal opinion, but for the same price I prefer Merlin. If you are getting involved in Merlin good luck and I hope you hit who you are chasing.
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