Most years, my “top five pickups” list is equal parts scrapbook and self-incrimination, a tidy little ranking through which I pretend I’m a calm, rational adult who simply acquires cards like a normal person. However, 2025 did not cooperate with that narrative.
Women’s hockey cards finally got their true hobby moment when Upper Deck dropped the first traditional PWHL product early in 2025, and the ripple effect was immediate. The First Edition set sold out, and August’s release followed suit as new collectors rushed in, longtime collectors felt validated and the checklist sparked real debate about what “rookie” even means when the league itself is brand new.
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So, my five best cards of the year aren’t a tour of the entire hobby; instead, they’re a snapshot of one corner exploding into existence, messy and thrilling at the exact same time.
Brianne Jenner — 2024 Upper Deck PWHL Young Guns Outburst Gold 1/1
I’ve been a Brianne Jenner collector for over a decade, so I’m not saying this lightly: When this one popped up while I was ripping an ePack (Upper Deck’s digital packs; the corresponding physical cards are mailed to you), I just kind of … froze. A gold 1/1 Young Guns of your longtime PC player isn’t a card you expect to see.
Now, the broader Young Guns conversation in the first PWHL hobby release is, well, complicated. Upper Deck’s choice to lean heavily on veteran stars for Young Guns absolutely drove sales, no question. Big names move products, and when you’re launching a brand-new league into the traditional hobby pipeline, you want familiarity and chase power right out of the gate. But for a lot of longtime women’s hockey card collectors, it also felt a little … silly.
The Young Guns label has always carried an implied promise that rookies get their moment. In a first-ever flagship PWHL release, that moment mattered. Choosing instead to spotlight established veterans meant many true rookies didn’t have hockey’s most iconic rookie card in their first hobby release. It wasn’t because they weren’t worthy, but because the checklist philosophy prioritized immediate star power over the traditional rookie definition.
So, yeah, as a Jenner collector, I’m obviously thrilled. But zoom out, and this card is also the perfect symbol of the PWHL cards’ inaugural year: the hobby finally showing up, while still figuring out how to tell the story.
And honestly? That’s why this Jenner 1/1 matters even more. It’s not just a monster pull. It’s a snapshot of the exact moment women’s hockey cards got their own lane: a bit messy, exciting and occasionally frustrating.
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Taylor Heise — 2024-25 Upper Deck PWHL Showcase Stars Autographs 1/1
Upper Deck quietly dropped an ePack-only Showcase release with only one autograph in the series. And the autograph they chose? A Taylor Heise 1/1.
More specifically, the first-ever Upper Deck PWHL autograph. The first ink in the official Upper Deck PWHL era and it pops up in glowing red bliss on my computer screen.
Now, here’s where my personal hobby worldview kicks in.
I like Heise. I respect her game. I respect what she represents in the sport and the league. But I also loudly and proudly dislike the Minnesota Frost. So, when this card hit, my reaction was a cocktail of shock, awe and immediate clarity that this was not a “forever PC (personal collection)” situation.
Why? Because cards this big deserve the right home — a player or team collector; someone whose heart rate goes up for the jersey, the name, the whole identity of it. So yes, I was stunned. Yes, I stared at it like it was a museum object. And yes, I knew it wouldn’t stay with me.
The best part is the ending. This one got rehomed exactly the way a card like this should: to a friend who is absolutely thrilled to have it. That’s the hobby at its best. Not “who can hoard the biggest thing?” but “who is the right person for this card?”
And for the record: I’m still going to brag that I hit the first-ever Upper Deck PWHL auto. I’m only human, after all.
Sarah Fillier & Taylor Heise — 2024-25 Upper Deck PWHL Game Dated Moments Dual Autograph Achievements
If cards really do tell a story, this one is basically a cautionary tale starring me as the hero, the villain and the person who absolutely should not be allowed near another Upper Deck Achievement quest.
The premise was simple in the way all bad ideas are: Just collect every Gold Game Dated Moments PWHL card (a hit with stated odds of one in every 25 packs) and redeem for this absurdly dreamy payoff — a rookie dual auto of Sarah Fillier and Taylor Heise (both league rookies of the year on one card, and the first ever issued).
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The problem, of course: The Gold GDM checklist wasn’t a quick little chase. It was a 58-card mountain. So, how did I do it? A dangerous blend of hobby friends who enabled me like it was their job, the occasional blessing from the improbable hit gods, and me becoming the living, breathing definition of sunk-cost fallacy — “I’m already this far, I have to finish,” said the person making objectively irrational decisions.
By all accounts, only a handful of these duals were redeemed, which means this isn’t just a cool card. It’s a legitimately scarce, important piece of early PWHL hobby history. A monster card born out of an equally monstrous chase.
Aerin Frankel — 2024 Upper Deck PWHL High Gloss /10
Building off the Jenner point about Young Guns choices, Aerin Frankel is where that checklist philosophy really stung.
Frankel is already a franchise identity, the green monster in net for the Boston Fleet. In a more traditional checklist universe, she’s exactly the kind of name you’d expect to see elevated by Young Guns.
However, since that didn’t happen, her true elite card in the product became the High Gloss /10, the shortest-print version of her base card. This would be the card that feels like her rookie cornerstone, even if it’s not wearing the official crown.
This might not be the checklist headline, but it’s the scarcity that gives it teeth. If Frankel keeps doing Frankel things, the High Gloss parallel won’t stay under the radar forever.
Debbie Harrison — 2025 Superfan Auction Debbie Harrison Relic Autograph 1/1
This is one of those cards that’s bigger than the card.
The Superfan card came out of a project spearheaded by longtime collector Dan Harbridge, and it’s exactly the kind of grassroots hobby magic that makes women’s sports collecting feel different (in the best way). The auction included custom cards of PWHL superfan Debbie Harrison, who became a first-season icon for her wild, eclectic game-day outfits. It leans all the way into that energy with limited-edition outfit relic cards and several 1/1s that also include her autograph.
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But what really elevates it is that all auction proceeds were split evenly between the Ontario SPCA and the Toronto Humane Society, because animal welfare is a cause close to Debbie’s heart. That combination is why this card matters to me. It captures the culture around the league (the fans, the energy, the DIY spirit) and then turns the attention into something tangible for a good cause.
In a year in which women’s hockey cards went mainstream, this one is a reminder that the most meaningful cards aren’t always made by the biggest manufacturers. Sometimes they’re made by collectors who love the sport enough to build something that didn’t exist yet.
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