2025-26 Topps Chrome Basketball Behind the Design

Creating a Modern Hardwood Hobby Classic

On December 18, the premium Chrome brand returns to the Hardwood with the exciting release of 2025-26 Topps Chrome Basketball. The set features a class of rookies already making their name in The Hobby, superstars in Chrome, new innovations, and nods to an iconic past.

With The Hardwood Hobby eagerly anticipating the release of 2025-26 Topps Chrome Basketball, we wanted to take collectors behind the design. RIPPED spoke to Art Director Craig Howell to get a sense of how this premium basketball product was put together.

The Origins of 2025-26 Topps Chrome Basketball

As in the NBA, teamwork was key in getting the ball rolling on this year’s Topps Chrome Basketball release. “The process started with conceptualizing the desired look and feel for Chrome Basketball 2026,” Art Director Craig Howell explains. “Roundtable discussions, idea exchanges, mood-boards. Collaboration that helped the team establish a loose narrative that would give continuity across the collection.”

While a throughline felt right, Howell says it was also of the utmost importance to give each subset its own distinct creative identity.

To that end, Howell and the whole team went in with open minds — no mandate, no preset vision. “It was important to know a collection like Topps Chrome Basketball’s past when going into this collection,” Howell said. “The past sets acted as a creative anchor.”

This, in turn, opened up avenues to designers of the set. “We wanted the themes to build more organically from each individual designer and less a hive mentality approach. It brought out the best.”

Howell is thrilled with the work: “It was certainly the most extensive project our team has embarked upon, and we were given the freedom to explore and develop new creative avenues.”  

Balancing Legacy and Innovation

Most Chrome collectors agree that honoring the incredible past of the iconic brand is central to its evolution, but innovation remains equally important. Of course, no matter what the year, or the sport, Chrome starts with the card.

That Chromium technology, a foundation of high-gloss, smooth, coated paper known throughout The Hobby for delivering sharp and vibrant visuals that leap out of the hand, always makes a statement.

“Chrome stock is certainly my personal favorite base to design for,” Howell said. “No question.”

Top-end stock? Check. What about those card fonts? “Often, the theme of the subsets can decide a bit for itself what the font should be,” Howell explained. “The personality in that theme comes out in the fonts that support it, just like how that personality is found in the overall design of the subset.”

Of course, it’s not only about the card. It’s also about the player and their personality. As Howell explained, “Player image selection is such a key factor in the storytelling of a subset. We strive to match the perfect shot with the narrative. That makes all the difference. Ultimately, you’re also looking to have compelling action shots that capture the intensity of the sport.”

2025-26 Topps Chrome Basketball delivers quite the balancing act. “Building off Chrome’s undeniable legacy to foster new design ambitions, meant respecting the visual vocabulary that defined earlier Chrome Basketball sets,” Howell explains. “The attitude, the culture, the grit — while reinterpreting those elements through a modern lens.”

The result? A set built on the best of Chrome, moving into an exciting new future for the NBA and Topps. “The past served as an anchor, not a limitation,” Howell said, “allowing this year’s designs to pay homage while introducing fresh aesthetics and forward-thinking concepts.”

Building the Topps Chrome Basketball Inserts

When it comes to that past, Chrome has a long tradition of popular and enduring inserts rooted in nostalgia and history. For Howell and the rest of the team, deciding which inserts to bring back required careful curation.

“First, the branding team helps to brainstorms which throwback insert concepts — like Rock Stars, Future Stars, Youthquake — should return or evolve,” he explained. “The key is, once we’ve gotten there, the creative teams step in to expand and reinterpret them visually.” This ensures that while the essence of the classic inserts remains, the new set gives them new life.

At times, design inspiration could be strikingly simple, according to Howell. “A great deal of the inspiration with a program like Chrome Basketball can derive from something as simple as a word,” he explained. “Does the word Serenity provoke a mood? Evoke an emotion. Does Serenity have a color palette?”

At the same time, a variety of creative approaches expanded the breadth of the set. “The inspiration at times can be very random, a spark, while other times a plan of attack is essential.”

While building out the ideas in 2025-26 Topps Chrome Basketball, the etch technique was critical. “We really utilized the etch technique creatively,” Howell said. “This set has quite a few examples where we thought about etch quite differently than in the past, and seeing those subsets come to fruition was quite the sight to see.”

The Thrill of the Chrome Chase

Howell can’t wait for collectors to get their hands on this year’s Topps Chrome Basketball set: “Outside of the varying design avenues and styles with Chrome Basketball ’26, the overall quality of the cards was something I noticed immediately in the midst of production.”

Howell highlighted the eye-popping, die-cut subset The Finals, which honors some of the greatest players on the biggest stage in the sport.

“Clutch Gene, Instincts, Patented, and that Glass Canvas, they all come to my mind as cards to look out for,” Howell said.

When asked if there were any hidden details or Easter eggs for Chrome collectors to know about, Howell kept things close to t he chest: “Well now, if there are, that’s for the collectors to discover.”

Building a New Foundation for Topps Chrome Basketball

Buoyed by an elite class of talented rookies, from Cooper Flagg to Dylan Harper, Kon Knueppel, and beyond, 2025-26 Topps Chrome Basketball is sure to become a big part of the ongoing story of The Hobby. With an exciting balance between Chrome’s illustrious past and a new dawn for Topps and the NBA, the set offers brilliant design, captivating photography, and a wide roster of fantastic chase cards.

For Topps Chrome, the future is bright, and the future is now.

2025-26 Topps Chrome Basketball Behind the Design FAQs

• What is 2025-26 Topps Chrome Basketball?
  • 2025-26 Topps Chrome Basketball is a premium NBA release that brings Chrome technology to the Hardwood, featuring an elite rookie class, superstar checklists, and a mix of nostalgic inserts and fresh designs built for modern collectors.
• How was the design of 2025-26 Topps Chrome Basketball developed?
  • Art Director Craig Howell and the team started with roundtables, mood boards, and a shared narrative for the product, using past Chrome Basketball releases as a creative anchor while allowing each subset to have its own identity in fonts, layout, and imagery.
• Which inserts return in 2025–26 Topps Chrome Basketball?
  • Several beloved Chrome inserts make their return with updated designs and modern visual flair. Collectors can once again chase classics like Rock Stars, Future Stars, and Youthquake, each reimagined to match today’s chromium style.
• How does 2025–26 Topps Chrome Basketball balance legacy and innovation?
  • The design team leaned into classic Chrome elements — chromium stock, bold action photography, and Refractor-friendly layouts — while reinterpreting them with new visual vocabularies, updated etch treatments, and modern concepts that still feel true to Chrome’s attitude, grit, and gloss.

Key Facts

• Product: 2025-26 Topps Chrome Basketball, a premium NBA Chrome release
• Release Date: December 18, 2025
• Design Lead: Art Director Craig Howell, guiding a collaborative team approach with mood boards, roundtables, and subset-specific creative directions
• Look & Feel: Built on high-gloss Chrome stock with dynamic action photography, carefully matched fonts, and player images chosen to tell each subset’s story
• Inserts & Chases: Combines nostalgic Chrome-style inserts (e.g., Rock Stars, Future Stars, Youthquake) with new concepts like The Finals, Glass Canvas, Clutch Gene, Instincts, and Patented, plus expanded creative use of etch

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