CDL Trading Cards announced – Are these collectibles worth it?

New trading cards are coming for the Call of Duty League, courtesy of Upper Deck. These cards follow in the footsteps of major trading cards for traditional sports like baseball.

However, there’s a very big difference in how these cards are being designed and produced which really doesn’t put them on par with those of traditional sports. So what are the CDL trading cards and are they actually worth the time of a CDL fan?

Call of Duty League Trading Cards

Call of Duty League (CDL) is one of the biggest esports events around, despite only being part of the competitive ecosystem for 2 years. Its been a big success, and merchandise deals like this are a positive sign for the health of the league. The CDL trading cards are going to be made by Upper Deck, who are currently make trading cards for all sorts of sports.. They will tie in to the League, and be a new kind of memorabilia or merchandise for big fans of competitive Call of Duty.

Sports cards in general have been a part of professional sports for a long time, most commonly associated with Baseball and Football. Typically, they depict a player of the sport or an event, with an incentive on collecting the cards for display and their later value.

These cards aren’t the first esport release from Upper Deck, in the past, they’ve made trading cards covering the Overwatch League as well. These cards featured the same kind of spread as normal sports cards, with individual players and rookies getting their own collectible cards. However, the Call of Duty League cards are a bit different. They will only cover ‘Game Dated Moments’, meaning they won’t be the usual player cards which are a lot more traditional.

Are the CoD Cards Worth it?

These trading cards coming from Upper Deck only coming with moments from the League at first, aren’t as exciting as a full roster of cards. Upper Deck does have plans to expand to more types on cards further down the line. The real question though is if they will follow up on this at all. The closest example we have is their Overwatch cards, which were produced for just a few seasons.

These new CDL trading cards are coming seemingly as Upper Deck discontinues the Overwatch trading cards. Possibly as a replacement in their partnership with Activision Blizzard. Their last batch ran for 3 seasons. If you’re looking into buying the Call of Duty trading cards, you should keep in mind that Upper Deck doesn’t have the most proven longevity in sticking to these cards.

CDL Trading Cards – More for Fans than Collectors

A lot of collectors buy sports trading cards for their re-sale value, hoping they’ll increase further down the line. Looking at their other esports cards, there are some notable problems. Currently, extra packs for every year of their Overwatch cards are on offer. This means there wont be any scarcity in supply, and the price will likely decrease or stay the same.

This might continue to be the case with the Call of Duty cards as well. If you’re looking for CDL trading cards as memorabilia that might carry value, it’s worth bearing this in mind. The new cards might not quite live up to the same standards as some other collectible trading cards, but they do work as fun personal keepsakes if you are a COD League fan.

It’s possible that Upper Deck can deliver on them in a much better way than previously have. That would correct a lot of this.