2025-26 Topps Merlin Chrome UCC Adds Master & Apprentice

2025-26 Topps Merlin Chrome UEFA Club Competitions details

Topps has revealed the next edition of Merlin Chrome UEFA Club Competitions, and the 2025-26 release brings a mix of returning formats and new product twists. Hobby boxes again contain 18 packs of four cards and include one autograph. Breaker’s Delight is back as part of the lineup, and a new Master & Apprentice format joins the product family.

The base set remains at 200 cards and spans 28 clubs. Rookie Image Variations have also expanded, increasing from 10 last year to 15 in the new release.

Pricing has moved higher as well. Last year’s hobby presale price was $199.99 before rising to $219.99 on release day. This year’s hobby box pre-sale price is $219.99, which marks a 10% increase from last year’s release price.

What is new in 2025-26 Merlin Chrome UCC

Topps says there are eight new inserts in this year’s product, including five insert sets and three new autograph releases. The checklist adds several themed additions while also shifting some familiar concepts into new formats.

New insert sets

• Enchanting - a 20-card insert with an enchanted forest theme centered on current attackers and creators
• Eye of the Dragon - a 20-card textured insert that mixes all-time greats with this year’s top rookies
• Merlin’s National Heroes - a 25-card insert that shifts the focus from club to country
• Merlin’s Masters and Merlin’s Apprentices - a 25-card insert exclusive to the new Master & Apprentice box

Merlin’s National Heroes includes names such as Lamine Yamal, Kylian Mbappé, Erling Haaland, Harry Kane, and Mohamed Salah. The insert brings a national-team angle to a product that is usually built around club competition.

Merlin’s Masters and Merlin’s Apprentices is reserved for the new Master & Apprentice format. The Masters side features legends such as Eric Cantona, Thierry Henry, Paolo Maldini, Steven Gerrard, and Ronaldinho. The Apprentices side highlights younger players including Yamal, Estêvão, Franco Mastantuono, Rio Ngumoha, and Lennart Karl.

New autograph releases

• Merlin’s Masters & Apprentices Dual Autographs - a dual-auto concept pairing legends and young players
• Superpowered Synergies Dual Autographs - a seven-card dual-signature set
• Merlin’s Gold Autographs - a 19-card Breaker’s Delight exclusive

The Masters & Apprentices Dual Autographs follow the same legend-versus-young-talent idea as the insert, with pairings that include Yamal/Messi, Musiala/Müller, Estêvão/Hazard, Doué/Neymar, and Mastantuono/Di María.

Superpowered Synergies Dual Autographs feature seven combinations, including Messi/Ronaldinho, Salah/van Dijk, and Ferdinand/Vidić.

Related coverage includes 2025-26 Topps Merlin UCC Adds Master & Apprentice Box.

Merlin’s Gold Autographs is exclusive to Breaker’s Delight and includes Messi, Yamal, Maldini, Kaká, and top rookies across its 19-card checklist.

How the product formats compare

Topps has continued to broaden Merlin’s structure over the last few seasons. In 2023-24, the product offered hobby and blaster formats. Breaker’s Delight was added last year, and now the Master & Apprentice configuration joins the release with its own exclusive content.

Topps notes that Enchanting, National Heroes, Mystic Nights, Ageless Alchemy, and Superpowered Synergies are exclusive to Hobby, Value, and Breaker’s Delight formats. The new Master & Apprentice box is not simply a different pack configuration, but a separate lane within the release with its own 55 exclusive cards.

That shift also affects the checklist balance. Merlin’s Chosen One, the young-player insert that debuted in 2023-24, is no longer part of the product. Young talent now appears in the Apprentices portion of the new Master & Apprentice box instead.

Checklist changes from last year

Compared with last season, the 2025-26 checklist keeps the base set at 200 cards but changes much of the surrounding structure. The autograph checklist has grown from 229 cards to 248, and the biggest jump comes in the base autograph section, which rises from 91 cards to 129.

One notable departure is the removal of the Sorcerers autograph line from last year’s release. At the same time, Breaker’s Delight keeps its place in the product and gets a new exclusive autograph set rather than a completely new structure.

European Knights was the Breaker’s Delight exclusive last year. In 2025-26, Merlin’s Gold takes over that role with a new 19-card exclusive checklist. The format remains familiar, but the naming and content have changed.

Rookies and image variations

The 200-card base checklist includes 65 rookies with the RC logo. Among them are four players from Kairat Almaty and four from Shamrock Rovers, including Graham Burke and Roberto Lopes, both of whom are older than 30.

Topps has also given image variations to a group of rookies that includes Estêvão, Mastantuono, Lennart Karl, Rio Ngumoha, Pio Esposito, Jobe Bellingham, Dro Fernández, and Quentin Ndjantou, along with seven others.

One absence stands out in the rookie chase. Max Dowman has a base rookie card numbered 86 and appears in Eye of the Dragon, Renaissance, The Shiny, Merlin’s Gold, and Match Ball Signatures, but he does not have a Rookie Image Variation. For Arsenal collectors, that leaves one less chase card in the rookie lineup.

Autograph highlights and chase cards

The autograph side of the checklist appears to be broader and more evenly spread than in previous years, with more total signatures and more base autograph cards. That should give collectors a deeper pool of hits across the product’s various formats.

Topps also previewed a Lamine Yamal SuperFractor 1/1 autograph with match ball, showing that the top-end chase cards remain a major part of Merlin’s appeal. The product continues to mix established stars, legends, and emerging rookies across its autograph and insert content.

Michael Noonan also appears with a Mystic Nights rookie autograph, adding another example of the product’s focus on young talent throughout the checklist.

What collectors can expect from the release

With the base set holding steady, the biggest changes in 2025-26 Merlin Chrome UEFA Club Competitions come from the expanding format structure and the new insert and autograph themes. Hobby boxes still deliver the familiar 18-pack, four-card setup with one autograph, but the addition of Master & Apprentice gives the release a new lane for collectors who want a different checklist experience.

Breaker’s Delight remains part of the product and now carries Merlin’s Gold as its exclusive autograph set. Hobby, Value, and Breaker’s Delight also share access to several of the new insert themes, while Master & Apprentice stands apart with its own exclusive cards centered on legends and young players.

For collectors tracking rookies, image variations, and autograph depth, the 2025-26 edition keeps Merlin’s formula intact while changing enough around the edges to make the new checklist feel distinct from last season’s release.