In the vast, historic, and oftentimes lucrative, world of sports collectables, and more recently over the past 30 years or so, trading card games (think Pokemon, Magic the Gathering, or Yu Gi Oh), these two iconic genres of memorabilia have, traditionally occupied their own ecosystems amongst collectors, ranging from the casual hobbyist, to the wholly dedicated ardent. 

Still, the similarities between communities are notable: rarity rules the roost, there are seemingly as many “sets” of cards as there are players or characters to print onto the cards themselves, and the two have coexisted for decades without much crossover. That is until now. 

Enter the Five Star Dynasty 2023-24 Premiere Set of trading cards. Featuring an exciting group of six volleyball players among the 60 collegiate student-athletes, representing over 40 institutions in the inaugural series, Five Star Dynasty’s Premiere Set seeks to forge a new intersection in the world of collectables, bringing two deeply passionate camps of hobbyists together to inspire a new generation of sports fans, gaming enthusiasts, scholar-athletes, and students seeking their best academic fit.  

Isabella Bergmark, two-time national champion from the University of Texas at Austin, whose advocacy for balance in elite college sports has made her a respected voice in social media headlines the volleyball roster in the debut run of cards; fellow Lone Star State senior Natalie Perdue, the 2nd team all-conference outside hitter from Southern Methodist University is also a highlight member of the debut series. Along with Natalie, Alexis Shelton, representing the University of Oklahoma, and Jalyn Gibson from Texas Christian University, another pair of dynamic sophomore outside hitters who both earned 2nd team all-conference honors in the fall, are all well-regarded for their work, and advocacy, outside of their athletic exploits. 

Two multi-dimensional setters round out Five Star Dynasty’s primary group of volleyball athletes: Naija Gadis, an outstanding first-year journalism major from Jackson State University, who garnered 2nd team all-conference this fall, and Karly Klaer of Cleveland State University, a computer science major who aspires to work in cybersecurity, and is also a major contributor to the Vikings’ Track & Field program as a thrower. 

Bergmark emphasized the uniqueness of the expansive details of the student-athlete experience the cards include for collectors to explore: “having that connection between fan and player is so important…we have people who support us and care about us as people...who care about our interests...who want to know the details about our lives and not just as athletes… it helps view the player as more than just a player, but as a human being.” 

Five Star Dynasty’s 2023-24 Premiere Set prepares to bring a unique blend of TCG gaming elements and athlete highlights together in one package, aimed at bringing collegiate, and soon-to-be collegiate student athletes into the spotlight, as well as inspiring future generations of student athletes, as well as scholars. TCU’s Gibson recalls that “coming into college I realized that it was more than just my sport. It was about inspiring the younger athletes that wanted to be in our shoes one day, and being role models for them.”

With a conscious nod to the space-like expansion and proliferation of endorsement opportunities afforded by Name, Image, Likeness (NIL) rules currently occupying a constantly evolving, frontier-like landscape in college sports, Five Star Dynasty offers athletes included in their product lines a share of revenue earned from those products, offering them a baseline to their NIL streams directly, also offering mentorship and guidance on obtaining, and managing other opportunities as well. "I think it's a great way for athletes to grow their platform, and their fanbase, and I'm so excited to be one of the first athletes featured" remarked Perdue.

Five Star Dynasty CEO Ameer Kim El-Mallawany commented on the project’s aim to engage with, not only youth student-athletes, with the typically-found, team, statistic, and biographical details featured on the cards, but also teaching young collectors about the institutions featured athletes represent, their academic endeavors, as well as community-oriented extra curricular activities: “Alexis Shelton, the prolific outside hitter from Oklahoma, is also an aviation major, learning how to be a professional pilot while she literally flies around the court racking up a kills per set rate that ranked in the top 25 nationwide this past fall.” 

Featuring male and female student-athletes representing 16 disciplines, including six NCAA D-I women’s volleyball players at current count, the founding run of cards will feature 60 student-athletes representing over 40 institutions, along with a Limited Edition set featuring alternate artwork by Five Star Dynasty student-athlete Lyric Swann, who designed an alternate version of her own trading card (how cool is that?), holographic “parallels”, and other, rarer subsets of the base set of cards, including an alternate art series featuring base set student-athletes who earned national championships in the 2022-23 academic year. These “Ringleader" champion cards include Bergmark of the twice-defending NCAA National Champion Texas Longhorns.

The 2023-24 Premiere Set will ship in May 2024, and is available for pre-order now on the Five Star Dynasty website, at www.fivestardynasty.com, with a 20% discount on all pre-orders in the month of February. In addition, club teams and programs can purchase boxes of 12 decks at the "dealer" discount of 50% and use the code YOUTHSPORTS to get a fourth box of 12 decks for free when purchasing another three.
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