At Age 40, Beach Volleyball Star Nick Lucena Teams Up With Upper Deck For His Long Awaited Rookie Card

Like his peers who grew up in the 1980s and 1990s, Olympian and AVP beach volleyball star Nick Lucena collected sports cards. The 1989 Upper Deck Ken Griffey Jr. rookie card’s iconic status made the trading card manufacture a generation’s industry’s gold standard. While Lucena ultimately carved his path in professional beach volleyball, he never expected to be on an Upper Deck card, especially not alongside icons LeBron James, Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods, and Wayne Gretzky.

“It’s cool,” Lucena said during a recent phone interview. “I grew up collecting baseball cards and Upper Deck was one of the ones that you wanted to keep. When we had the opportunity [to be in the set], it was like a no brainer for me.”

When it came time for Upper Deck to choose the subjects for their 2020 Goodwin Champions set, brand manager Tony Sirianni looked towards the 2020 Tokyo Olympics for strong candidates. With Lucena and his partner Phil Dalhausser poised to represent the United States in beach volleyball, adding the pair was as easy as one of their patented dig, set, and spike combinations.

“Their inclusion was based on the anticipated 2020 Summer Olympics,” Sirianni wrote in an e-mail. “Their past accomplishments were also a determining factor, so with or without the Summer Games, they made a lot of sense for us.”

Dalhausser became a hobby favorite after his 2008 Olympic gold medal with Todd Rogers. His inclusion in the 2020 Upper Deck Goodwin Champions set marks his fifth career trading card; however, for his partner, this release made his rookie card dream come true at age 40.

“The fact they thought of putting me as one of the trading cards was pretty special,” Lucena said. “I can understand Phil; [he] has been so great for so long, but to be invited to be a part of the Upper Deck set, I thought that is something you don’t see often—volleyball players being on trading cards.’”

Dalhausser and Lucena are the only beach volleyball players among the 50 sports legends and entertainment stars in the set. Both are captured with their trademark game faces in action on their respective cards, Dalhausser’s quiet focus is offset by Lucena’s animated spirit.

Upper Deck’s 2020 Goodwin Champions gives collectors multiple entry points between their retail and hobby versions. Twenty-dollar retail “blaster” boxes contain seven five-card packs, while the $150 20-pack hobby boxes average three “hits” that distinguish them from their retail counterparts. One of the three premiums could land volleyball fanatics a signed card, a relic card with a piece of game-worn apparel, or a three-dimensional lenticular motion card.

After winning the AVP’s 2020 Champion’s Cup series with Dalhausser, Lucena was excited to return home and share his piece of cardboard immorality with his two sons, Gunner and Cole.

“I’ll keep them for my kids,” he said. “I think they would enjoy it.”