Ask entrepreneur Gary Vaynerchuk, better known as Gary Vee, about his goals for the more than 200 characters he’s created for his VeeFriends brand, and he won’t just talk about the comics or stickers in which they’ve appeared, nor the newest set of VeeFriends trading cards released by Topps Chrome. No, Gary Vee wants VeeFriends to “bring balance to the world.”
Such a monumental goal requires an even greater guide, and Vee thinks he’s found one in Jim Henson, specifically in Henson’s pitch for the 1983–87 series Fraggle Rock. “Henson gave his creative team a brief when they were trying to figure out Fraggle Rock,” Vee explains to Den of Geek. “Normally, these things are 10 pages, 15 pages, or five pages. This one was literally two words. Jim Henson wrote to his creative team, ‘End War.’”
The 2026 Topps Chrome VeeFriends set releases with a roster of 200 characters and a variety of insert styles, including special cards from internet content creators such as Kam Patterson, Jake Paul, and Livvy Dunne.
Despite the emphasis on YouTube stars, Vee finds his inspiration in his own childhood. He recalls, “I grew up in the ’80s, where we had Transformers, Go-Bots, Thundercats, He-Man, Max Headroom. And I have a brother who’s 11 years younger, and he was very affected by Pokémon. So I grew up at a lucky time when an extraordinary amount of intellectual property was invented from scratch, in video games, cartoons after school, or trading cards like the Garbage Pail Kids.”
Vee turned toward those childhood memories when he wanted to expand his market in 2021 by creating VeeFriends. Citing his own “entrepreneurial ambitions” and looking at “AI and blockchain, and “the trend of collectibility,” Vee saw “an opportunity to build something very meaningful.” But that meant changing his approach.
“My personal brand started getting bigger and I, as Gary Vee, was becoming popular because I was spreading love and accountability, and I talked about stuff that was impactful on me,” he explains.
Vee sees VeeFriends as a way to speak the language of children and families. As evidence that he’s found that language, Vee points to his characters such as Patient Pig, a cartoon swine who advises children, “Patience isn’t complacency… it’s the ultimate ingredient for long term success.”
For Vee, those teachings set VeeFriends apart from other collectible card sets. “At first, I thought I was making something more like Disney or Pokémon,” he admits. “But as I went through my journey, I realized I was building more of a Jim Henson-like business. Yes, I would like to be as commercially successful as The Muppets or Sesame Street. But I do want to have a positive impact and help parents navigate this challenging parenting ecosystem.”
Even conceding that that Pokémon “is the biggest intellectual property in the world” and that he aspires “one day to have people care about VeeFriends even half as much as they care about Pokémon,” Vee thinks that there’s room for another card game next to monster franchise. “I do feel that, over time, it will become obvious that there’s more meaning and deepness to VeeFriends,” he ventures.
As an example, Vee points to his character, Reliable Rat. “As you know, being a rat is not a good thing. That means you’re stabbing someone in the back, you’re doing the wrong thing by them. You also know that ‘reliable’ is one of the most admirable words. With VeeFriends, I’m desperate to change perceptions.
“When a kid falls in love with [VeeFriends character] Authentic Anaconda, that seven-year-old is going to go up to their mom and ask, ‘What’s authentic mean?’ I’m providing emotional value to families, allowing a mother or a father to have a conversation around authenticity and why it’s important.”
Vee’s already seen the fruits of his labor. “I get three to five to 10 messages a day via DM or email from girl dads who thank me,” says Vee. “It’s the same email every time, just written differently: ‘Hey, I’ve got a son and a daughter, I’ve got two sons and a daughter, or I’ve got three daughters and a son, and I’m really into card collecting. Every Saturday, my son and I go to the shows or the card store, and my poor daughter has to get dragged along with us because we’re letting mom do XYZ. Thank you for creating VeeFriends, and especially thank you, Gary, for creating Ambitious Angel and Fearless Fairy. It’s given me something to start collecting with my daughter.’
“It feels good to be part of something like that,” Vee declares.
Jim Henson didn’t quite end war with Fraggle Rock, but he certainly inspired plenty of letters like that one. Gary Vee hopes VeeFriends can do the same.
Topps Chrome’s second VeeFriends card set is available now via Topps and Fanatics, and at retailers Dick’s, Target, and Gamestop.
