Topps has maintained the exclusive license to produce Major League Baseball cards in North America since 1981. This exclusive deal gives Topps the only officially licensed rights to use team logos, uniforms, and player likenesses and photograph on baseball cards. The current licensing deal between Topps and MLB runs through 2025, ensuring Topps will continue to be the premier producer of baseball cards well into the future.
Each year, Topps releases several different baseball card products aimed at collectors of all experience levels and budgets. Their flagship series is the annual Topps Base Set, which features the latest photos of all Major League players on standard trading card stock. For the 2022 season, the Topps Base Set included over 700 cards across several Series 1-4 releases from February through July. By far the best-selling and most collected modern baseball cards each year are from the Topps Base Set.
In addition to the base set, Topps also releases higher-end products like Topps Chrome, Topps Finest, Topps UPDATE, and Topps Heritage. Chrome features player photos with refractors and parallel color variants, Finest uses premium stock and inserts, UPDATE releases midseason player updates, and Heritage replicates classic designs from the 1950s-80s. These special sets are aimed at more experienced collectors looking for inserts, autographs, and limited parallels.
For the budget-conscious collector, Topps also distributes value packs and boxes containing the base set and inserts at a lower per card price point. Products like Topps Series 1 & 2 Hanger Boxes and Value Packs make collecting attainable for any fan. And for the casual fan that simply wants current stars, Topps also provides retail blaster and jumbo packs at national big-box retailers and local hobby shops each year.
In addition to physical cardboard cards, Topps has become a leader in the growing world of digital and virtual baseball cards as well. Topps BUNT and Topps NOW are popular MLB licensed mobile apps that allow users to collect and trade virtual real-time cards featuring the latest games, performances and milestones. In 2021, Topps even became the first-ever licensed physical trading card company to launch Major League Baseball NFT trading cards featuring star players.
Though competitors like Panini have entered the market in recent decades, Topps maintains around 90% of the total baseball card sales industry each year thanks to their exclusive MLB license and multi-decade reputation. With no indication the MLB deal won’t be renewed, Topps baseball cards will assuredly continue being produced and remain the most popular and collected cards for the foreseeable future. Their wide range of annual products ensures there is a Topps baseball card option available to attract both novice collectors as well as seasoned veterans seeking the next vintage find or rookie hit. After 70 continuous years in business, Topps baseball cards show no signs of disappearing from the market or losing their prominent place within the larger sports card industry and pop culture.
In closing, despite changes in technology, fan interests, and competitors entering the space, Topps has endured as the preeminent producer of officially licensed MLB trading cards due to smart licensing agreements, talented creative teams, and diverse yearly product lines. As long as baseball is being played, Topps baseball cards will be there to commemorate each season and help grow new generations of lifelong collectors.
