Kings Baseball Cards is one of the largest and most well-known baseball card companies in the world. Founded in 1981 by card collector Billy King, the company got its start by purchasing the rights to print cards featuring players from obscure independent minor leagues that were rarely, if ever, featured on cards from the major companies like Topps and Fleer at the time.
King felt there was value in commemorating the accomplishments of players at all levels of professional baseball, not just the biggest stars in Major League Baseball. His first sets featured players from the Triple-A American Association and Double-A Eastern League. While the production quality in those early years was not on par with the major brands, collectors appreciated being able to add missing pieces to their sets from seasons past.
Within a few years, Kings Baseball Cards had expanded its offerings to include sets featuring all levels of the minors, from rookie ball all the way to Triple-A. They also acquired licenses from numerous independent leagues that operated outside of the affiliations of MLB franchises. This allowed Kings to chronicle the entire scope of professional baseball outside of the major leagues.
By the late 1980s, Kings had become a serious competitor to Topps and Fleer. They produced higher quality on-card photographs instead of using old action shots from team brochures like they did in the early years. Card design also modernized with color photography and creative layouts. Increased print runs made Kings cards widely available through hobby shops and card shows across North America.
A major coup came in 1988 when Kings secured the license to produce the official Minor League Baseball set. This gave them access to produce cards of top prospects still playing in the minors before their eventual call up to MLB. Stars like Barry Bonds, Greg Maddux, and Tom Glavine all had their rookie cards produced by Kings while playing in the minors. This helped grow the brand internationally as collectors sought out the early cards of future Hall of Famers.
Through the rest of the 1980s and 1990s Kings established itself as the preeminent brand for minor league and independent baseball cards. They continued to secure licenses from new and rebranded minor leagues as that sector of professional baseball grew. The company’s expertise in lower level prospects helped make Kings an important research tool for scouts and analysts as well. sets during this period like “Top Prospects” and “Futures Game” previewed some of the game’s future stars.
In 1992 Kings made another important move by licensing the rights to produce baseball cards for all teams in Nippon Professional Baseball, Japan’s top professional league. This gave collectors their first adequate English-language cards featuring Japanese baseball stars who were starting to make an impact in MLB through NPB’s iconic postseason shows like the Japan Series. Cards of stars like Hideo Nomo, Ichiro, and Daisuke Matsuzaka gained popularity with North American fans.
Throughout the 1990s and 2000s Kings Baseball Cards continued to be on the cutting edge of new licensed products. Some of their most popular innovations included prospect premium sets, autographed memorabilia cards, on-card autographs, and prestige parallels with serial numbering. They were also early adopters of inserting hittable memorabilia relic cards in packs that could contain uniform swatches, bat and ball fragments, or signed items. This fueled collector interest at a time when the entire sports card market was booming.
As a privately-held company founded on a passion for the game, Kings has proven remarkably resilient through the various boom-bust cycles experienced by the wider trading card industry. When the late 1990s bubble burst due to overproduction, they scaled back production but maintained important licenses which allowed the brand to weather the downturn. In recent decades they’ve proven innovators in the shift to direct-to-consumer e-commerce and breaking new grounds in digital card formats.
Today Kings Baseball remains dedicated to its mission of preserving the history of professional and international baseball outside of the MLB level. They still hold licenses from prestigious minor leagues like the International, Pacific Coast, and Mexican Leagues. Recent elite prospects whose careers were chronicled in Kings issues include Juan Soto, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Wander Franco andothers. Nippon Pro sets also remain a collector favorite for English-language cards of MLB stars playing overseas.
Through over four decades, Kings has maintained an important role in the baseball card industry by focusing on the areas of the game other companies have overlooked. Their passionate fanbase of collectors appreciate being able to build complete lifelong sets chronicling players’ entire professional careers from beginning to end. With Bill King’s family still at the helm, Kings Baseball Cards looks headed toward half a century in business of commemorating professional baseball at all levels worldwide.
