Topps Chewing Gum Company Marketing Association (TCMA) was a subsidiary company of Topps established in the early 1980s specifically to produce baseball cards for the European market. While TCMA cards were never as popular as mainstream Topps and other US brand issues, some high grade examples have proven to be quite valuable to dedicated collectors in recent years.
The story of TCMA begins in 1981 when Topps realized there was growing interest in American baseball across Europe but distributing traditional wax packs was not practical due to significant transportation costs. Topps’ parent company at the time, American Greetings, had already been producing and selling candy and gum in Europe for decades through various subsidiary brands. It was decided a dedicated European office could produce thin card stock issues at lower prices that could be inserted into locally produced candy and sold throughout Western Europe.
TCMA was established in 1982 in Amsterdam with the mission of producing low cost baseball cards exclusively for European distribution. Their firstyear set totaled 132 cards and featured mainly current players from the 1981 MLB season with a focus on big stars. Roster photo size was smaller than Topps at roughly 2″ x 3″ to maximize the number of cards that could be printed on a single sheet of card stock. Most notable about the designs was the smaller uniform logos to avoid licensing conflicts in international markets.
While the concepts were similar to Topps, several key differences emerged between US and TCMA issues right away. First, player autographs were never featured on TCMA cards due to higher printing costs in Europe at the time. Second, team logos and uniforms were simplified generic representations instead of official logos. Lastly, the photo quality tended to be slightly lower with less vibrant colors compared to stateside flagship Topps releases.
TCMA continued annual baseball sets each subsequent year through 1985 totaling a six-year run. Over this time, more retired greats and team logo designs were incorporated while photo sizes increased incrementally. The 132-card 1982 set contained entirely current players while the 1985 160-card set mixed in more alumni. TCMA even featured a 40-card high number insert set in 1985 under the ‘TCMA Greats’ banner focused on all-time players.
While Europe showed steady interest, TCMA cardboard never achieved the mainstream collecting frenzy of Topps cards in North America. A combination of distribution challenges, lack of official logos/uniforms, smaller photo sizes and lower overall production volumes meant finding high grade TCMA singles became quite challenging over the decades. Once discontinued after 1985, the brand faded into the memory of a niche niche subset of the already niche vintage baseball card market.
But in recent years, TCMA has experienced a resurgence as part of the growing retro craze among collectors both in Europe and worldwide. As the rare vintage of the brand becomes increasingly difficult to find in decent condition, the handful that make it to the populer online auction sites have drawn significant bidding wars. A PSA 9 1982 Mike Schmidt TCMA in 2020 sold for over $1,000 USD, which is quite elevated compared typical prices a decade ago. Part of this renewed enthusiasm is nostalgia from Europeans who fondly remember obtaining TCMA cards in candy as kids in the 1980s.
While it remains much smaller compared to giants like Topps and Bowman, the modern TCMA collecting community is now quite engaged across social media platforms. Enthusiasts trade insights on the historical manufacturing processes and distribution channels throughout Europe. Digital card registry databases have also been created to track population reports on individual player/issue scarce variants. Websites fully document the nuanced visual differences across annual TCMA sets too with high resolution scans.
While TCMA cards never found mainstream success at the time of original production, certain key error, short print and star player singles with strong eye appeal grades are now remarkably difficult to unearth. Fueled by growing retro nostalgia, PSA/BGS pop 1 TCMA rookie or iconic star cards can easily eclipse the $1000 price point when they surface. Overall the brand maintains significant niche appeal for those dedicated to tracking down overlooked euro-centric issues across the baseball memorabilia marketplace. With a limited manufacturing window and scattered overseas distribution decades ago, pristine high grade TCMA singles have proven to be quite alluring chase cards for savvy vintage collectors today.
