In recent years, Topps has brought back the nostalgia of collecting baseball cards by offering a new twist – personalized baseball cards. For over 60 years, Topps produced traditional baseball cards featuring players on Major League teams. As the popularity of physical card collecting has declined in the digital age, Topps sought a new way to engage baseball fans both young and old.
Their personalized baseball card program allows anyone to design their own custom baseball card featuring themselves. Through Topps’ website, users can upload a photo, customize the front of the card with fonts and designs, and write a short bio on the back. Once designed, the card is printed and shipped as an actual trading card size and design replicated from Topps’ classic cards from the 1950s-80s.
This new concept has been a huge success for Topps, tapping into people’s inherent desire to be featured on their own baseball card. For younger fans who never collected physical cards, personalized Topps cards give them that experience of seeing themselves on the classic cardboard stock that millions grew up with. For older collectors nostalgic for the hobby, designing a card lets them relive memories of collecting while featuring someone special – themselves.
The idea of personalized Topps cards first launched on a small scale in 2012 when Topps unveiled the ability for fans to customize cards during special campaigns for holidays or events. It wasn’t until 2017 that Topps expanded the program and made custom cards available year-round on their website. This allowed anyone to design a card anytime without limitations.
Since the full-time launch, Topps’ personalized baseball card program has grown exponentially in popularity. Some key milestones and facts about their success include:
In the first two years after the 2017 launch, over 1 million custom baseball cards were created and ordered on the Topps website.
By 2021, that number had grown to over 5 million personalized cards designed and shipped to customers worldwide.
Topps now produces and ships over 50,000 custom cards every single month on average.
Popular customization themes include wedding cards featuring couples, birthday cards for friends and family, Mother’s Day/Father’s Day tributes, and memorial cards honoring loved ones who have passed.
Celebrities and sports figures often design cards featuring throwback photos from their careers to share on social media, further promoting the Topps program.
Topps has expanded customization options over the years, adding features like jersey number selection, pose variations, team logos, and foil/hologram card finishes.
Special campaigns let users design commemorative cards for events like holidays, championships, or to benefit charities and foundations.
With success on their main site, Topps has also partnered with teams, leagues, schools and community organizations to provide customized card opportunities.
Topps’ ability to blend nostalgia, creativity and community through its personalized baseball card program has been key to its popularity. While digital platforms now dominate sports card collecting, Topps found a way to bring the tactile joy and gift-giving of physical cards to the modern age. Whether it’s for personal enjoyment or sharing with loved ones, a customized Topps card creates a cherished keepsake linking the past and present of America’s favorite pastime. With no signs of slowing down, personalized baseball cards have struck a chord and found their place alongside Topps’ legacy of capturing baseball history one card at a time.
