Topps Chewing Gum, Inc. is an American confections company and, more famously, a trading card company, especially known for producing bubble gum and candy cigarettes. However, Topps is most famous for producing sport trading cards, especially ones related to baseball. Since the early 1950s, Topps has held the exclusive license to produce baseball cards in the United States.
Topps began producing baseball cards in 1951, packaging a stick of gum with each card. The first set issued that year featured 365 individual cards featuring players from that time period, with each player getting their own card. Some of the more renowned players featured in that inaugural Topps set included Willie Mays, Mickey Mantle, and Ted Williams. While the designs were basic, with mostly headshot photos and statistics on the back, Topps helped fuel a boom in baseball card collecting among children and adults alike.
The popularity of Topps baseball cards skyrocketed from there. In 1952, Topps issued their second complete baseball card set, this time with bubble gum instead of stick gum. The traditional pink wrapper design was also introduced that year. Sets continued to grow in size each subsequent year, reaching an all-time high of 792 cards for the 1967 set. Topps has issued yearly baseball card sets every season since the early 1950s, documenting the players, teams, and eras of Major League Baseball. They also produced special oddball sets highlighting specific seasons or events outside the typical annual year-in-review format.
Aside from the standard baseball card annual issues, Topps produced a variety of special subsidiary sets over the decades. In 1952, they issued the first postseason World Series card set. 1954 saw the debut of All-Star Baseball, highlighting that year’s midsummer classic. In 1959, Topps test marketed subset sets highlighting specific rookie players like Willie McCovey and Bob Gibson among others. Their most notable specialty set was released in 1969, called Super, which featured cards twice the standard size with color photos and additional career stats on the back.
Topps held exclusive rights to produce Major League Baseball cards from exclusivity agreements solidified in the early 1950s. During the 1960s two other competitors briefly emerged. Fleer produced pioneering gumless cards from 1956-1956 while Leaf briefly issued cards again without gum in 1961. But Topps reasserted its monopoly by the late 1960s as the dominant force in the baseball card marketplace. Their exclusive license with Major League Baseball helped cement that position of dominance for decades.
In addition to the annual baseball sets, Topps expanded into other sports through the 1970s and beyond like football and hockey. Their non-sports line of cards featuring entertainment, POP culture, and oddities like Wacky Packages seen became an additional revenue source. But baseball remained their flagship sports property, continuing the long-running annual year-in-review model. Into the 1970s, sets continued growing with the addition of team checklists, manager/coach cards, and accomplished ‘post-career’ players cards. Color photography was phased in by 1981, replacing the longtime black-and-white standard.
Autograph and memorabilia cards started in 1987 with the Glossy All-Stars insert set, revolutionizing the insert card concept. Wax packs also started being replaced with foil wrappers at this time. Major innovations in the 1990s included the hugely popular Stadium Club set in 1992, Ultra in 1993, and Finest in 1996. In the late 1990s, new insert sets were introduced like Topps Chrome Refractors and Topps Traded starring traded players from that year. Between 1995-2001, Turkey Red reintroduced classic designs with modern photography. The annual flagship base set design was also refreshed multiple times during this era.
Topps continued innovating specialty insert sets in the 2000s including Topps Heritage honoring classic designs and Topps Lineage tracing multi-generational families in baseball. Serial-numbered parallels and autograph/memorabilia inserts became more prevalent as demand from adult collectors grew. Major sets from this period included Topps Opening Day, Allen & Ginter, and USA Baseball highlighting international competitions. The 2010s introduced shortprinted “hits” throughout wax packs to mimic the chase of memorabilia autographs from traditional boxes and cases of cards.
In 2007, The Topps Company spun off from its confectionery roots to reorganize solely as a collectibles firm focused on sports and entertainment cards, memorabilia, and digital assets. In 2020, Mudrick Capital acquired Topps in a deal valued at over $400 million.
The value and popularity of vintage Topps baseball cards have ballooned in the collecting hobby. High-grade examples from the 1950s and 1960s regularly fetch six-figure prices at auction. Iconic rookie cards like the 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle and 1957 Topps Hank Aaron are considered the crown jewels of the cardboard collecting world. Even well-preserved common cards can realize substantial values due to deep collector demand and appreciation for Topps’ pioneering role in cataloging MLB’s history through pictures since the 1950s.
After over 70 years, Topps remains synonymous with quality baseball cards. Their exclusive license ensures the Topps brand maintains its position as the official card of Major League Baseball. Year after year of comprehensive archives featuring players, managers, events, and memorable moments have solidified Topps’ place in both baseball and wider sports card history. As interest in vintage cards and collecting modern issues continues to gain momentum, Topps’ legacy will surely endure through future generations of eager baseball card fans.
