Topps Chewing Gum has been producing trading cards as an insert in its gum and candy products since 1938. While they are most famous for producing cards featuring American players in the MLB, Topps also produced cards exclusively for the UK market between 1990-1997 featuring stars of baseball as well as other sports.
The Topps company began exploring international markets for sports cards in the late 1980s. They saw an untapped market in the UK for collecting cards of popular American sports that were gaining more exposure internationally through televised broadcasts. Baseball in particular was gaining a cult following amongst some British fans drawn to its nostalgic rural Americana themes.
In 1990, Topps launched its first brand of UK-exclusive baseball cards. Called “Topps British Baseball Greats”, the inaugural 90-card set featured some of the game’s biggest stars from both past and present. Players like Babe Ruth, Ted Williams, and Nolan Ryan who were MLB legends shared card space with contemporary stars such as Dwight Gooden, Ozzie Smith, and Kirby Puckett. Each card came with British currency values on the back rather than US dollar amounts found on American issues.
The initial release was a moderate success, finding an audience among UK collectors already interested in American sports. To build on this, Topps issued two larger annual sets over the next two years – “1991 Topps British Baseball” and “1992 Topps British Baseball.” These continued the theme of highlighting both historic and modern players but expanded the checklist to over 125 cards each set. In addition to baseball players, Topps also began including subsets featuring Negro League stars and teams to help educate UK fans on an important chapter of the game’s history often overlooked.
In 1993, Topps made the bold choice to change the focus of its UK baseball card brand to revolve around a single team rather than a broader selection of MLB players. That year saw the release of “1993 Topps British Baseball New York Yankees”, a high-gloss 102-card set entirely devoted to “The Bronx Bombers.” Featuring current Yankees stars like Don Mattingly, Wade Boggs, and Jimmy Key alongside team legends from Babe Ruth to Thurman Munson, the set was a roaring success. Sales shown there was strong interest among UK collectors for teams with great history and tradition like the Yankees.
Encouraged by the Yankees set’s popularity, Topps followed up with additional single-team releases in subsequent years. 1994 brought “Topps British Baseball Houston Astros” while 1995 focused on the “Topps British Baseball Toronto Blue Jays.” These sold reasonably well but failed to match the sales numbers of the all-conquering Yankees issue. In 1996 Topps tried changing tack again with “Topps British Baseball – Then and Now”, a 125-card retrospective spanning from 1920s stars like Ty Cobb to contemporary talents such as Barry Bonds. However interest seemed to be waning for Topps UK baseball cards by this point amongst British collectors.
For 1997, Topps made one last attempt to revitalize the brand with “Topps British Baseball 20th Anniversary.” This throwback-themed set celebrated the 20 years since Topps began producing American sports cards in 1977 with an 80-card checklist spanning that period. However sales of the anniversary issue were very poor. Later in 1997 Topps made the decision to discontinue further baseball card production specifically for the British market, bringing the 8-year UK baseball card experiment to a close.
In retrospect, while Topps UK baseball cards found a cult following amongst collectors in Britain, maintaining long term interest proved difficult. Baseball remained very much a niche sport with small broadcast exposure. The lack of any significant amateur or professional leagues also meant there were no British-based players to feature which may have limited broader appeal. Topps did try different strategies like focusing on teams but struggled after the initial few years. Their trademark American sports cards also faced competition from homegrown British companies making cards for more popular local sports like soccer and cricket. Still, for a period in the early 1990s Topps helped fuel collectors’ appreciation of America’s pastime across the pond.
