When was Topps founded and who founded it?
Topps was founded in 1938 by four brothers named Abram, Ira, Philip, and Joseph Shorin. The company started as a chewing gum manufacturer before expanding into trading cards.
Questions about Topps
Short answers, pulled from the story.
Who designed the modern Topps baseball card and what did it include?
Sy Berger designed the 1952 Topps baseball card set with Woody Gelman on the kitchen table of his Brooklyn apartment in the autumn of 1951. The design placed a player's name, photo, facsimile autograph, and team logo on the front, with height, weight, birthplace, birthday, statistics, and a biography on the back. Berger went on to work for Topps from 1947 to 1997.
Why is the 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle card so valuable?
The 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle card is number 311 in the set, part of the last series of that year's cards, which were printed in smaller quantities and were harder to find. On the 28th of August 2022, a copy graded SGC MT 9.5 sold for $12.6 million, making it the most valuable trading card sold as of that date. Sy Berger had previously dumped much of the remaining 1952 surplus stock into the Atlantic Ocean, further reducing supply.
How did Topps lose its MLB baseball card monopoly?
Federal judge Clarence Charles Newcomer ended Topps Chewing Gum's exclusive right to sell baseball cards in 1980, allowing Fleer to compete. Fleer and Donruss both entered the market in 1981. Even after an appeals court overturned Newcomer's ruling, both companies remained in the market by packaging cards with items other than gum, such as logo stickers and cardboard puzzle pieces.
Why did Fanatics acquire Topps and how much did it pay?
Fanatics acquired Topps in January 2022 for $500 million after securing exclusive future licenses with Major League Baseball and the MLB Players Association in August 2021, which stripped Topps of the exclusivity that had defined its modern era. The acquisition separated the trading card business from the candy side, which was spun off as Bazooka Brands.
What non-sports products and card series has Topps produced?
Topps has produced non-sports cards covering subjects including the Beatles, John F. Kennedy, the Space Race, Star Wars, and the Mars Attacks series originally painted by Norman Saunders in 1962, which later inspired a Tim Burton film. The company also produced Wacky Packages and Garbage Pail Kids, and for a period beginning in 1973, Wacky Packages outsold Topps baseball cards.