Trading Cards For Other Sports
Topps also makes cards for other major American professional sports. After football, its next venture was into ice hockey, with a 1954 set featuring players from the four National Hockey League franchises located in the U.S. at the time—Boston Bruins, Chicago Blackhawks, Detroit Red Wings and New York Rangers.
In 1958, O-Pee-Chee Company of London, Canada entered into an agreement with Topps to produce NHL cards (the 1957–58 series) and Canadian football cards (the 1958 series). O-Pee-Chee then started printing its own hockey and football cards in 1961. Similarly, the Topps Company struck agreements with Amalgamated and British Confectionery in the United Kingdom and Scanlen's in Australia.
In 1967, with the major expansion of six new NHL teams to the United States, the Topps Company produced a new hockey card set that paralleled the 1966–67 O-Pee-Chee hockey design (the basic television design was in fact first used for 1966 Topps American football series). Starting in 1968–69, the Topps Company started printing an annual Topps hockey set which was similar to the annual O-Pee-Chee hockey set. The Topps and O-Pee-Chee hockey sets shared a similar design from 1968–69 to 1981–82 and from 1984–85 to 1991–92.
Topps first sold cards for basketball in 1957, but stopped after one season. It started again in 1969 and continued until 1982, then abandoned the market for another decade, missing out on printing the prized rookie cards of Michael Jordan and other mid- and late-1980s National Basketball Association stars. Topps finally returned to basketball cards in 1992, several years after its competitors. This would be perfect timing because 1992 was the rookie year of Shaquille O'Neal.
In the United Kingdom, where football stickers have been popular for roughly the same time period as trading cards, Topps acquired the old Amalgamated and British Confectionery firm in 1974, bringing over its production methods and card style. Under its Merlin brand, it has the licence to produce stickers for the Premier League and the national team. Its main competition is the Italian firm Panini. Topps make 'Topps Premier League' stickers and 'Match Attax' Trading card game.
Recently, Topps and Zuffa, LLC have signed an exclusive agreement to produce Mixed Martial Arts trading cards. Among the included cards are current and former athletes from the Ultimate Fighting Championship. The cards are scheduled to be released in Early 2009.
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Famous quotes containing the words trading, cards and/or sports:
“His farm was “grounds,” and not a farm at all;
His house among the local sheds and shanties
Rose like a factor’s at a trading station.”
—Robert Frost (1874–1963)
“Oft have I played at cards and dice,
Because they were so enticing;
But this is a sad and sorrowful day
To see my apron rising.”
—Unknown. The Rantin Laddie (l. 1–4)
“It was so hard to pry this door open, and if I mess up I know the people behind me are going to have it that much harder. Because then there’s living proof. They can sit around and say, “See? It doesn’t work.” I don’t want to be their living proof.”
—Gayle Gardner, U.S. sports reporter. As quoted in Sports Illustrated, p. 87 (June 17, 1991)