the.com/topps
the company that made chewing gum an excuse to sell cardboard, then made cardboard worth more than gold.
means an american trading card company, founded on bubble gum, that turned baseball players into collectible paper and basically invented the modern sports card industry.
from started in brooklyn in 1938 as the topps chewing gum company; in 1951 they started slipping baseball cards in with the gum as a marketing gimmick, and by 1952 the gimmick had eaten the whole business.
gum erastopped including gum with cards in 1991
monopoly yearsheld exclusive mlb card license from 1956 to 1980
unrelated empirealso made wacky packages and garbage pail kids
acquired 2021bought by fanatics, ending mlb licensing deal
for instance
garbage pail kids — 1985 parody cards that got topps sued by cabbage patch kids
topps chrome — 1996 refractor line that made shiny cards a whole obsession
wacky packages — 1967 sticker parodies of grocery brands, still running