A league source called us this morning with an unexpected bit of bad news. Topps, the only trading card company for most of my youth, is exiting the football market.
A quick search revealed that the folks at Beckett broke the story on Monday.
Per the source, Players Inc. (the marketing arm of the NFL Players Association) has opted to proceed in 2010 with licenses granted only to Upper Deck and Panini.
Though Topps could have continued without the NFL license, which would have brought back the days of helmet decals obscured with what appeared to be a 10-cent felt-tip pen, it’s fairly difficult to sell football cards without the names and likenesses of football players on them.
The trading-card industry has diminished over the past two decades, possibly due to the inherently low-tech nature of it. But for those of us who grew up in the ’70s, there are still a bunch of the wax-pack cards somewhere in the attic, the basement, or both.
There also might be a few pieces of the sugar-dusted concrete chewing gum floating around in shoe boxes as well. They come in handy when unable to find a hammer.