Editing Trading card (section)

=== Modern trading cards ===
[[Topps|Topps Chewing Gum, Inc.]], now known as "The Topps Company, Inc.", started inserting trading cards into bubble gum packs in 1950 with such topics as TV and film cowboy [[Hopalong Cassidy]], [[Frank Buck (animal collector)|Frank Buck]] from "[[Bring 'Em Back Alive (book)|Bring 'Em Back Alive]]" on big game hunts in Africa,{{Citation needed|date=February 2025}} and All-[[American Football Card]]s. Topps produced its first baseball trading card set in 1951, with the resulting design resembling that of playing cards.<ref>{{cite web|title=1951 Topps Baseball Cards|url=http://www.cardboardconnection.com/1951-topps-blue-backs-baseball-cards-2|work=CardboardConnection.com|publisher=The Cardboard Connection|access-date=16 May 2012}}</ref> Topps owner and founder [[Sy Berger]] created the first true modern baseball card set, complete with playing record and statistics, the following year in the form of 1952 Topps Baseball.<ref>{{cite web|title=1952 Topps Baseball Cards|url=http://www.cardboardconnection.com/1952-topps-baseball-cards-2|work=CardboardConnection.com|publisher=The Cardboard Connection|access-date=16 May 2012}}</ref> This is one of the most popular sets of all time; its most valued piece was 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle #311, which is sometimes erroneously referred to as Mantle's rookie card, though he had in fact appeared in the 1951 Bowman Baseball set.<ref>{{cite web|title=Mickey Mantle's Rookie Card Guide|url=http://www.cardboardconnection.com/mickey-mantle-baseball-cards-rookie-cards-checklist-and-buying-guide|work=CardboardConnection.com|publisher=The Cardboard Connection|access-date=16 May 2012}}</ref> On August 28, 2022, a [[Mickey Mantle]] baseball card ([[Topps]]; #311; SGC MT 9.5) was sold for $12.600 million.<ref name="NYT-20220828">{{cite news |last=Albeck-Ripka |first=Livia |title=Baseball Card Sold for $12.6 Million, Breaking Record - The 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle baseball card is the most valuable piece of sports memorabilia ever to be sold at auction. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/28/us/mickey-mantle-card-auction-baseball.html |date=August 28, 2022 |work=[[The New York Times]] |accessdate=August 29, 2022 }}</ref><ref name="MLB-20220831">{{cite news |last=Monagan |first=Matt |title=The man who sold the most valuable sports card of all time - Anthony Giordano got a record $12.6 million for a 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle |url=https://www.mlb.com/news/who-sold-the-1952-mickey-mantle-baseball-card |date=August 31, 2022 |work=[[MLB]] |accessdate=August 31, 2022 }}</ref>

Topps purchased their chief competitor, Bowman Gum, in 1956.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.topps.com/abouttopps/history.html |title=Topps History |access-date=2019-01-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100401074146/http://www.topps.com/abouttopps/history.html |archive-date=2010-04-01 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Topps was the leader in the trading card industry from 1956 to 1980, not only in sports cards but in entertainment cards as well. Many of the top selling [[Non-sports trading card|non-sports cards]] were produced by Topps, including [[Wacky Packages]] (1967, 1973–1977), ''[[Star Wars canon|Star Wars]]'' (beginning in 1977)<ref>''Star Wars Super Collector's Wish Book Identification and Values'', Geoffrey T. Carlton, Collector Books, Paducah, KY, {{ISBN|1-57432-289-3}}</ref> and [[Garbage Pail Kids]] (beginning in 1985).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://members.tripod.com/garbage_pail_kids/|title=Barren AARON's GPK World|website=members.tripod.com|access-date=14 February 2018}}</ref> In 1991, Topps ceased packaging gum with their baseball cards, which many collectors preferred because their cards could no longer be damaged by gum stains.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.foodandwine.com/news/how-gum-and-baseball-cards-became-intertwined|title=How Gum and Baseball Cards Became Intertwined|website=www.foodandwine.com|access-date=10 January 2021}}</ref> The following year, in 1992, Topps ceased using heavily waxed paper to wrap their packs of cards and began using cellophane plastic exclusively, thus eliminating the possibility of wax stains on the top and bottom cards in the packs.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cardboardconnection.com/visual-history-topps-baseball-wrappers-2011|title=Visual Guide to Topps Baseball Wrappers - 1951-2011|website=www.cardboardconnection.com|date=27 January 2012|access-date=10 January 2021}}</ref>