Editing Topps (section)

===Entry into the baseball card market===
In 1951, Topps produced its first baseball cards in two different sets known today as ''Red Backs'' and ''Blue Backs''. Each set contained 52 cards, like a deck of [[playing card]]s, and in fact the cards could be used to play a game that would simulate the events of a baseball game. Also like playing cards, the cards had rounded corners and were blank on one side, which was colored either red or blue (hence the names given to these sets). The other side featured the portrait of a player within a baseball diamond in the center, and in opposite corners a picture of a [[baseball (ball)|baseball]] together with the event for that card, such as "[[out (baseball)|fly out]]" or "[[single (baseball)|single]]."

Topps changed its approach in 1952, this time creating a much larger (407 total) set of baseball cards and packaging them with its signature product, [[bubble gum]]. The company also decided that its playing card model was too small (2&nbsp;inches by 2-5/8&nbsp;inches) and changed the dimensions to 2-5/8&nbsp;inches by 3-3/4&nbsp;inches with square corners. The cards now had a color [[portrait]] on one side, with statistical and biographical information on the other. This set became a landmark in the baseball card industry, and today the company considers this its first true baseball card set. Many of the oil paintings for the sets were rendered by artist Gerry Dvorak, who also worked as an animator for [[Famous Studios]]. In 1957, Topps shrank the dimensions of its cards slightly, to 2-1/2&nbsp;inches by 3-1/2&nbsp;inches, setting a standard that remains the basic format for most [[sports card]]s produced in the United States.<ref name="TF20010327" /> It was at this time Topps began to use color photographs in their set.

The cards were released in several series over the course of the baseball season, a practice Topps would continue with its baseball cards until 1974. However, the last series of each year did not sell as well, as the baseball season wore on and popular attention began to turn towards [[American football]]. Thus cards from the last series are much scarcer and are typically more valuable (even commons) than earlier series of the same year. Topps was left with a substantial amount of surplus stock in 1952, which it largely disposed of by dumping many cards into the [[Atlantic Ocean|Atlantic]]. In later years, Topps either printed series in smaller quantities late in the season or destroyed excess cards. As a result, cards with higher numbers from this period are rarer than low numbers in the same set, and collectors will pay significantly higher prices for them. The last series in 1952 started with card No. 311, which is Topps's first card of [[Mickey Mantle]], and remains the most valuable Topps card ever (and, as of August 28, 2022, the [[List of most expensive sports cards|most valuable trading card of all]]). On August 28, 2022, the [[Mickey Mantle]] baseball card (Topps; #311; SGC MT 9.5) was sold for $12.600 million.<ref name="NYT-20220828"/> This 1952 Topps Mantle is often mistakenly referred to as Mantle's rookie card, but that honor belongs to his [[:File:1951 Bowman Mickey Mantle.png|1951 Bowman card]] (which is worth less than the 1952 Topps card).

The combination of baseball cards and bubble gum was popular among young boys, and given the mediocre quality of the gum, the cards quickly became the primary attraction. In fact, the gum eventually became a hindrance because it tended to stain the cards, thus impairing their value to collectors who wanted to keep them in pristine condition. It (along with the traditional gray cardboard) was finally dropped from baseball card packs in 1992, although Topps began its Heritage line, which included gum, in the year 2001.