You DO realize that 1952 was not the first year for Topps Baseball?

Sure, as baseball card collectors, most of us probably think the above statement is absurd. Of course 1952 Topps wasn't the first entry into the baseball card market, but no one can deny the historical significance of that set. One of the most often and irritating mistakes I see is the reference to the famous Mickey Mantle ROOKIE CARD, when someone without the proper knowledge is discussing the iconic 1952 Topps Mantle card. First Topps Card (FTC) is appropriate, but Rookie Card is not.Back to 1951 for a moment though...Topps didn't exactly start with a bang.

Competing with the Bowman Gum Co., who had been issuing cards of current day players since 1948, Topps was making it's entry into a market with some interesting card sets. Their "main" set would be the Red and Blue back cards, which were actually designed to be a game. Very small compared to Bowman with regard to checklist subjects, Topps only gave us 52 players from each of the red and blue sets, for a total of 104 subjects. Compared to Bowman's 324 card set, Topps was missing the boat on 2/3 of the players, including a young Mickey Mantle!

Topps also tried something a little different with their Team cards, something Bowman had never done, as well as a dual theme stand-up set, known as Connie Mack's Current and All-Time All Stars. Between those 3 sets, Topps offered kids another 27 cards that they could not find with Bowman.

Although this initial offering from Topps was unusual, it got their foot in the door and the next year they launched a massive 407 card set that would signal the beginning of the end of the Bowman Gum Co., who coincidentally reduced the number of cards in their set to 252 that year. Topps was showing the world a first glimpse of their power in a market in which they would soon dominate, some may even say monopolize, until the early 80s. Once Topps purchased Bowman and ceased operation after the 1955 edition, they would rarely see competition until 1981, when the collecting world as we knew it was to change forever!