General Forum

Topps has been publishing a variety of articles on their site since Fanatics took over.  Based on the design I feel the idea is to educate and encourage younger collectors. Just recently they posted this nice article, https://ripped.topps.com/the-negro-leagues-and-the-hobby/.  Worthy of a quick read.

Thanks for sharing! It was a VERY NICE Article to read!!  Shared it on FB & Twitter as well . . .

Yours in The Hobby - Felix 

Yes, thank you for sharing.  It was a great read.  

Great article.  You can definitely tell something has changed with Topps for them to even reference cards from other companies.  Old Topps just ignored anything they didn't own or create.

Now we need some sets of Negro Leaguers produced as though they were released during the players' careers.  We have a number of look-back sets, but it would be great to have cards like the 1942 through 1949 "Play Ball" sets TCMA produced in the '80s.

Topps/Fanatics, if anyone is listening, products like that would be spectacular and would be a step toward filling the hole that you acknowledge.

Totally agreed!

Back in the 1990s my wife and I went to a negro league baseball store in Tennessee that we found during a vacation there.  I was hoping to pick up a set of cards highlighting all the players of that period.  There wasn't a set to be had.  Best they had was a poster with all the greatest players from that league highlighted (which I purchased).

I would love to see a set of not just the stars but all the players.

My son and I go to Cooperstown every year for the Hall of Fame inductions and I remember when he was young there were a couple negro league players who had tables set up to sell autographs.  We'd always make a point to stop (they usually didn't have many people around their tables) and talk to them about their time playing ball.  My son would find their stories captivating to listen to.

One of those same years when he was little, we were checking out the Jackie Robinson exhibit inside the hall and we were looking at the horrible letters Jackie received.  Letters threatening his life and things like that and I remember saying to my son that if it wasn't for players like him, dealing with all that horrible stuff, we wouldn't have players like Rickey Henderson, Reggie Jackson, Ken Griffey Jr, etc.  When we were discussing that, an older black man walked up and put a hand on my shoulder and said "thank you for teaching him about this."

Kids should have cards of these players to have those types of conversations about and to learn about the history.

 Thanks for the share- I am also reporting and going to add to the various genealogy sites like WikiTree where I volunteer as a member of the US Black History project and aim to educate, assist research and publish facts from all of those who lived before us- I try to add tcdb.com profile pages on open profiles for anyone who may have a card on here...and no, I don't get paid for it so no shameless promoting- just letting you know it will be shared through in some other ways as well :) Cheers! Becky Elizabeth

That is a good article. Thank you for sharing.

What a fantastic story- absolutely loved reading.

Thanks for sharing.

I'd also love to see some nice cards for the Negro League players. I'd REALLY like to see some sets that aren't a bunch of serial-numbered pricey on-demand sets featuring an absurd amount of inserts and parallels.