The product was called Topps Kids, but sadly it only lasted one year.
Back in 1992, each pack sold for 35¢ and contained 7 Major League Baseball cards and one stick of bubble gum. This was much more affordable compared to Topps' flagship product which had a suggested retail price of 55¢.
The back of the pack contains an ad for Topps Magazine along with the bubble gum ingredients.
The price wasn't the only difference between this product and their flagship product. I thought it was cool that their marketing team decided to use a wax wrapper and include bubble gum for this product, since 1992 was the first year they complete dropped both of these items from their flagship product.
As soon as you open the pack, you can immediately see that the cards are designed for kids with the use of bright colors and cartoonish backgrounds.
The first card I pulled out of the pack was #8 Marquis Grissom:
Even the backs of the cards are colorful and fun. At the very top is a comic that contained an interesting fact about the player featured on the card.
The middle section, known as the "Fun Box" contains word scrambles, baseball slang, baseball tips for kids, mini lessons on how to calculate baseball statistics, or even baseball card vocabulary.
At the bottom is a simplified, yet colorful version of the ballplayer's statistics.
Here's a look at the rest of my pack...
Did you know that Davis was born in Jamaica?
Did you know that Daniels had the 2nd highest on base percentage in the MLB from 1987 to 1991?
Did you know that Andy Van Slyke won four consecutive Gold Glove Awards from 1988 to 1991? Technically... he won five, because he took home another one in 1992.
Have you ever wondered how to calculate your own winning percentage as a pitcher? Well... now you can!
Have you ever wanted to see Knoblauch drawn as a creepy baby with facial hair and a diaper? Yup... Topps Kids has that too.
You'll also notice that there are several different card designs within this product. My person favorite is the one with the cartoon dugout and the portrait shot of the player. It kind of reminds me of the 1956 Topps and late 80's Topps Big card designs.
If you ever wish you could go back to a simpler time in our hobby, then this product is for you. There are only 130 cards in this set with absolutely no inserts, parallels, or autographs for you to chase down.
Imagine being able to build a master set of an official MLB licensed trading card set for less than the price of a blaster.
I realize the this product isn't for everyone, but I was pleasantly pleased by this product.
What about you? What are your thoughts?
Happy Monday and sayonara!
Looks to me like this may be a set I'll have to build, after the Upper Deck Fun Pack sets from 1993 and 1994!
ReplyDeleteTwo Twins cards and a Donnie Baseball, nice!
ReplyDeleteGreat product overall. I like the card designs where the players have cartoon bodies, like the Chili Davis card. Did you notice Tony Fernandez is fielding with a batting helmet on? lol
ReplyDeleteAny baseball card which finds a way to refer to Rick Auerbach and Willie Mays as "a couple of all time greats" is awesome in my book. Now I gotta lok for the Alonn Arny card....
ReplyDeleteThe cards look good. I really enjoy the comics on the back; looks like a fun little set!
ReplyDeleteWhen my brother was in college the school store sold packs of these and he would bring them home to me when he'd visit. I ought buy a box and build this set just for the heck of it!
ReplyDeletejasongerman9 - i actually just bought a box of this stuff on eBay, because i have to build it too. if you end up trying to build it, let me know. i should have extras
ReplyDeletegschwags - i think i pulled a puckett out of one of my other packs :)
p-town tom - oh man, totally missed that about tony. i was so focused on the bright colors
brett alan - good luck... i heard arny cards are pretty rare
coast to posts - the more i look at these, the more i love these backs. i actually think they're cooler than the fronts
colbey hopper - boxes are pretty cheap. picked one up for $11 shipped on eBay. for 48 packs, it felt like that was reasonable.
Boy I don't remember these cards. Definitely geared towards kids but I would have picked up a pack or two myself just to see what I could pull. I've definitely seen worse cards. Thanks for the post.
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