A nineteen fifty-two Mickey Mantle card sold for twelve point six million dollars in 2022. Around 1960, the story goes, the company that printed it dumped unsold cases off New York. This episode follows the trading card from a free picture in a cigarette pack to a product whose main ingredient is how few exist. Along the way: what the record really says about the Honus Wagner card, the five-dollar contracts that gave Topps a quarter-century monopoly, the antitrust case that opened the market and was then overturned, the overproduction of the late eighties, and the industry's answer, which was to print scarcity on purpose. It ends with one company, Fanatics, holding the licences again. Hosted by Benjamin Hartenstone. Beyond the Scoreboard is a Narratique original. Selected research sources: Fleer Corp. v. Topps Chewing Gum, Inc., 658 F.2d 139 (3d Cir., Aug. 25, 1981), opinion of Judge James Hunter I: https://static.case.law/f2d/658/cases/0139-01.json Fleer Corp. v. Topps Chewing Gum, Inc., 501 F. Supp. 485 (E.D. Pa., June 30, 1980), Judge Newcomer: https://static.case.law/f-supp/501/cases/0485-01.json Haelan Laboratories, Inc. v. Topps Chewing Gum, Inc., 202 F.2d 866 (2d Cir., Feb. 16, 1953), Judge Frank: https://static.case.law/f2d/202/cases/0866-01.json Topps Chewing Gum, Inc. v. Fleer Corp., 547 F. Supp. 102 (D. Del., Sept. 2, 1982): https://static.case.law/f-supp/547/cases/0102-01.json Fleer Corp. v. Topps Chewing Gum, Inc., 539 A.2d 1060 (Del., Apr. 6, 1988): https://static.case.law/a2d/539/cases/1060-01.json Topps Chewing Gum, Inc. v. Major League Baseball Players Ass'n, 641 F. Supp. 1179 (S.D.N.Y., Aug. 1, 1986): https://static.case.law/f-supp/641/cases/1179-01.json Wagner A Wonder: One Player In Game Who Is Not Money Mad, The Sporting News, October 1912 (scanned page): https://web.archive.org/web/20071009110746/http://www.explorepahistory.com/~expa/cms/pbfiles/Project1/Scheme40/ExplorePAHistory-a0b9s7-a_514.pdf Collectors Universe, Inc., Form 10-K for fiscal year ended June 30, 2005: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1089143/000108914305000027/maindoc.htm Mudrick Capital Acquisition Corp. II, Form 8-K filed August 20, 2021: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1820727/000119312521252037/d197244d8k.htm Fanatics Acquires Topps Trading Cards and Collectibles Business (press release, Jan. 4): https://www.fanaticsinc.com/press-releases/fanatics-acquires-topps-trading-cards-and-collectibles-business See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
