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Title: Sports Trading Card Collection, 1972-2007

ID: MSS SportsCards

Extent: 0.05 cubic feet. More info below.

Languages of Materials: English [eng]

This collection is made up of sports trading cards portraying professional athletes who attended and played at OSU. Produced by Topps and other companies, these cards primarily depict National Football League players, but also include members of the National Basketball Association and Major League Baseball.

Included among the alumni represented on these cards are: Gary Payton, A. C. Green, Rockne Freitas, Esera Tuaolo, Steven Jackson, Chad Johnson, Mike Thurman, Ken Simonton, and T.J. Houshmandzadeh.

Founded in 2010, Leaf Trading Cards produces trading cards and other lithographic sports collectibles. The company is based in Dallas, Texas.

Founded in 1927, The Bowman Gum Company, was originally a Philadelphia-based manufacturer of bubble gum.  They expanded to produce trading cards in the 1930s. The company was acquired by Topps in 1956, and the brand was discontinued.  Topps resurrected the Bowman brand in 1989, and Bowman has become known as the top brand for rookie cards.

Wildcard is a company in the trading card industry that has been producing cards for over 30 years.

Founded in 1954, Donruss was a US-based trading cards manufacturing company.  Their first sports theme cards, a series of racing cards sponsored by Hot Rod Magazine, were produced in 1965.  In 1996, Pinnacle Brands, makers of Score and Sportflix, acquired Donruss.  Pinnacle Brands filed for bankruptcy in 1998. The company was then acquired by Panini Group in 2009, becoming Panini America.

Action Packed manufactured trading cards from 1988 to 1997.  Pinnacle Brands acquired the brand in 1995.

Frank H. Fleer founded The Fleer Corporation in 1885.  It was the first company to successfully manufacture bubble gum, but became known as a maker of sports cards in 1923 with the production of baseball cards.  In late May 2005, Fleer suspended its trading card operations and auctioned off the Fleer trade name among its other holdings.  Upper Deck won the rights to the Fleer name.

Upper Deck, founded in 1988, is primarily known for producing trading cards. They stood out from other trading cards with their first set in 1989, which introduced glossy fronts on cardboard thicker than other brands'.

Sage is best known for the manufacturing of trading cards for football and their SportKings products, which highlight legends across many pro sports.

Established in 1986, Classic Games was the game-producing arm of The Score Board, Inc. and was based in Cherry Hill, New Jersey.  Classic Games declared bankruptcy in 1998.

More Extent Information: 1 document box

Statement on Access: Collection is open for research.

Related Materials: Additional image-heavy collections related to athletics include the Football Photograph Collection (P 004), the Basketball Photographs (P 006), and the OSU Memorabilia Collection (MSS MC).

Preferred Citation: Sports Trading Card Collection (MSS SportsCards), Oregon State University Special Collections and Archives Research Center, Corvallis, Oregon.

Processing Information: This collection is not fully processed and a complete finding aid is not available at this time.

University History