Topps will continue making cards for Japan’s top baseball league this year.
The company has extended its licensing agreement with Nippon Professional Baseball Organization (NPB) after debuting a league-wide product last season.
For the first time in its 80-year history, Topps released official trading cards for all 12 NPB teams in 2021, with a regular flagship type offering as well as a Chrome issue.
According to Topps, the renewal agreement will expand production and distribution of trading cards in Japan, highlighting the most prominent and fan-favorite players in NPB. Seiya Suzuki, who recently signed with the Chicago Cubs, was among the players in the set.
Topps also produced an MLB set distributed for the Japanese market. The product was a scaled down version of Topps’ Series 1 and 2 sets and was issued after the season. Boxes arrived not long after Topps opened an office in Tokyo to better serve the Japanese and Asian market’s increasing demand for trading cards.
“We are happy to announce that we will continue our contract with NPB this year, which started last year. We are confident that this agreement will increase the number of trading card fans in Japan and contribute to the creation of a new culture,” said Satoshi Misu, Topps’ Japan Country General Manager.
Topps plans to launch several new NPB products throughout 2022, which will be available at selected retail locations throughout Japan and on its own Japanese website, JP.Topps.com.
eBay recently reported that sales for Topps Japan cards had doubled from the first quarter of 2021 to the third quarter.
