Topps announced a significant expansion to its deal with Disney Consumer Products on Thursday, giving the Fanatics-owned company global trading card rights for Disney, Pixar and Marvel, in addition to its existing Star Wars rights. Most notably, this means Topps will be able to produce and distribute physical Marvel trading cards — one of the biggest non-sports trading card properties — in the U.S. for the first time starting in early 2025 with the release of a Topps Finest X-Men ’97 set.
Topps has produced Star Wars cards since 1977 and previously sold Disney and Marvel cards in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, but this latest move could prove impactful in a variety of ways as Topps aggressively grows its sports card business, as well.
“We’re thrilled to officially expand our relationship with Topps to bring storytelling from across our brands to card collecting enthusiasts around the world,” said Disney Consumer Products executive vice president Paul Gitter in a press release.
“At Topps, we have a relentless focus on enhancing the fan experience, and this new expansion and extension will help us continue to work with Disney Consumer Products to bring the best innovation in the hobby to collectors,” added Fanatics Collectibles president of trading cards David Leiner.
Disney’s 2023 entry into the trading card game (TCG) space, Lorcana, which is produced by Ravensburger, has quickly proven popular and more traditional Disney trading cards produced overseas have also increasingly been in-demand around the world in recent years. Marvel has been one of the leading non-sports trading card properties dating back to the early 1990s. Upper Deck, which holds the expiring Marvel license, recently announced a deal with Warner Bros. Discovery Global Consumer Products to produce DC Comics trading cards and other collectibles.
In addition to Topps’ longstanding MLB license, Fanatics also has the exclusive trading card rights for the Premier League, MLS, UFC, Formula 1 and more. It will have the exclusive NBA trading card rights starting next year, plus the NFL and WWE rights starting in 2026. The addition to Disney/Pixar/Marvel to that mix creates potential for cross-pollination between sports and non-sports entities.
Just this week, Topps showed one example of this by turning MLB players into Garbage Pail Kids for a 2024 Bowman Chrome insert set for the first time. Could Disney or Marvel sports mashup cards be on the horizon?
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(Top image: Marvel Animation)
