The 'Big Three' Baseball Card Companies

By Patrick Mondout

After Topps bought its competitor Bowman in 1956, it faced only token competition from the likes of Kellogg's and Hostess until a 1980 court decision paved the way for Fleer to re-enter the baseball card market. This also brought Donruss into the fray. Together with Topps, the three companies were known by some in the hobby as the Big Three.

They were later joined later in the Awesome80s by Score (which became Pinnacle) and Upper Deck. We have created "Brief History of" articles for all three companies. Here are the links:

• A Brief History of Donruss
• A Brief History of Fleer
• A Brief History of Topps