Topps Introduces First 3D Interactive Sports Cards

From what once represented a $1 billion business, the market for sports trading cards has shrunk to around $200 million in yearly revenue today, according to Major League Baseball Properties. The internet age has significantly affected the demand for trading cards, which has companies such as Topps and Upper Deck experimenting with new technologies to help gain popularity for their cards once again.

Topps has introduced a new baseball card, the Topps 3D Live, which uses 3D technology. Collectors who hold a special Topps 3D Live baseball card in front of a webcam will see a three-dimensional avatar of the player on the computer screen. When the card is rotated, the figure rotates in full perspective on the screen. Collectors can also play elementary pitching, batting, and catching games with their 3D avatar using the computer keyboard. Total Immersion, a French company, brought Topps the technology which it calls "augmented reality," a combination of a real image with a virtual one.

Michael Eisner, former CEO of Walt Disney, bought Topps for $385 million in 2007, with grand plans of reshaping the trading card industry. Eisner has said that he sees Topps as much more than a trading card company. "I see it as a cultural, iconic institution not that different from Disney -- it conjures up an emotional response that has a feel good kind of uplift," he told the New York Times.

Eisner has also created Back on Topps, a 17-episode Internet comedy that spoofs his acquisition of the company and is currently developing a movie based on Bazooka Joe bubble gum, another of Topps' products (Disclaimer: Back on Topps features Randy & Jason Sklar, the twin brothers from "Cheap Seats" -- if, like me, you find yourself clenching your teeth when you listen to them speak, take a pass on the link).

Topps and Upper Deck already drive collectors to their websites by inserting special cards with unique codes in the packs. Collectors can create avatars, trade virtual cards, and enter virtual worlds to interact with other collectors by simply entering the codes at Toppstown.com or UpperDeckU.com.

Louise Curcio, VP of Marketing at Upper Deck, says virtual cards that "come alive and contain video" are the next step in repositioning trading cards in the Internet age. It will be interesting to keep an eye on the trading card business as new technologies are introduced to the market. Eisner has brought a ray of hope to Topps, the current leading baseball card company.

Clearly, if sports trading cards are to survive in today's market, they must expand their business models to make use of new media and internet technology. This seems like a great start!