The 1991 Pro Set borderless trading card design used by Topps Shut Down Pro Set
I was doing a bit of research on another article on Nascar Pro Set racing cards from the 1990s and an old thought came to me about “borderless” sports trading cards. Of course, “Mothers Cookies” produced the first borderless cards as inserts in their cookie bags, but they were as stated, “inserts” and not full productions of trade cards. If I remember correctly, Pro Set was the first to release borderless trading cards in 1991, followed by Topps “Stadium Club.”
Nascar’s racing season begins in late January and Major League Baseball begins in early April. The 1991 Pro Set borderless Nascar trading cards would be released weeks before the start of the Nascar season in late January, meaning Topps would have had to struggle to redesign their Major League Baseball cards to meet the standard. baseball season starts in early April. Topps had approximately 1 month to make the changes. As Topps struggled to combine the Pro Set with the borderless card design, they created a premium game from the borderless design cards and named them Stadium Club.
The Topps Stadium club baseball when it was released in 1991 was a huge success mainly because the photography was so much better than the Pro Set. The gorgeous glossy photography along with the borderless design and a matching name stripe made Stadium Club the card other card companies had to go with or lose sales.
The photograph of the 1991 Pro Set in their first set of Nascar racing cards is boring and the name strip collides with the photograph so badly that the card is ugly. Was this first Nascar Pro Set the first production set without borders? It sure looks like it could be, as Topps went to great lengths to copy the borderless design and create a premium set before the 1991 baseball season began between January and April 1991.
In the 1990s, the struggle to be the top seller of sports cards was what happened with so many card makers who went to market to make millions from images. The losers of the fight faced debts of hundreds of millions trying to propel their cards towards popularity. Winners live in million dollar mansions and the collectible value of the past cards they created is always becoming collectible.
Topps won the fight with the new Stadium Club sports card brand. Topps did not produce Nascar trading cards, but both companies produced baseball, soccer, and hockey, which were their paydays. Between 1989 and 1991, Pro Set took millions from rival sports card companies. Pro Set eventually had to give way to Topps Stadium Club cards and closed in 1994 facing hundreds of millions in debt. Topps took the borderless design from Pro Sets and came out, “Topp.”
Of course, the economy suffered a recession in 2008 that drove the values of collectibles to nickel-and-dime prices along with the increasing availability of the internet. But with a growing economy under a government that drives growth, collectibles that lost value will regain value as people have more to spend. Even the first borderless cards can become an epic event in collectible sports card history and be sought after, increasing the value of cards that people didn’t think much of.