The Topps Company, Inc.

Topps is an international marketer of entertainment products, principally collectible trading cards, confections, sticker collections, and collectible strategy games. The Topps Company was founded in 1938 as Topps Chewing Gum, and in its early years produced a popular penny "Topps Gum" from a factory in Brooklyn, N.Y. After World War II, the Topps company developed Bazooka Bubble Gum, and in 1950, added trading cards to its product line. Baseball cards appeared in 1951 and quickly became a vital part of pop culture, a tradition that continues to this day, and includes football (both American and European) and basketball, in addition to entertainment cards and stickers and albums. In July 2003, Topps acquired WizKids, LLC a designer and marketer of collectible strategy games. Topps was acquired in October 2007 by Madison Dearborn Partners, a private equity group, and Michael Eisner, former CEO of Disney. Now headquartered in New York City, Topps maintains offices in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Italy, and Argentina, in addition to the U.S. Topps also manufactures the popular lollipop brands marketed as Ring Pops, Push Pops, Baby Bottle Pops and other novelty candy and gum products. the Topps company has worldwide distribution, annual net sales for Fiscal 2006 of $293,838,000, and employs over 487 people worldwide.