2006

2006 was a year of great change in the baseball card landscape. Donruss had lost its license to produce Major League Baseball cards. Fleer went bankrupt and had their assets picked up by Upper Deck. Major League Baseball imposed its "Not a Rookie Til We Say So" policy and created the now-ubiquitous "RC icon." This forced Topps to move all the minor league players and prospects who could no longer be included in base sets into Prospect "inserts" in all their Bowman brands.

New Sets

As part of the purchase of Fleer, Upper Deck added Fleer, Fleer Tradition, Ultra, Greats of the Game, and Flair Showcase to their product line. Upper Deck also introduced Epic, Future Stars, Special F/X, and the ultra high-end Exquisite brands. Topps introduced the extremely popular Allen and Ginter's as a new retro set, as well as Topps 52 (a new rookie set featuring the design of the 1952 Topps set), Topps Co-Signers (previously only an insert set in Stadium Club) and two new high end sets: Triple Threads and Topps Sterling. Topps also produced the 2006 Bowman Originals set, a single year release that came with a certified buyback autograph in every pack that proved to be a dud.

Sets