Quote:
Originally Posted by steve B
And there was an actual Broder. There were a few sets he did that were unlicensed, and some that were a bit gray area like a japan baseball set mostly showing american players.
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Keep in mind that there were two "Broders". Ed Broder prodiced the TCMA-style sets of Japanese players or Americans in Japan in the 1970s. In the 1980s, Rob Broder started selling his unlicensed cards as advertisements for his glossy 8x10 photos. Very quickly he, and others, realized collectors would eagerly scoop up any new cards of popular players and just started cranking out set after set of the simple, unauthorized sets to be sold at card shows. He was eventually sued by MLB and settled for a fine.
About that time, MLB changed it's licensing rules to prevent "publications" like Ballstreet or Legends from basically printing baseball cards in a magazine wrapper. The cards were supposed to be simply a feature of the magazine to enhance articles, and as such, were subject to the rules of your average newspaper or magazine (as started by Baseball Cards Magazine in the 80s), but eventually people saw that as a way to print their own baseball cards without a license, and wrap it in a tissue thin veil of a magazine.