In 1965, the Federal Trade Commission filed an administrative complaint against Topps claiming that its aggregation of individual exclusive contracts violated section 5 of the FTC Act in the case of Topps Chewing Gum, Inc. The courts ruled that Topps' exclusive license to publish players' photographs etc. on trading cards had limited in reach therefore leaving room for competitors of trading cards with other low-cost products such as marbles or powdered soft-drinks.
Until the FTC's decision, Fleer competed with Topps by obtaining a similar licensing agreement and in the early 1960's Fleer sold two sets of trading cards known as "Baseball Greats." However, after the FTC's 1965 ruling, Fleer abandoned the baseball market and eventually it sold
