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While " Traded " or " Update " sets were originally conceived to deal with players who changed teams, they became increasingly important for another reason.

In order to fill out a 132-card set ( the number of cards that fit on a single sheet of the uncut cardboard used in the production process ), it would contain a number of rookie players who had just reached the major leagues and not previously appeared on a card.

They also included a few single cards of players who previously appeared in the regular set on a multi-player " prospects " card ; one notable example is the 1982 Topps Traded Cal Ripken, Jr ..

Since a " rookie card " is typically the most valuable for any given player, the companies now competed to be the first to produce a card of players who might be future stars.

Increasingly, they also included highly touted minor league players who had yet to play in the major leagues.

For example, Topps obtained a license to produce cards featuring the U. S. Olympic baseball team and thus produced the first card of Mark McGwire prior to his promotion to the major league level, and one that would become quite valuable to collectors for a time.

This card from the 1984 squad appeared in Topps's regular 1985 set, but by the next Olympic cycle the team's cards had been migrated to the " Traded " set.

As a further step in this race, Topps resurrected its former competitor Bowman as a subsidiary brand in 1989, with Bowman sets similarly chosen to include a lot of young players with bright prospects.