Barry Larkin Collection 1,093: 1994 Topps Bilingual - #250

Barry Larkin
Year:  1994

Brand:  Topps Bilingual

Card number:  250

In 1994, Topps issued a Spanish-language version of its base set, available only in factory set form.  Each base card had both English and Spanish on the backside of the card (similar to what the Pacific brand was doing at the time).  Amazingly, if Baseballcardpedia is to be believed, Topps only produced 1000 sets of 1994 Topps Bilingual, which is a minuscule amount of cards for the era!  

There's probably some sort of statement to be made here about how Topps was making baseball cards with Spanish on them well before anyone was singing in Spanish for a Super Bowl halftime show.  While some may say this is an issue of fairness or equality, I'd be more willing to wager this was a test to see if a Spanish-language set could be profitable.  History suggests that the set concept wasn't worth it to Topps; there was no bilingual Topps offering in the next year.