Let’s start with what has the potential to be the biggest story in the card collecting hobby in at least 25 years. Upper Deck is involved in a hostile takeover attempt of Topps. Here’s a quick recap of what’s happened so far (warning: the following contains official Wall Street-type talk that people with no interest in the business world can find either overwhelming or quite boring).

Back in March, Topps announced it had agreed to sell the company to a pair of private equity firms headed up by Michael Eisner. The sale price was $386 million, or $9.75 per share of Topps stock. Even though the deal was approved by Topps’ board of directors, it has to be approved by the majority of its shareholders. A vote was originally scheduled for June, but has since been rescheduled for Aug. 30.

In May, Upper Deck put a competing offer on the table for Topps valued at $10.75 per share. Topps didn’t believe the Upper Deck offer was better for its shareholders than the $9.75-per-share offer for a variety of reasons, so Upper Deck took the offer straight to the shareholders. They launched a tender offer in which they would pay shareholders $10.75 for every share they turned over to Upper Deck. This is why it’s known as a “hostile takeover,” because they did so despite the objection of the Topps board.

Topps had said that one of the problems with Upper Deck’s offer was the potential it could be shot down by the government for antitrust concerns, but earlier this month the government issued no objections to the deal. Topps then issued a statement suggesting Upper Deck had told them they might not have financial backing to pull off the acquisition. Upper Deck responded with a press release of its own, accusing Topps of trying to deceive shareholders into voting for an inferior offer.

Here’s where things stand as of this writing. Upper Deck’s offer to buy shares at $10.75 expires on Aug. 29. The company says that as of Aug. 10, it had acquired about 30 percent of the outstanding shares. On Aug. 30, Topps’ shareholders will vote on the deal from Eisner’s group. If they approve that deal, Upper Deck loses out. If the Eisner deal is rejected, Upper Deck will have the only offer for shareholders to consider.

If Upper Deck buys Topps, it has said it will merge the two companies, meaning that Topps cards would be produced by Upper Deck. But how many Topps products the company would be allowed to produce will be decided by the licensing bodies (i.e., Major League Baseball, the NFL, etc.).

Needless to say, this is a story that could have a significant impact on the future of the card market. We’ll continue to post the latest developments on the website.