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Sign Of The Times
Thursday, November 8, 2001
By Jackie Sindrich / Reuters

* Baseball Card Marker Turns Its Focus To War On Terror
* 'Enduring Freedom' Cards Feature Key Players And Events
* Osama Bin Laden Makes The Cut; Sept. 11 Carnage Doesn't

There is one trading card in a new "Enduring Freedom" series that stands out - Osama bin Laden - and the chief executive of Topps Co. encourages kids to do what they want with it.

"Stamp it out. Rip it apart," says CEO Arthur Shorin.

The card bearing the likeness of bin Laden, the Saudi-born militant the United States accuses of being the mastermind behind the Sept. 11 hijacked plane attacks, is one of 90 in a new series, "Enduring Freedom," that Topps, the maker of baseball cards and Bazooka gum, sent out en masse last week to Wal-Mart Stores.

The company has chronicled historical events with its trademark cards going back to the Korean conflict; the war in Afghanistan with the Taliban was an automatic addition, according to Shorin, who also is chairman and president of the company.
(More: CBSNews.com News Source)
2001 © Reuters Limited.

Dan