Pembridge Capital Management has announced that it is nominating three directors for election to the Topps Company board of directors at the upcoming meeting of stockholders.  Pembridge chided the current Board, saying that they 'have overseen the Company's extremely poor operating performance, declining stock price, an inexcusable misuse of its balance sheet, poor corporate governance, excessive S,G&A expenses and the payment of egregious salaries and bonuses to executives at Topps....'  

Topps and Pembridge signed a truce last summer (see 'Topps Signs Truce with Hedge Fund'), after Topps said it would explore strategic alternatives to increase the value of the company and pay Pembridge's expenses for the last proxy fight, in which

Pembridge had been urging a sale of a portion of the company, a major stock repurchase, or other steps to increase shareholder value (see 'Aggressive Hedge Fund Stalking Topps').   Topps made an effort to sell its candy business, but pulled the division off the market because it wasn't satisfied with the price it could get (see 'Topps Pulls Candy Business Off Market').  The company also implemented the recommendations from a consulting engagement which recommended keeping the candy and entertainment divisions separate, adding marketing and new product development investment to stimulate growth, and cutting management positions for a $2.5 million per year savings. 

But Topps just reported lower earnings on soft sales from its entertainment division, especially at game manufacturer WizKids (see 'WizKids Sales Decline'), and Pembridge appears to be unwilling to wait longer for Topps' efforts to take effect. 

Topps is an important supplier to pop culture retailers, not only through WizKids, but through the entertainment products of its trading card division, which has seen recent success with Star Wars trading cards, Wacky Packages, and Lord of the Rings trading cards.  Topps is also an important sports card manufacturer, and one of the last two manufacturers of baseball cards (along with Upper Deck).