The 1981 TCMA Rochester Red Wings set is the most accessible set of the 4 minor league team sets that contained at least one card of Cal Ripken, Jr. As with the other sets produced in 1981 by the TCMA Company, 3,500 sets were produced. In 1981, most all of these sets were sold through the mail. When you would receive a TCMA set, the set would typically come to you in a team bag, sometimes with a rubber band holding the cards together. The name TCMA stood for the initials of the two men that co-owned the company, Tom Collier and Michael Aronstein. Unoriginal reprint copies of this card are on the secondary market.

One of the largest manufacturers of collector issue sets was the TCMA Company, founded by the legendary collector and dealer Mike Aronstein. TCMA released their first offering, a set entitled The 1930s, in 1972, and Aronstein went on to become the king of collector issues putting out over 120 different sets throughout the 1970s and early ‘80s.

Up until the week of October 25, 2009, there were no known counterfeits involving the 1981 TCMA Rochester Red Wings card of Cal Ripken, Jr. This all changed when a seller from Grand Rivers, Kentucky, listed a pair of "1981 Rochester Red Wings Cal Ripken Promo Rookie Card(s)" (Ebay 150384365141, 370282103629). The cards were slabbed by PCA Grading (http://www.pcagrading.com) and were graded Gem Mint 10. The cards featured Cal's image from his 1981 TCMA trading card with no text on the front of the card. The back of the card had a white back with the words "Cal Ripken Jr. 1981 Rochester Red Wings Promotional Card."

Michael Aronstein is the legendary collector who established TCMA and produced Cal's 1981 Rochester Red Wings card. When asked about the authenticity of the promo cards he stated that the cards were, "not even a good scam." RITM followed up with Michael and asked the following questions: