• Home
  • About Us
    • Contact Us
    • Get Sports Collectors Daily via EMail
    • Advertise with SC Daily
    • Where Can I Sell My Baseball Cards?
    • Write About Your Sports Collection
  • Hot on Ebay
    • Most Watched Baseball Cards
      • 75 Most Watched Bowman Chrome Cards
      • Hottest Topps Living Set Auctions on eBay
      • Babe Ruth Cards
      • Hank Aaron Cards
      • Mickey Mantle Cards
      • Willie Mays Cards
      • Nolan Ryan Cards
      • T206 Cards
      • 1952 Topps Cards
    • Most Watched Basketball Cards
      • Top 100 Most Watched Basketball Rookie Cards
      • Michael Jordan Cards
      • LeBron James Rookie Cards
      • Stephen Curry Cards
    • Most Watched Football Cards
    • Most Watched Hockey Cards
      • Connor McDavid Cards
      • Bobby Orr Cards
    • Soccer Cards
      • Panini World Cup Stickers
    • Rookie Cards
    • PSA 10 Cards
    • Sports Autographs
    • Vintage Sports Memorabilia
  • Ending Soon on Ebay
    • Baseball Cards
    • Basketball Cards
    • Football Cards
    • Hockey Cards
    • Vintage Sports Memorabilia
  • Search 268X60

Sports Collectors Daily

Sports collecting news - Sports cards and sports memorabilia industry news.

Top Mobile

Memory Lane Vintage Sports Cards and Collectibles
  • Sports Memorabilia News
  • Sports Card News
    • Modern Sports Card News
      • New Sports Card Release Calendar
    • Vintage Sports Card News
      • Affordable Vintage Cards, Collectibles
      • Old Baseball Card Sets
      • Old Basketball Card Sets
      • Old Football Card Sets
      • Old Hockey Card Sets
      • Vintage Pack Facts
  • Business/Industry News
    • Sports Memorabilia Business News
    • Sports Memorabilia Industry News
  • Around The Hobby
    • Editor’s Blog
    • David Cycleback’s Identification and Authentication Advice
    • What’s Hot in the Shop
  • Popular Stories
  • Sell Your Cards
You are here: Home / Sports Card News / Vintage Sports Card News / Old Football Card Sets / 1956 Topps Football Was Beginning Of An Era

Top Banner 486X60

1956 Topps Football Was Beginning Of An Era

September 7, 2015 By Bob D'Angelo

Topps is celebrating its 60th season of issuing officially licensed pro football cards this year. While its products today have a more slick look with inserts, autographs and relic cards — its 2015 football set has a 500-card base set — Topps ventured gingerly into the NFL ranks with a 120-card set in 1956.

Actually, there also was an unmarked checklist, and Topps included an additional five contest cards that asked fans to guess the scores of upcomin1956toppsmooreg games. Three of those cards invited fans to pick games from October 14; the other two asked fans to guess the results from selected games on November 25.

The 1956 Topps Football set marked the beginning of one long run and the end of an old standby. Bowman had led the way, with its 1948 set considered the first true football set of the modern era. But the 1955 set would be the final Bowman offering for 36 years, as Topps bought out its competitor in early 1956. Topps would bring back the Bowman brand name for football with a 561-card set in 1991.

Topps had released some football sets before, with a Felt Backs set in 1950, the Magic set in 1951 and the All-American product in 1955. But all three sets featured college football players.

But by 1956, Topps held the NFL monopoly. The company had two kinds of packs that year — one card for a penny, or five cards for a nickel. Both types of packs contained gum.

The cards measured 2 5/8 by 3 5/8 inches and had white borders. Not deviating far from the ’55 Bowman design, Topps used a player photo set against a solid color background; the color was the same for every member of a part56toppscarsonicular team. For example, players on the Browns had blue backgrounds (why they didn’t use brown is a good question …), while Detroit Lions players had red backgrounds. The solid colors were bold and really stood out.

There was a white line that traced the player’s image, and the team name and logo was situated in an upper corner of the card front.  In an era where player safety and the long term effects of competition have come to the forefront, it’s remarkable to see many players shown wearing helmets with a thin shell and no face mask.

The card back had a football outlined against a gray background in the upper left-hand corner, with the card number in black contained within the pigskin. The player’s name was positioned to the right of the football in black block letters, and a cartoon trivia question was placed in the ri1956toppschecklistght-middle part of the card (turn the card upside down for the answer). To the cartoon’s left was a short paragraph either giving a player’s history or some interesting facts about him.

One interesting quirk about this set is that the team cards and players of the Washington Redskins and Chicago Cardinals were short printed. There is one gem mint (PSA-10) version of each team card. There are 44 PSA-9s of the Cardinals team card registered. After the gem mint, the highest grades of Redskins cards are PSA-8s (there are 37 examples)chicards

Card No. 1 in the set depicts Redskins end Jack Carson. His card can be compared to its 1952 Topps baseball counterpart (Andy Pafko), as it is very tough to find in a higher grade. Of 231 submissions to PSA, only two cards grade at PSA-9 and 19 are at PSA-8.

The final card in the set, Billy Vessels (card No. 120) is relatively tough to find in mint condition, as only seven PSA-9s have been registered out of 3071956vessels submissions.

There are some notable names that are key cards in the 1956 set. There were rookie cards of Alex Webster, Roosevelt Brown, Joe Schmidt, Lenny Moore and Rosey Grier. Hall of Famers included Frank Gifford, Lou Groza, George Blanda, Norm Van Brocklin and Y.A. 56toppsgrozaTittle. Moore is the toughest rookie to get in a high grade, with only one gem mint (PSA-10) and five mint (PSA-9) cards out of 444 submitted.

The toughest card to get in a high grade is the unnumbered checklist. Of the 205 cards that have been submitted to PSA, the highest grade has been a PSA-8 — and only 22 submissions got that grade. There is currently one unmarked PSA-8 checklist on eBay, and the seller is seeking $950.

The 1956 Topps football set is attractive and still holds up well. As with most cards of the mid-1950s, these cards were plagued by poor centering, ink bubbles and other printing imperfections. Imagine today’s technology with some of those blazing background colors.

Still, this set was a good start for Topps, and nearly 60 years later it has kept its appeal.

Below is a live list of the current ‘most watched’ auctions on eBay for 1956 Topps football cards.

1956 TOPPS FOOTBALL LOT OF 10 DIFFERENT NM *150693 1956 TOPPS FOOTBALL LOT OF 10 DIFFERENT NM *150693
8 bids - Price: $7.49 - Watchers: 9
Item #352594405204
1956 TOPPS #60 LENNY MOORE VGEX 1956 TOPPS #60 LENNY MOORE VGEX
12 bids - Price: $15.50 - Watchers: 9
Item #401706081991
1956 Topps Set Break # 78 Elroy Hirsch NR-MINT *GMCARDS* 1956 Topps Set Break # 78 Elroy Hirsch NR-MINT *GMCARDS*
13 bids - Price: $17.27 - Watchers: 8
Item #132946537051
1956 Topps Football Cards Starter Set Lot (98) VG Gifford Roosevelt Brown Grier 1956 Topps Football Cards Starter Set Lot (98) VG Gifford Roosevelt Brown Grier
8 bids - Price: $16.49 - Watchers: 8
Item #223380243486
1956 Topps Set Break # 53 Frank Gifford NR-MINT *GMCARDS* 1956 Topps Set Break # 53 Frank Gifford NR-MINT *GMCARDS*
10 bids - Price: $16.38 - Watchers: 8
Item #312467542122
1956 Topps Football Lenny Moore ROOKIE RC, PSA/DNA AUTO #60 PSA AUTH (PWCC) 1956 Topps Football Lenny Moore ROOKIE RC, PSA/DNA AUTO #60 PSA AUTH (PWCC)
5 bids - Price: $26.00 - Watchers: 6
Item #352594541332
1956 Topps #53 Frank Gifford GAI 6 = PSA 6 EX-MT SHARP GIANTS HOF COMBINE SHIP 1956 Topps #53 Frank Gifford GAI 6 = PSA 6 EX-MT SHARP GIANTS HOF COMBINE SHIP
2 bids - Price: $2.25 - Watchers: 5
Item #132952570437
1956 TOPPS FOOTBALL PARTIAL SET 52/120 W/STARS *151018 1956 TOPPS FOOTBALL PARTIAL SET 52/120 W/STARS *151018
5 bids - Price: $4.00 - Watchers: 5
Item #333075570385
1956 TOPPS #24 JOE CAMPANELLA LOT OF 5 NM F151102 1956 TOPPS #24 JOE CAMPANELLA LOT OF 5 NM F151102
4 bids - Price: $4.28 - Watchers: 5
Item #333075912239
1956 Topps Football Lenny Moore ROOKIE RC #60 PSA 7 NRMT (PWCC) 1956 Topps Football Lenny Moore ROOKIE RC #60 PSA 7 NRMT (PWCC)
3 bids - Price: $51.00 - Watchers: 5
Item #352594541830
1956 TOPPS #48 BALTIMORE COLTS TEAM CARD LOT OF 5 NM *150697 1956 TOPPS #48 BALTIMORE COLTS TEAM CARD LOT OF 5 NM *150697
1 bids - Price: $0.99 - Watchers: 5
Item #372600486466
1956 Topps Football Lot of 69 Different    See Images of All Cards  Sku#21 1956 Topps Football Lot of 69 Different See Images of All Cards Sku#21
2 bids - Price: $1.25 - Watchers: 4
Item #123639566712
1956 Topps Ken MacAfee #65 Football Card  VG  New York Giants 1956 Topps Ken MacAfee #65 Football Card  VG  New York Giants
9 bids - Price: $0.80 - Watchers: 4
Item #132944138018
1956 Topps Football Cleveland Browns #45 PSA 7 NRMT (PWCC) 1956 Topps Football Cleveland Browns #45 PSA 7 NRMT (PWCC)
2 bids - Price: $11.52 - Watchers: 4
Item #143132190133
1956 Topps Football Checklist 1-120 SHORT PRINT PSA 7 NRMT (PWCC) 1956 Topps Football Checklist 1-120 SHORT PRINT PSA 7 NRMT (PWCC)
4 bids - Price: $295.00 - Watchers: 4
Item #143132190937
1956 Topps Set Break # 45 Browns Team EX-EXMINT *GMCARDS* 1956 Topps Set Break # 45 Browns Team EX-EXMINT *GMCARDS*
3 bids - Price: $6.28 - Watchers: 4
Item #312467542089
1956 TOPPS JOE SCHMIDT FOOTBALL CARD #44 RC EX-EXMT RANGE BV $50 1956 TOPPS JOE SCHMIDT FOOTBALL CARD #44 RC EX-EXMT RANGE BV $50
1 bids - Price: $9.99 - Watchers: 4
Item #352591919606
1956 Topps Football Lenny Moore ROOKIE RC #60 PSA 6 EXMT (PWCC) 1956 Topps Football Lenny Moore ROOKIE RC #60 PSA 6 EXMT (PWCC)
4 bids - Price: $35.00 - Watchers: 4
Item #352594541337
1956 Topps Set Break Bazooka Contest VG-VGEX (crease) *GMCARDS* 1956 Topps Set Break Bazooka Contest VG-VGEX (crease) *GMCARDS*
2 bids - Price: $1.25 - Watchers: 3
Item #132951121652
1956 Topps #47 Bill George PSA 7 NM LOW POP SHARP BEARS HOF COMBINE SHIPPING 1956 Topps #47 Bill George PSA 7 NM LOW POP SHARP BEARS HOF COMBINE SHIPPING
3 bids - Price: $2.84 - Watchers: 3
Item #132952570877
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Google+
  • LinkedIn
  • Digg

Related Stories:

Johnny Unitas rookie card PSA 960th Anniversary: Hall of Fame Rookies Lead Legendary 1957 Topps Football Set 1951 Bowman Football Set Has Great QBs, Future Coaches Tom Landry 1955 Bowman1955 Was Swan Song for Bowman Football Bowman 1954 football wrapper5 Undervalued Vintage Football Sets 1964 Philadelphia Football Cards Ushered In New Era Berger-Bell Meeting Launched Topps Football Cards 1967 Royal Castle Dolphins Set Marks Auer’s Place in History Topps 1965 Football pack1965 Topps Football Set is More Than Just Broadway Joe George Blanda rookie card1954 Bowman Football Set Offered Unique Design YA Tittle 1950 Bowman rookie card1950 Bowman Football Set Meshed Well With NFL

Bottom Mobile

Bottom Banner 336X280

About Bob D'Angelo

Bob has been a sportswriter and copy editor for more than 35 years and a blogger for a decade. He is celebrating his 50th year of card collecting, and still counts his 1965 Topps Mickey Mantle as his favorite. You can reach him at [email protected].

Filed Under: Old Football Card Sets, Popular Stories, Sports Card News, Vintage Sports Card News Tagged With: 1950s football cards, 1956 Topps football, chicago cardinals, vintage football card sets, washington redskins

Left #1 200X50

What\\\

Left #2 200X150

Left #3 200X150

Right #1 160X240

Memory Lane

Right #2 160X240

Left #4 160X600

Right #3 160X600

  • Football
  • Basketball
  • Baseball
  • Hockey

Right #4 – 160X240

Bargain Corner

  • Mickey Mantle Cards Under $100
  • Pre-1980 Graded Baseball Cards Currently Under $5
  • Pre-1980 Graded Football Cards Currently Under $5
  • Pre-1980 Graded Basketball Cards $5 and Less
  • Pre-1980 Graded Hockey Cards $5 and Less
  • Complete Sets Under $10 with Free Shipping
  • Baseball Hall of Famers for $5 or Less
  • Football Hall of Famers for $5 or Less
  • Hobby Boxes Under $30
  • Rookie Cards Under $1

RSS Auction Report

  • Iconic Auctions February 23, 2019 Autographs & Memorabilia Auction In Progress
  • Bid Now On The Current Weekly Sunday Auction by EvansArchive on eBay
  • Landmark Mystery Fiction Collection of Otto Penzler Offered by Heritage Auctions in March 6 Rare Books Auction
  • Clemente’s 1972 All-Star Ring, His Final Baseball Award, To Be Sold in Mile High Card Company March Auction


Categories

  • Business/Industry News
    • Sports Memorabilia Business News
    • Sports Memorabilia Industry News
  • David Cycleback's Identification and Authentication Advice
  • Editor's Blog
  • Library of College Football
  • National Sports Collectors Convention
  • Old Hockey Card Sets
  • Popular Stories
  • Rich Klein's Ramblings
  • Shopping
  • Sports Card News
    • Modern Sports Card News
      • New Sports Card Release Calendar
    • Vintage Sports Card News
      • Old Baseball Card Sets
      • Old Basketball Card Sets
      • Old Football Card Sets
      • Vintage Pack Facts
  • Sports Memorabilia
    • Around the Hobby
    • Sports Memorabilia News
  • What's Hot in the Shop

Sponsor Links

  • Buying Vintage Sports Cards
  • Game Used Jerseys
  • Every Athlete Autograph Event
  • 1952 Topps Baseball
  • Championship Rings For Sale
  • Vintage Basketball Cards
  • NBA Signed Items
  • Signed Sports Memorabilia
  • UFC Memorabilia
  • Autographed Baseballs
  • NASCAR Autographs
  • Vintage Graded Baseball Cards
  • Player Pictures
  • Vintage Football Cards
  • Sports Card Boxes
  • Sports Collectors Store

Left #5 200X50

Sports Card Forum

Pages

  • 100 Most Watched Graded Rookie Cards for Sale on eBay
  • 20 Hottest Barry Sanders Football Cards
  • 2016 Cubs Replica Championship Rings Don’t Cost a Fortune
  • 2017 Topps Definitive Collection Box Breaks, Most Watched
  • 50 Hottest Kareem Hunt Rookie Cards
  • 75 Most Watched Bowman Chrome Cards
  • About Us/Contact/Advertise
    • Advertise with SC Daily
    • Contact Us
    • Get Sports Collectors Daily via EMail
  • Affordable Vintage Sports Cards and Collectibles
  • Auctions Ending Soon on eBay
  • Baseball Card Auctions on eBay Ending Soon
  • Basketball Card Auctions on eBay Ending Soon
  • Best Derek Jeter Baseball Cards on eBay
  • Best Display Cabinets for Sports Memorabilia
  • Best Joey Votto Rookie Cards
  • Current Most Watched Baseball Cards on eBay
  • Eagles Super Bowl Champions Memorabilia Guide
  • Fanatics Under Wraps 2017 Next Level Edition Autographed Baseballs
  • Football Card Auctions on eBay Ending Soon
  • Great Gifts for Cubs Fans
  • Guide to 2018-19 Clemson Tigers National Championship Memorabilia
  • Guide to Houston Astros Championship Memorabilia
  • Guide to Vegas Golden Knights Stanley Cup Memorabilia
  • Hank Aaron Cards on eBay
  • Henrik Lundqvist Rookie Cards a Strong Long-Term Play
  • Hockey Card Auctions Ending Soon on eBay
  • Hottest Lonzo Ball Rookie Cards on eBay
  • Hottest Panini National Treasures Cards on eBay
  • Hottest Panini World Cup Stickers on eBay
  • Hottest PSA 10 Cards for Sale on eBay
  • Hottest Topps Living Set Auctions on eBay
  • Hottest Topps NOW Cards on eBay
  • Hottest UFC Relic Cards
  • Hottest Xander Bogaerts Rookie Cards
  • LeBron James Lakers Jerseys Already Available
  • Links
  • Mickey Mantle Cards on eBay
  • Most Watched 1/1 Cards on eBay
  • Most Watched Basketball Cards on eBay
    • Hottest Michael Jordan Basketball Cards on eBay
  • Most Watched Football Cards on eBay
  • Most Watched Hockey Cards on eBay
  • Most Watched Soccer Cards for Sale on eBay
  • Most Watched Sports Autographs on eBay
  • Most Watched Sports Jerseys on eBay
  • Most Watched Vintage Sports Memorabilia on eBay
  • Patriots Super Bowl 51 Champions Merchandise
  • Terms and Conditions
  • Test
  • The 2013 Bowman Chrome Draft Kris Bryant Auto Saga: A Timeline
  • Top 100 Most Watched Basketball Rookie Cards for Sale on eBay
  • Top Selling Patriots Super Bowl Championship Items
  • Vintage Sports Memorabilia on eBay Ending Soon
  • What’s Hot on eBay
  • What’s It Worth
  • Where Can I Sell My Baseball Cards?
  • Write About Your Sports Collection

Copyright © 2019 SportsCollectorsDaily.com | Genesis Web Design by Wickam Group