• 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

  • 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 / 1978 Slim Jim NFL Disc Set Kept Collectors Chewing

Top Banner 486X60

1978 Slim Jim NFL Disc Set Kept Collectors Chewing

January 9, 2017 By Rich Mueller

Your memories of them may include Randy “Macho Man” Savage or another pro wrestler exhorting you to “Step into a Slim Jim!”  You may have recently eaten one (ConAgra sold about $575 million worth last year).  For football card collectors, it’s a ride back to the 1978 Slim Jim football disc set, a one-and-done issue that turned folks who’d never tasted one before into avid consumers.

The mid-to-late 1970s hobby was all about disc sets, most produced by MSA and tied to some sort of product promotion.  Restaurants, ice cream parlors and soft drink companies were just some of the sponsors of football, baseball and basketball sets but meat sticks were something a little out of the ordinary.

1978 Slim Jim Disc Distribution

The Slim Jim NFL promotion put two discs on the back of Slim Jim boxes, each with perforated edges, but smart collectors who had the room saved the complete boxes.  There were 70 players in the set, but the same two players were on each box, so once you found all 35 boxes, you had a complete set.  Still, it was not a cheap set to complete unless you found them on sale.

Slim Jim Checklist

The discs were 2 3/8” in diameter and included a bit of a strange mix of players. Walter Payton was included. Larry Csonka was too.  Terry Bradshaw and Roger Staubach were just two of the stars who were not. You could reasonably hypothesize that landing the bigger stars was a major challenge and the company sort of took what it could get. 

Slim Jim Football 1978 boxesSlim Jims were sold in five different flavors, with each having a different colored box.  There were 12 packages inside each display box and each display box also had a disc if you were collecting them individually and could convince the checkout person to let you have the outer box for buying what was left.

A Relatively Low Cost Food Issue

Because of how they were distributed and the thin cardboard packaging, individual discs, panels and boxes are sometimes not found in top notch condition, but there was a collector mentality in place at the time, which means a decent number  have survived fairly well.

In addition to Payton (expect to pay $100 or more for a full box that’s in nice shape) and Csonka, the set includes Joe Greene, Fred Biletnikoff, Archie Manning, Alan Page, John Riggins, Ahmad Rashad, Lee Roy Selmon, Gene Upshaw, John Hannah and Charlie Joiner, among others. 

Grading companies will authenticate and grade Slim Jim discs, panels and flattened boxes with high-grade examples of Payton and a few other stars bringing surprisingly high prices.  However most ungraded singles, panels and even full boxes in pretty good shape can be found for $5-$10 or even less.  You can see what’s currently offered on eBay by clicking here.

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Google+
  • LinkedIn
  • Digg

Related Stories:

Walter Payton rookie card PSA 10Despite Payton Push, 1976 Topps Football Sets Still Within Reach Topps 1974 football case boxes packsThe Old Football Cards Mom Didn’t Throw Away 1977 Topps Football An Affordable Set To Complete Top 10 Topps Football Cards of All-Time Steve Spurrier 1972 ToppsCards of Players Who Became Bigger Stars as Coaches, Managers 1970 Topps Football Debuted An Airbrushed Era Franco Harris 1973 Topps football1973 Topps Football Started New Era Roger Staubach 1972 Topps rookie card1972 Topps Football Offered Stars, Scarce High Numbers Tony Dorsett 1978 Topps1978 Topps Football Set Anchored By Hall of Fame Rookies Earl Campbell 1979 Topps1979 Topps Football Set Full Of Household Names

Bottom Mobile

Bottom Banner 336X280

About Rich Mueller

Rich is the editor and founder of Sports Collectors Daily. A broadcaster and writer for more than 30 years and a collector for even longer than that, he's usually typing something somewhere. Type him back at [email protected]

Filed Under: Old Football Card Sets, Popular Stories, Vintage Sports Card News Tagged With: 1970s football cards

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