Way before the NFL became a lucrative business, it was money in the bank for Topps. The company’s 1962 Football Bucks insert assigned money values to players in a 48-piece set, and there was some bang to those bucks. The NFL was beginning to emerge as a “money” sport. The league signed a large television deal in 1962, and players were beginning to command higher … [Read more...]
5 Great Football Cards From 50 Years Ago
The NFL celebrates its 100th anniversary season in 2019 and for card collectors, much has changed since the league's last really big party 50 years ago. Sure, there were special patches and events associated with the league's 75th birthday party in 1994 but the once sleepy league had really let loose in 1969 when it was becoming clear that pro football was exploding in … [Read more...]
The Toughest (and Easiest) Jim Brown Cards to Find in High Grade
His career was relatively short as NFL greats go but there was no one better running the football during the time he was employed by the Cleveland Browns. From 1957-1965 he terrorized opposing defenses at over 100 yards per game for his entire career. Brown appeared on football cards from 1958-1966 and while his rookie card is the most valuable of all, it's not the … [Read more...]
Vintage Pack Facts: 1965 Philadelphia Football Rack Pack
Welcome to the fourth installment of Vintage Pack Facts. While there aren’t many collectors who wouldn’t love to rip open a 30, 40, 50 or 60+year-old pack, there isn’t really a readily available knowledge base for all of them. This series hopes to shed some light on one individual release each week in terms of the variety of packaging methods used, prices at … [Read more...]
New Book is a Must-Have Handbook for 1962 Post Cereal Football Set
It was a one and done set tucked into the holy trinity of food issue sets from the 1960s and 70s. While Kellogg’s and Hostess enjoyed multi-year runs in the latter decade and Post Cereal’s baseball sets are an icon to those who love the early 60s, the Post football set came and went over the course of several weeks in the autumn of 1962. Today, though, the set is … [Read more...]
1965 Philadelphia Football Set Still Looking For Respect
More than 50 years after it was produced, the 1965 Philadelphia football set still has problems getting respect. It had six rookies in its 198-card set who would become Hall of Famers, and for the first time, the NFL’s logo was placed on the front of the card. That was a pointed reminder that Philadelphia had the rights to produce NFL cards, and not Topps, who lost the … [Read more...]
1961 Fleer Football Set Topped Topps in Size
In 1961, professional football was split between two leagues, the decades old National Football League (NFL) and the newly formed American Football League (AFL). It would be five years before the two leagues would announce a planned merger and six before the first Super Bowl. The football card industry was also divided that year as both Topps and Fleer produced large … [Read more...]
5 Great Football Cards From 1967
The NFL is ingrained in our sports conscience now, so it’s hard to remember that it once was a league that battled a bitter rival for nearly a decade. The AFL secured a merger with the more established NFL at mid-decade and played the inaugural Super Bowl on Jan. 15, 1967. The two leagues would merge for the 1970 season, but the merger in football cards already had … [Read more...]
1962 Fleer Football Was Slim, But Trim
After including players from the NFL and AFL in 1961 with a 220-card set, Fleer cut back in 1962. Only players from the upstart American Football League were included in the third of Fleer football sets issued during the early 1960, and the set was cut back to a mere 88 cards. The set might have been slim, but it sure was trim. The photography is surprisingly clear for an … [Read more...]
1964 Wheaties Football Stamps an Affordable Vintage Set
A check of auction prices can tell a sometimes discouraging tale about the rising cost of collecting vintage football card sets. Collectors who want something a little different--and a lot more affordable--might consider the 1964 Wheaties football stamps issue. Just a couple of months after its baseball stamp promotion, the company launched a virtually identical concept for … [Read more...]