Most of the kids who were collecting 1971 Bazooka football cards weren’t alive the last time those big boxes of penny bubble gum had a card on the back. While Topps spent the 1960s delivering an annual baseball set of some sort, it had no such arrangement with the NFL players. It didn’t last long. The ’71 set marks the end of the line for vintage Bazooka cards. If you … [Read more...] about 1971 Bazooka Football Set Sparked 1-Year Revival
1970s football cards
1978 Slim Jim NFL Disc Set Kept Collectors Chewing
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 … [Read more...] about 1978 Slim Jim NFL Disc Set Kept Collectors Chewing
6 Underrated Cards from the 1976 Topps Football Set
Forty years ago, you could have walked into a drug store, grocery store or five-and-dime, plunked your 15 cents on the counter and walked away with a pack of football cards that probably included at least one player who'd wind up in the Hall of Fame. Nearly one out of every ten cards in the set pictures a player who wound up in Canton. Yes, it's the "Walter … [Read more...] about 6 Underrated Cards from the 1976 Topps Football Set
40th Anniversary: 7 Key Rookie Cards From 1976 Topps Football Set
2016 marks the 40th anniversary of a key vintage football card issue - the 1976 Topps football set. The release isn't short on quality rookie cards - all of which are pretty affordable. Here's a look at seven of the best first-year cards from that set. 1. Walter Payton Rookie Card (No. 148) Not only the most important card in the 1976 Topps football set, but one of the most … [Read more...] about 40th Anniversary: 7 Key Rookie Cards From 1976 Topps Football Set
Despite Payton Push, 1976 Topps Football Sets Still Within Reach
Forty years later, the 1976 Topps football set remains a sweet product to collect. The ’76 set was driven by one major card — No.148, which was the rookie card of Chicago Bears running back Walter Payton. “Sweetness” had a Hall of Fame career, and his card continues to soar in value. Higher grade Payton cards are by no means cheap, but if you’re looking to build your … [Read more...] about Despite Payton Push, 1976 Topps Football Sets Still Within Reach
10 Vintage Football Cards to Keep an Eye On
Like their baseball brethren, quality vintage football rookie cards have shown some significant price increases in the last year or so. Major rookie cards of NFL icons can sometimes catch five-figures when only a small number exist at a certain grade level. Unitas, Starr, Brown, Staubach, Namath and Payton rookie cards are among the hottest. As a whole, though, card prices … [Read more...] about 10 Vintage Football Cards to Keep an Eye On
Top 10 Topps Football Cards of All-Time
An era comes to an end this week as Topps wraps up its uninterrupted run of producing football cards. They produced a set of Felt Backs in 1950, but Topps didn't go head first into football until the 1955 season when they issued the All-American set, which pictured former college greats. Their NFL contract started the following season when commissioner Bert Bell got … [Read more...] about Top 10 Topps Football Cards of All-Time
1973 Topps Football Started New Era
The 1973 Topps football set was definitely a landmark product. For starters, it was the largest football set Topps ever issued — “Biggest series ever!” touted the wax packs— and with 528 cards, it more than doubled the 1972 product. This also marked the first time that Topps issued cards all at once in one series, a practice that would carry over to the 1974 baseball … [Read more...] about 1973 Topps Football Started New Era
1975 Topps Football Rookies a Bumper Crop
Topps football card sets of the 1970s were not noted for innovative design or risk-taking. After all, Topps had a monopoly on the football card market, and its airbrushed sets were doing just fine. So why mess with a good thing? Besides, there were some great rookie cards, and whether Topps realized it at the time or not, these first-year cards would be the keys to those … [Read more...] about 1975 Topps Football Rookies a Bumper Crop
1970 Topps Football Debuted An Airbrushed Era
The 1970 season was a significant one for pro football, as the long-awaited merger between the established National Football League and the upstart American Football League was put into place. It was a big year in the trading card world, too, as the 1970 Topps Football set revealed. Gone were team logos on the cards, and photographs did not show team names or logos … [Read more...] about 1970 Topps Football Debuted An Airbrushed Era