Nearmint's Vintage Football Card Blog

Happy Friday! Here are this week’s interesting eBay auctions for vintage football cards and related collectibles:

• Wow, is that a Teletrade sticker on the holder for this 1955 Bowman Len Ford rookie card? Who else remembers buying cards from Teletrade in the pre-eBay days?
• Flavio “Bull” Tosi is the toughest 1935 National Chicle card to find in high grades. Here’s a beautiful SGC 84 Bull Tosi card.
• Oddball and USC fans (and oddball USC fans), here’s a full set of 1974 USC Discs. The discs orginally came with a plastic “fotoball.” You can see a picture of one of the fotoballs in the Vintage Football Card Gallery.
• I guess you’d call these 1965 Topps Short Boys?
• Some day I’m going to collect 1954 Blue Ribbon Tea CFL cards. Here are a couple of nice examples: Ray Willsey
  and Joseph Zaleski.
• Here’s a sharp-looking photo of Bart Starr on a 1967 Dexter Press postcard.
• This is a nice image: an aluminum printer’s plate for John Aveni’s 1962 Topps football card, with a card alongside it. The seller has printer’s plates for other cards in this set, too.
• They’re not vintage and they’re not cards, but I really like these Canadian postage stamps with CFL team logos on them.
• This week’s most-watched vintage football card auction is for a PSA 9 Terry Bradshaw rookie card. There are also two PSA 7 Jim Brown rookie cards and a PSA 7 Dick Butkus rookie among this week’s most-watched football card auctions.
• Did you notice that the eBay home page now has infinite scrolling? To see it, just login to eBay, go to the home page, and scroll away. It will display images of thousands of things you need.
• Finally, I can’t let you go without plugging my own Spring Cleaning auctions. The current auctions are for 63 different Ex-ExMt 1964 Philadelphia cards and 58 different ExMt 1971 Topps football cards. Both lots started at 1 penny. More of these to come!

Like these? See my Interesting eBay Auction articles from past weeks. And if you’re a Facebook user, be sure to hit the “Like” button below!

Occasionally I go through the mid-grade cards I have accumulated and auction them off in lots on eBay. I am on such a kick now, and I will be running a couple of these auctions a week. If you collect mid-grade cards, take a look. I start all of the lots at a penny, so maybe you can get a bargain.

This week’s lots are 40 different Ex to ExMt 1959 Topps cards and 58 different ExMt 1971 Topps cards, with Hall of Famers. I usually note new auctions in the Nearmint News section of my home page, so check back each week for the latest.

A trio of players in the Vintage Football Card Gallery are celebrating milestone birthdays today: Glenn Ressler, Johnny Roland, and John Wilbur are all 70.

Glenn Ressler played guard from 1965 to 1974 for the Baltimore Colts. He was a starter in Super Bowl III, which the Colts lost to the New York Jets, and in Super Bowl V, which the Colts won against the Dallas Cowboys. Before his pro career, Ressler starred at center and middle guard at Penn State. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2001. Ressler is pictured here on his 1974 Topps football card.

Johnny Roland was a running back from 1966 to 1973 for the St. Louis Cardinals and New York Giants. Roland was named the UPI NFL Rookie of the Year in 1966, and he made the Pro Bowl in his first two seasons. He played college football at Missouri, and he was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1998. After retiring as a player, Roland went on to a long coaching career. His rookie card, a 1967 Philadelphia, is shown here.

John Wilbur played guard from 1966 to 1974 for the Dallas Cowboys, Los Angeles Rams, and Washington Redskins. He started at right guard in Super Bowl VII, which the Redskins lost to the undefeated Miami Dolphins. Wilbur is pictured here on his 1973 Topps football card.

Happy birthday, Messrs. Ressler, Roland, and Wilbur!

Last week I added 1969 Drenk’s Green Bay Packers pins to the Vintage Football Card Gallery. The Bart Starr and Ray Nitschke pins are pictured here. See the Gallery for the rest of the pins and a description of the set. I filed the pins under Oddball.

The newest interactive team cards in the Vintage Football Card Gallery are the 1956 Topps Baltimore Colts and New York Giants team cards. Click on the images pictured here to see the interactive versions.

Both cards show the 1955 teams. Three future Hall of Fame coaches appear on the cards: Vince Lombardi and Tom Landry are pictured on the Giants card, and Don Shula is a player on the Colts card. Leroy Vaughn, the father of major league baseball’s Mo Vaughn, also appears with the Colts.

These are my sixth and seventh interactive 1956 Topps team cards; I have five more to go. Next up: the Washington Redskins.

Carroll Hardy, who played halfback for one season with the San Francisco 49ers, is celebrating his 80th birthday today. Hardy made the most of his opportunities to handle the football: on 12 pass receptions, he gained 338 yards and scored 4 touchdowns. He is pictured here, in a great pose, on his 1955 49ers team issue photo.

Hardy is better known as a baseball player. After his stint with the 49ers, he played major league baseball for the Cleveland Indians, Boston Red Sox, Houston Colt .45s, and Minnesota Twins. I don’t have his baseball cards, but you can see lots of them on eBay.

According to oldestlivingproplayers.com, Hardy is the 494th oldest living professional American football player.

Happy birthday, Mr. Hardy!

Happy Friday! Here are this week’s interesting eBay auctions for vintage football cards and related collectibles:

• Collect 1959 Topps football cards? Here’s a nice box to keep them in.
• This complete PSA-graded 1959 Topps set was previously for sale in a $4995 fixed-price listing. It’s now up for auction, starting at 99 cents.
• Here’s a nice photo of Amos Alonzo Stagg. He’s a bit younger in the photo than on his 1955 Topps All-American card.
• This Joe Namath rookie card looks like it was cut from a doughnut box.
• The Dayton Daily News apparently printed its own “cards” in the newspaper in 1970. Here’s one of them, Dale Lindsey. The seller has lots more, too.
• A nice item for an Irish fan: a first day cover of a 22-cent Knute Rockne stamp, postmarked at Notre Dame.
• Weird item of the week: Bart Starr’s face on a $2 bill. The seller has bills featuring lots of other subjects, also. I’m amazed, but it appears that he sells a lot of them.
• These make an interesting display: two 1956 Parkhurst Canadian Norman Kwong cards, one developed and one not.
• Another one for the Canadian fan: a full display box of 1964 Topps CFL cards.
• Alas, there is only one vintage card in this week’s list of most-watched football card auctions. It’s a beauty, though: a PSA 8 Fran Tarkenton rookie card.

Like these? See my Interesting eBay Auction articles from past weeks. And if you’re a Facebook user, be sure to hit the “Like” button below!

Former NFL running back and punter Donny Anderson is celebrating his 70th birthday today. Anderson played from 1966 to 1974 for the Green Bay Packers and St. Louis Cardinals. He gained over 1000 yards from scrimmage four times, and he made the Pro Bowl with the Packers in 1968. He played on the Packers teams that won the first two Super Bowls.

Before his pro career, Anderson starred at Texas Tech. He is a member of both the College Football Hall of Fame and the Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame.

Anderson is pictured here on his rookie card, a 1968 Topps. He also appeared on at least a dozen more cards, stamps, and stickers.

Happy birthday, Mr. Anderson!

Former NFL and WFL player Rickie Harris is celebrating his 70th birthday today. Harris was a defensive back and return specialist from 1965 to 1972 for the Washington Redskins and New England Patriots. He had the NFL’s longest punt return in 1969, 86 yards for a touchdown. He finished his career in the World Football League, playing for the Florida Blazers in 1974 and the Memphis Southmen in 1975.

Harris is shown here on his 1969 Topps football card. He appeared on several other cards, as well.

Happy birthday, Mr. Harris!

The newest interactive team card in the Vintage Football Card Gallery is the 1956 Topps Cleveland Browns team card. Clicking on the image pictured here will take you to the interactive version.

The card pictures the 1955 Cleveland Browns, who won the NFL championship. Remarkably, at least six of the players on the team later became head coaches in the NFL: Otto Graham, Abe Gibron, Mike McCormack, Walt Michaels, Chuck Noll, and John Sandusky.

This is my fifth interactive 1956 Topps team card; I have seven more to go. Next up: the Baltimore Colts.

The newest interactive team card in the Vintage Football Card Gallery is the 1956 Topps Philadelphia Eagles team card. Clicking on the image pictured here will take you to the interactive version.

At least one of the players on the card will be familiar to CFL fans. After three seasons with the Eagles, Ralph Goldston played nine seasons for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, and in those nine seasons, he played in seven Grey Cups. Goldston appeared on several cards with the Tiger-Cats.

I will continue to work on the remaining 1956 Topps team cards as I have time. Next up: the Cleveland Browns.

Former NFL end Fred Dugan is celebrating his 80th birthday today. Dugan played from 1958 to 1963 for the San Francisco 49ers, Dallas Cowboys, and Washington Redskins. His best season was 1961, when he gained 817 yards on 53 receptions for the Redskins.

Dugan is shown here on his 1963 Topps football card, one of the short prints in the set. He appeared on several other cards, as well.

Dugan is the 493rd oldest living pro American football player, according to oldestlivingprofootball.com.

Happy birthday, Mr. Dugan!

This week I added 1977 Touchdown Club cards to the Vintage Football Card Gallery. The set contains fifty cards of players who were former NFL stars when the cards were issued. According to Beckett’s description of the set, the addresses of the players were included with the cards, so that collectors who bought the cards could mail them to the players for autographs.

The best thing about this set is that it includes some stars who had not appeared on cards during their playing careers. One of those stars, Bill Willis, is pictured here. Willis played on five AAFC and NFL championship teams with the Cleveland Browns, and he was voted first team All-NFL three times in the early 1950s. Somehow he didn’t appear on a card before this one, though. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1977, the year this card was issued.

I couldn’t decide whether to list the Touchdown Club cards under Regular Issues or Oddball, but for now they are under Regular Issues. Perhaps they belong in a new category, called Tribute Sets, along with sets like 1974 and 1975 Fleer Immortal Roll cards and 1963 Stancraft playing cards. Any opinions?

Happy Friday! Here are this week’s interesting eBay auctions for vintage football cards and related collectibles:

• You gotta love the display for these 1969 Topps Chicago Bears cards. The Sayers and Piccolo cards look like they’re in great shape, too.
• You’ve heard of 1969 Topps 4-in-1′s? Here’s a group of 1969 Topps 3-in-1′s!
• The image on this Stan Kostka 1935 National Chicle Premium is the same one that was used on his 1935 National Chicle card. You can see that whoever colored the image for the card also got creative with the design of Kostka’s jersey and socks.
• Check out this order form for 1961 Oakland Raiders season tickets. I love the lay-away plan!
• I wonder if the other half of the John Unitas rookie card is included in this lot of 1957 Topps “minis”?
• I know very little about 1960s Coke bottle caps, but I am intrigued by lots like this 1964 Minnesota Vikings team set. There are about ten players in the set who never appeared on cards.
• This week’s top three most-watched vintage football card auctions are an SGC 88 1971 Topps Terry Bradshaw rookie card, a PSA 6 1935 National Chicle Clarke Hinkle rookie card and a PSA 7 1952 Bowman Large George Halas rookie card. There are also a couple of Jim Brown rookies among this week’s most-watched football card auctions.

Like these? See my Interesting eBay Auction articles from past weeks. And if you’re a Facebook user, be sure to hit the “Like” button below!

Yesterday I was looking at some 1964 Philadelphia football cards, and I happened to read the cartoon on the back of Lamar McHan’s card. The cartoon says that McHan won the Heisman Trophy. Hmm, I thought, that doesn’t sound right. So I checked my Heisman Trophy candidates page, and sure enough, the highest McHan finished in Heisman voting was ninth. Ninth is great, of course, but it isn’t first.

This is at least the second whopper I have seen in a cartoon on the back of a card. Homer Jones’s 1968 Topps football card says that “Homer defeated the Russians in the 1960 Olympics,” but that isn’t true, either. For a list of football players who did win Olympic medals, see my page of Olympic athletes on vintage football cards