Ode to Post-war Football Oddball Sets

[jefferyepayne]

There's been some great posts recently about various mainstream football sets (bowman, topps, fleer, philly, etc.) that are available out there. Beyond these sets there are boatloads of oddball, regional, team issued, and food sets available for collectors too.

I'm starting this thread to encourage people to show some of the "less than mainstream" cards / sets they like and collect. I'll start with one of my favorites. The only bread label football card set. Here are some of the stars.









jeff

[vintagebaseballcardguy]

Originally Posted by jefferyepayne

There's been some great posts recently about various mainstream football sets (bowman, topps, fleer, philly, etc.) that are available out there. Beyond these sets there are boatloads of oddball, regional, team issued, and food sets available for collectors too.

I'm starting this thread to encourage people to show some of the "less than mainstream" cards / sets they like and collect. I'll start with one of my favorites. The only bread label football card set. Here are some of the stars.









jeff

Jeff, haven't seen those before. Thank you for sharing.

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

[DBesse27]

I hadn't seen those either, very cool!

[DBesse27]

1969 Glendale Stamps:



1972 U of Alabama playing cards:

[LuckyLarry]

I'm "Mr. Mainstream" I've got NOTHING!
Larry

[S_GERACE]

Wow Jeff! NICE Bread for Health labels! Those are in great shape too considering that they're paper thin & were issued by being glued to the end of a loaf of bread. They remind me of the Leaf cards (b&w photo that has been color tinted) but seem more appealing. I think I've said this before on this site, but I wish they weren't so expensive so that I could actually get one (a Baugh)!

I'm w/ Larry here, I'm mostly mainstream but I do have these 1984 7-11 coins that I think are pretty cool. I used to bike to the 7-11 w/ my friends to get them so they have sentimental value to me.

[BigDaddyBowman]

A few vintage oddballs...

[LuckyLarry]

I remembered I have these postcards they are certainly "odd" LOL
Larry

[LuckyLarry]

This little guy too:

[jefferyepayne]

Nice oddball stuff, guys!

This set is tough. One of the only AAFC card sets out there.







jeff

[jefferyepayne]

In 1948 a regional set of sports stars was distributed in the DC area. It is believed to be the first police set produced and goes by the name Safe-T-Card. The set includes a total of 67 cards with 30 of them being Redskins. Most of the cards have a B&W front but a few use colored ink. The backs have multiple colors. This is a very difficult set to complete

Here are some of the Redskins:





There are actually two different Sammy Baugh cards in this set. They look very similar with one having a larger head shot than the other.





The old HOF lineman makes the set as a Redskin executive.





Besides the Redskin players/coaches, there are a couple of other football related cards of interest.



I believe this is the only card of NY Jets founder Harry Wismer back in his Sports Director days.



Not sure why Corinne was included in the set and not her husband, Redskin founder George Preston Marshall. Maybe the police liked her better? Regardless, they spelled her first name wrong which probably didn't make George very happy.

jeff

[obiwin]

Thanks for sharing these. A very tough set indeed. I've lost out by a lot on several auctions for these.

Corinne Griffith was a very famous and popular silent film actress, so was probably way more collectable than Marshall himself.

[DBesse27]

I've always loved the Dixie lids and the Sears Brown's cards. This is a great thread!

[LuckyLarry]

The SOP for eBay wins (when the seller ships other purchases for free) is to take a look at what else they have for sale. Nobody wants their purchases to travel alone! That's how I picked up the 1953 Parkhurst "Believe It of Not" card which features my towns favorite team, the beloved Gators. The card is a smaller size about the size of the Topps '51 Magic set and set me back three dollars and fifty cents.
Larry

[LuckyLarry]

After I completed my Topps baseball sets, I started chasing the baseball wax pack inserts (coins, rub-offs, stamps, etc) and it's become one of the favorite parts of my collection.

It appears I've done the same thing with my Topps football cards (down to ONE card '72 Topps #266) and I'm now chasing the wax pack inserts

1960 Topps Team Emblem Stickers, Topps first football insert set. 33 stickers for the full set, I've got 15 of them so far:

[LuckyLarry]

1961 Topps "flocked" Stickers wax pack insert. These came with lettered tabs which can be peeled off, and I think each sticker came with two different letters. Does anyone know what the letters mean? 48 different stickers in the set (I guess the master set would be 96 stickers) and it looks like I have 19 different.

[LuckyLarry]

1962 Topps "football bucks" 48 cards in the set, these are the eight I have so far. These seem like the easiest of the '60s inserts, and there are always plenty available on eBay.
1964 Topps: "Pennant Stickers" (24) difficult to obtain.
1965 Topps "Tall-Boys": "rub-offs" (36) difficult to obtain.
1966 Topps: "Funny Rings" (24) easier but expensive and kind of weird.
1967 Topps: "Comic Pennants" don't appear to tough.
1968 Topps: "Stand-Ups" don't appear to be tough.
1969 Topps: "4-in-1" cards and albums easy to complete.

[nearmint]

1961 Topps "flocked" Stickers wax pack insert. These came with lettered tabs which can be peeled off, and I think each sticker came with two different letters. Does anyone know what the letters mean? 48 different stickers in the set (I guess the master set would be 96 stickers) and it looks like I have 19 different.

I think the letters were just for kids to peel off and make words, Larry--most often their names, I suppose. There is no Q and no X. 12 of the stickers--9 AFL and 3 college--were paired with 2 different letters. So the base set contains 48 stickers, and the master set contains 60.

A bit of trivia: among the stickers of the pro teams, the Chargers stickers are the only ones that don't include the name of the city. The Chargers moved from LA to San Diego in 1961, so at the time the stickers were designed, perhaps Topps wasn't sure where the Chargers would be?

[defpotec]

I've been lurking on this board for a few months. Finally had to post because I have a soft spot for oddball football, specifically rookie and prerookie HOF oddball items.

I'm a product of the junk wax era but even as a kid got into vintage football because I loved the history and the low cost compared to baseball. I rediscovered the hobby a couple years ago after a 20-year hiatus. My first task was picking up Staubach, Dorsett, and Randy White rookies since mine were stolen as a kid. (I mowed several lawns and saved my allowance for weeks to get that Staubach.) I quickly acquired a taste for oddball items since many are downright cheap compared to regular issues. My favorite oddball sets and cards that haven't been mentioned yet...

1948 Topps Magic Photos: three rookie-year HOF cards. The misspelled Bednarik is my favorite. I actually like the small size.

1961 Packers Lake to Lake: three HOF prerookies and one rookie-year card. I actually like the simple look. However, except for Adderley, the key cards are prohibitively expensive unless in poor condition. I only have the Adderley.

1964 Wheaties Stamps: three HOF rookies. I really like the simple design with the autos. Also very reasonably priced.

1966 American Oil Stamps: two HOF rookies. I actually kind of love these, though I imagine I don't have much company. The Sayers is a favorite in my collection. I have a single and a couple complete panels. (Not the $1 winner one with Wayne Walker, though.) The Ditka, however, is impossible. I've never seen one. Might be my white whale.

1972 Sunoco Stamps: my absolute favorite oddball set, and maybe my all-time favorite set period. I'm surprised no one mentioned it yet. Nine HOF rookies and seven prerookies. I lucked into a cheap Langer update stamp with the tab attached as a BIN on eBay a couple years ago. Another favorite in my collection is the Riggins. Not only does it show Riggo in action, but that's Curley Culp chasing him down. A rookie and prerookie on the same stamp.

[TanksAndSpartans]

Welcome to the board! I'd love to see some scans of the cards you mentioned.

[defpotec]

Let's see if this works...

The 1948 Bednarik. Centered nicely, unlike my Connor and Walker.

[clamendo]

Larry, you forgot one.

1968 Topps Test !!!!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[nearmint]

More college cards: 1973 Kentucky Fried Chicken Washington Huskies.

[DBesse27]

Defpotec, now that's an entrance! Damn!

[jefferyepayne]

Great oddball stuff, guys! Keep it rolling. There's lots more to show.

Welcome defpotec! Glad to have you here.

jeff

[jefferyepayne]

1978 Country Kitchen Vikings set. Includes pre-rookie image of Tommy Kramer.









jeff

Sweet odd-ball sets everyone, love the KFC UW players! The Eskimo Pie Company offered a lot of mail-in promos; dye-cast toys, hot wheels, balsa wood airplanes, plush toys, all sorts of stuff. They had a hand in the production of the 1928 Yuengling baseball card set and the nearly impossible to complete 1969 AFL Football Set (handcut from Eskimo Pie boxes).

The poster ad with various sports equipment is circa 1930's, The Jolly Club litho'd tin tabs were made in the 1950's, and the real Super Bowl III MVP, Matt Snell.