1955 Topps All-American Football Cards
Product Details
1955 Topps All-American Football is one of the most iconic and well-executed products ever manufactured by the company. Given Topps' long history in the hobby, this is truly noteworthy. Despite not having an NFL license and after failed collegiate offerings in 1950 and 1951, 1955 Topps All-American Football laid the foundation for the future of the football card category.
A well-conceived checklist of 100 cards includes, essentially, all of the legendary players who gave rise to the early days of the sport and set it on the course for popularity that the game has achieved today. Included in the set are cards of Red Grange (#27), Turk Edwards (#38), Beattie Feathers (#98), Fats Henry (#100) and the multi-sport superstar Jim Thorpe(#37). The 1955 Topps All-American Football card set also includes the first Heisman Trophy winner Jay Berwanger (#78) and legendary coaches Knute Rockne (#16) and Alonzo Stagg (#38). Topps was also able to include, then retired, greats #12 Otto Graham (#12), Sammy Baugh (#20), Leo Nomellini (#29) and Sid Luckman (#85). This all-encompassing set of the game's early pioneers is as much the cornerstone to vintage football card sets as 1952 Topps Baseball is to that sport.
Printing and Distribution
The 1955 Topps All-American Football card set was printed in a single series on press sheets that consisted of 110 cards. An unintentional byproduct of this fact was that this would be the first Topps set to have short-printed cards randomly seeded throughout the production run. Some of the short-printed cards include the rookie cards of Tom Harmon (#35), Ernie Nevers (#56), Ace Parker (#84), Don Hutson (#97) and #Fats Henry (#100). The most desirable of the short prints however, is the 1924 Notre Dame backfield, which was nicknamed The Four Horsemen (#68).
The cards were available in singles via penny packs. Nickel packs that contain nine cards. Ten-cent cello packs house 22 cards.
Design
Slightly over-sized compared to modern era cards, the 1955 All-American's measure 2-5/8 by 3-5/8 inches and were laid out in both vertical and horizontal orientations. The front of the cards feature a colorized black-and-white photo of a player from his college days in front of a generic game-action play and a solid-colored background. In one of the upper corners is a box with the player's school logo and name. Inside the white border at the bottom edge of the card is the player's name, position and an All-American logo shield.
All of the card backs are horizontal in orientation and contain the card number inside a football graphic, with the player's name, position and college to the right of the football. Below that is a written biography. The right side of the card hosts a cartoon and a trivia question, with the answer printed upside down beneath the cartoon. The words "All American" run across the bottom of the card inside a blue bar. The cards utilized some very vibrant ink colors for the era, giving them an over-all aesthetic value that has helped maintain their popularity through the years.
Errors and Variations
The 1955 Topps All-American Football card set is known for having a handful of errors. Two of which were corrected bringing the master set count to 102 total cards. Known examples exist in which the information on the back of the Gaynell Tinsley (#14) card was printed on the Whizzer White (#21) card and vice-versa. The uncorrected versions of these cards do carry a premium. Other errors include misspelled names and photo mismatches.
Topps definitely made an impact on the marketplace with this release and consequently, sales of Bowman suffered as a result. More importantly, the success of the 1955 Topps All-American Football card set gave the company a firm understanding of the market, printing technologies and price points for their eventual entry into the NFL marketplace.
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Key Cards
Key 1955 Topps All-American Football Cards
Four Horsemen #68
Jim Thorpe #37
Red Grange #27
Knute Rockne #16
Don Hutson RC #97
Set Checklist
1955 Topps All-American Football Set ChecklistBase Set Checklist
Featuring 100 cards
Base Set Checklist
2 John Kimbrough
3 Ed Weir
4 Erny Pinckert
5 Bob Grayson
6 Nile Kinnick RC UER
7 Andy Bershak
8 George Cafego RC
9 Tom Hamilton SP
10 Bill Dudley
11 Bobby Dodd SP
12 Otto Graham
13 Aaron Rosenberg
14a Gaynell Tinsley RC ERR
14b Gaynell Tinsley RC COR
15 Eddie Kaw SP
16 Knute Rockne
17 Bob Reynolds
18 Pudge Heffelfinger RC SP
19 Bruce Smith
20 Sammy Baugh
21a Byron White RC SP ERR
21b Byron White RC SP COR
22 Brick Muller
23 Dick Kazmaier RC
24 Ken Strong
25 Cas Myslinski SP
26 Larry Kelley SP
27 Red Grange UER
28 Mel Hein RC SP
29 Leo Nomellini SP
30 Wes Fesler
31 George Sauer Sr. RC
32 Hank Foldberg
33 Bob Higgins
34 Davey O'Brien RC
35 Tom Harmon RC SP
36 Turk Edwards SP
37 Jim Thorpe
38 Amos Alonzo Stagg RC
39 Brud Holland RC
40 Donn Moomaw
41 Joe Alexander SP
42 Eddie Tryon RC SP
43 George Savitsky
44 Ed Garbisch
45 Elmer Oliphant
46 Arnie Lassman
47 Bo McMillan RC
48 Ed Widseth
49 Don Zimmerman
50 Ken Kavanaugh
52 Johnny Lujack
53 Jack Green
54 Eddie Dooley SP
55 Frank Merritt SP
56 Ernie Nevers RC
57 Vic Hanson SP
58 Ed Franco
59 Doc Blanchard RC
60 Tiger Hill
61 Charley Brickley SP
62 Harry Newman
63 Charlie Justice
64 Benny Friedman RC
65 Joe Donchess SP
66 Bruiser Kinard RC
67 Frankie Albert
68 The Four Horsemen(Harry Stuhldreher, Jim Crowley, Don Miller, Elmer Layden) SP
69 Frank Sinkwich RC
70 Bill Daddio
71 Bob Wilson
72 Chub Peabody
73 Paul Governali
74 Gene McEver
75 Hugh Gallarneau
76 Angelo Bertelli RC
77 Bowden Wyatt SP
78 Jay Berwanger RC
79 Pug Lund
80 Bennie Oosterbaan
81 Cotton Warburton
82 Alex Wojciechowicz
83 Ted Coy SP
84 Ace Parker RC SP
85 Sid Luckman
86 Albie Booth SP
87 Germany Schulz SP
88 Ralph Kercheval
89 Marshall Goldberg
90 Charley O'Rourke
91 Bob Odell UER
92 Biggie Munn
93 Willie Heston SP
94 Chuck Bernard SP
95 Chris Cagle SP
96 Bill Hollenback SP
97 Don Hutson RC SP
98 Beattie Feathers SP
99 Don Whitmire SP
100 Fats Henry RC SP
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Uncle Jake
Can someone explain to me how an unlicensed, collegiate product can have any player RC’s? No other unlicensed product counts, so why does this set get a pass?