1959 Topps Football Cards
Product Details
1959 Topps Football was the company's largest to date. With a checklist of 176 cards, measuring the standard 2-1/2 by 3-1/2 inches, Topps showed they were in the market to stay. The set is anchored by a lengthy list of future Hall of Fame players including Jim Brown (#10), Frank Gifford (#20), Bart Starr (#23) and Johnny Unitas (#1) and Paul Hornung (#82), to name a few. The 1959 Topps Football rookie crop includes Sam Huff (#51), Jim Taylor (#155), Max McGee (#4), Alex Karras (#103), Jerry Kramer (#116), Jim Parker (#132) and Bobby Mitchell (#140).
Design
1959 Topps Football cards feature a colorful design with a player photograph that was usually a head-and-shoulders shot, but sometimes a full-body posed image were also used. The player is then superimposed over a fabric-type, solid-colored background. The background colors vary between pink, green, blue and yellow. A team logo is also placed somewhere inside the picture. The white border joins with the bottom area that houses the player's name, position and team. The player's name alternates between red and blue ink with each letter.
Card backs feature a football icon with the card number and a black box with the player's name, team and position. Below that are two lines of vital statistics. For some players, a box of year and lifetime statistics appears, while others receive a short biographical write-up instead. Most of the back, however, is taken up by a scratch-off trivia question that has part of the answer image visible. Card backs that have had been subjected to the edge of a coin are, obviously, less valuable than those that haven't.
Each NFL team is highlighted with two specialty cards. The first is a team card, which features an oval-shaped background much like they had in 1958 Topps Football. The same fabric-type design of the regular cards is featured as well as the alternating blue-and-red lettering scheme. Backs of the team cards feature a checklist, which doesn't necessarily follow the series the player is a part of. The other team-specific card is a pennant card, which showcases a pennant with the team logo and team name, with a sketched in-game action image underneath.
Printing and Distribution
The 1959 Topps Football set was printed in two, 88-card series. In a change from the usual series format, cards from the first series are slightly more scarce and more valuable than cards from the second as the result of being printed in a smaller quantity. The second series printing sheet consists of 132 cards, laid out in 12 rows of 11 cards. Due to the fact that there were only 88 cards in the this series, several of the cards are double-printed with the cards from the top four rows being duplicated on the bottom four rows. Cards from the set were distributed in one-cent and five-cent wax packs, as well as cello packs and vending boxes.
Errors and Condition Issues
One very noticeable error includes the rookie card of Jim Taylor of the Green Bay Packers. The card identifies the running back, yet shows a different Jim Taylor who played for the Chicago Cardinals. There are also a number of cards that have discrepancies between the front and the back (some involve names, others involve positions), but none were ever corrected and thus have no added value for being errors. Condition issues common to the set are typical for the period including centering, edge wear and toning of the white border areas.
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Key Cards
Key 1959 Topps Football Cards
Jim Brown #10
Johnny Unitas #1
Bart Starr #23
Paul Hornung #82
Sam Huff RC #51
Set Checklist
1959 Topps Football Set ChecklistBase Set Checklist
Featuring 176 cards
Base Set Checklist
2 Gene Brito
3 Lions Team
4 Max McGee RC
5 Hugh McElhenny
6 Joe Schmidt
7 Kyle Rote
8 Clarence Peaks
9 Steelers Pennant
10 Jim Brown
11 Ray Mathews
12 Bobby Dillon
13 Joe Childress
14 Terry Barr RC
15 Del Shofner RC
16 Bob Pellegrini UER
17 Colts Team
18 Preston Carpenter
19 Leo Nomellini
20 Frank Gifford
21 Charlie Ane
22 Jack Butler
23 Bart Starr
24 Cardinals Pennant
25 Bill Barnes
26 Walt Michaels
27 Clyde Conner UER
28 Paige Cothren
29 Roosevelt Grier
30 Alan Ameche
31 Eagles Team
32 Dick Nolan
33 R.C. Owens
34 Dale Dodrill
35 Gene Gedman
36 Gene Lipscomb RC
37 Ray Renfro
38 Browns Pennant
39 Bill Forester
40 Bobby Layne
41 Pat Summerall
42 Jerry Mertens RC
43 Steve Myhra RC
44 John Henry Johnson
45 Woodley Lewis UER
46 Packers Team
47 Don Owens RC UER
48 Ed Beatty RC
49 Don Chandler
50 Ollie Matson
51 Sam Huff RC
52 Tom Miner RC
53 Giants Pennant
54 Ken Konz
55 Raymond Berry
56 Howard Ferguson UER
57 Chuck Ulrich
58 Bob St. Clair
59 Don Burroughs RC
60 Lou Groza
61 49ers Team
62 Andy Nelson RC
63 Hal Bradley RC
64 Dave Hanner
65 Charley Conerly
66 Gene Cronin RC
67 Duane Putnam
68 Colts Pennant
69 Ernie Stautner
70 Jon Arnett
71 Ken Panfil RC
72 Matt Hazeltine
73 Harley Sewell
74 Mike McCormack
75 Jim Ringo
76 Rams Team
77 Bob Gain RC
78 Buzz Nutter RC
79 Jerry Norton
80 Joe Perry
81 Carl Brettschneider
82 Paul Hornung
83 Eagles Pennant
84 Les Richter
85 Howard Cassady
86 Art Donovan
87 Jim Patton
88 Pete Retzlaff
90 Zeke Bratkowski
91 Redskins Team
92 Art Hunter
93 Gern Nagler
94 Chuck Weber RC
95 Lew Carpenter RC
96 Stan Jones
97 Ralph Guglielmi UER
98 Packers Pennant
99 Ray Wietecha
100 Lenny Moore
101 Jim Ray Smith RC UER
102 Abe Woodson RC
103 Alex Karras RC
104 Bears Team
105 John David Crow RC
106 Joe Fortunato RC
107 Babe Parilli
108 Proverb Jacobs RC
109 Gino Marchetti
110 Bill Wade
111 49ers Pennant
112 Karl Rubke RC
113 Dave Middleton UER
114 Roosevelt Brown
115 John Olszewski
116 Jerry Kramer RC
117 King Hill RC
118 Cardinals Team
119 Frank Varrichione
120 Rick Casares
121 George Strugar RC
122 Bill Glass RC
123 Don Bosseler
124 John Reger RC
125 Jim Ninowski RC
126 Rams Pennant
127 Will Sherman
128 Bob Schnelker
129 Ollie Spencer RC
130 Y.A. Tittle
131 Yale Lary
132 Jim Parker RC
133 Giants Team
134 Jim Schrader RC
135 M.C. Reynolds RC
136 Mike Sandusky RC
137 Ed Brown
138 Al Barry RC
139 Lions Pennant
140 Bobby Mitchell RC
141 Larry Morris
142 Jim Phillips RC
143 Jim David
144 Joe Krupa
145 Willie Galimore
146 Steelers Team
147 Andy Robustelli
148 Billy Wilson
149 Leo Sanford
150 Eddie LeBaron
151 Bill McColl
152 Buck Lansford UER
153 Bears Pennant
154 Leo Sugar RC
155 Jim Taylor RC UER
156 Lindon Crow
157 Jack McClairen
158 Vince Costello RC UER
159 Stan Wallace RC
160 Mel Triplett RC
161 Browns Team
162 Dan Currie RC
163 L.G. Dupre UER
164 John Morrow RC UER
165 Jim Podoley
166 Bruce Bosley RC
167 Harlon Hill
168 Redskins Pennant
169 Junior Wren RC
170 Tobin Rote
171 Art Spinney
172 Chuck Drazenovich UER
173 Bobby Joe Conrad RC
174 Jesse Richardson RC
175 Sam Baker
176 Tom Tracy RC
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