1965 Philadelphia Football Cards
Product Details
The 1965 Philadelphia Football card set consists of 198 cards, measuring the standard 2-1/2 by 3-1/2 inches. Similar in design to the company's freshman release the previous year, one noticeable addition was made, giving the cards a distinct and official look. For the first time in football trading card history, the NFL logo was placed on the front of the card. Its presence also served as a reminder to consumers that it was the Philadelphia Gum Company and not their New York-based rival, Topps, that had the rights to produce NFL trading cards. Topps was relegated to printing cards of AFL teams and its players.
The set marks the debut release of cards for six future Hall of Fame players; Paul Warfield (#41), Mel Renfro (#53), Dick LeBeau (#64), Carl Eller (#105), Paul Krause (#189) and Charley Taylor (#195). Veterans serving as the foundation for the set include Johnny Unitas (#12), Mike Ditka (#19), Jim Brown (#31), Bob Lilly (#47), Paul Hornung (#76) and Bart Starr (#81), to name a few.
Design
1965 Philadelphia Football fronts are dominated by the player image itself. Posed action photographs were predominately used but without the player wearing their helmet. A solid-colored box at the bottom left of the card features the player's name, position and team. Three colors were used on the text (as opposed to two in 1964) and each team has its own color scheme. The easily recognizable NFL shield logo appears in the bottom right corner, separate from the box with the player's info.
The card backs are printed with red, which makes them harder to read than any of the other Philadelphia football card sets. A box at the top includes the player's name, team, position and vital statistics. Below that, a red box contains either a line of Year/Life stats (for the impact players) or a short biography. The rest of the card features a game designed to encourage collecting the entire set. A picture of a player was designed to show up once a coin was rubbed across the card, and collectors had to find the answer of who he was on a different card. The bottom right corner has the card number inside a shield that is shaped like the one on the NFL logo.
Checklist Notes and Errors
Once again, the Philadelphia Gum Company utilized a very collation friendly numbering system. The cards are numbered according to team, with players arranged in alphabetical order by their last name. There are 14 cards for every team, with 12 players, a team photo and a play card that shows a drawing of the play as if it was on a chalkboard, the team's coach and the home stadium. In addition to the Hall of Fame veterans and rookies, the play cards are of particular interest to collectors. They feature Hall of Fame coaches like Don Shula (#14), George Halas (#28), Tom Landry (#56) and Vince Lombardi (#84). Two checklist cards bookend the set.
Distribution and Oddities
1965 Philadelphia Football was distributed through numerous retail channels in nickel packs and ten-cent cellos. It is believed that the 1965 Philadelphia cards were printed on two 132-card sheets which would make 264 total cards. If veteran hobbyist's theories are correct, than the 198 card set, would have to have 66 that cards were double-printed. While this has not been officially verified, collectors cite the easily found cards of Doug Atkins (#17), Herb Adderley (#72), Paul Hornung (#76), and the first checklist (#197) compared to those of other players, as one piece of evidence supporting the double-printed theory.
Errors and Condition
A few uncorrected errors exist within the set including the Dallas Cowboys team card (#43), which lists the team name as being the "Cowboys Dallas". Also, for the second straight year, the company misspelled Herb Adderley's last name. In addition, several players are also photographed wearing a jersey of a team they no longer played for, having been traded in the off-season.
The most commonly cited condition issue for the 1965 Philadelphia Football card set is poor centering. It can also be difficult to find cards with the rub-off area unscratched on the card's reverse. This subtle nuance can cause drastic fluctuations in price. The relatively thin cardboard stock used in the printing of the cards is also notorious for corner fraying as the result of less than high-tech cutting procedures used during the time period.
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Key Cards
Key 1965 Philadelphia Football Cards
Jim Brown #31
Paul Warfield RC #41
Charley Taylor RC #195
Checklist 2 #198
Mel Renfro RC #53
Bart Starr #81
Set Checklist
1965 Philadelphia Football Set ChecklistBase Set Checklist
Featuring 198 cards
Base Set Checklist
2 Raymond Berry
3 Bob Boyd
4 Wendell Harris
5 Jerry Logan
6 Tony Lorick
7 Lou Michaels
8 Lenny Moore
9 Jimmy Orr
10 Jim Parker
11 Dick Szymanski
12 Johnny Unitas
13 Bob Vogel RC
14 Colts Play of the Ye
15 Bears Team
16 Jon Arnett
17 Doug Atkins
18 Rudy Bukich RC
19 Mike Ditka
20 Dick Evey
21 Joe Fortunato
22 Bobby Joe Green RC
23 Johnny Morris
24 Mike Pyle
25 Roosevelt Taylor
26 Bill Wade
27 Bob Wetoska
28 Bears Play of the Year
29 Browns Team
30 Walter Beach
31 Jim Brown
32 Gary Collins
33 Bill Glass
34 Ernie Green
35 Jim Houston RC
36 Dick Modzelewski
37 Bernie Parrish
38 Walter Roberts
39 Frank Ryan
40 Dick Schafrath
41 Paul Warfield RC
42 Browns Play of the Year
43 Cowboys Team
44 Frank Clarke
45 Mike Connelly
46 Buddy Dial
47 Bob Lilly
48 Tony Liscio RC
49 Tommy McDonald
50 Don Meredith
51 Pettis Norman
52 Don Perkins
53 Mel Renfro RC
54 Jim Ridlon
55 Jerry Tubbs
56 Cowboys Play of the
57 Lions Team
58 Terry Barr
59 Roger Brown
60 Gail Cogdill
61 Jim Gibbons
62 John Gordy
63 Yale Lary
64 Dick LeBeau RC
65 Earl Morrall
66 Nick Pietrosante
67 Pat Studstill
68 Wayne Walker
69 Tom Watkins
70 Lions Play of the Year
71 Packers Team
72 Herb Adderley
73 Willie Davis
74 Boyd Dowler
75 Forrest Gregg
76 Paul Hornung
77 Henry Jordan
78 Tom Moore
79 Ray Nitschke
80 Elijah Pitts RC
81 Bart Starr
82 Jim Taylor
83 Willie Wood
84 Packers Play of the Year
85 Rams Team
86 Dick Bass
87 Roman Gabriel
88 Roosevelt Grier
89 Deacon Jones
90 Lamar Lundy RC
91 Marlin McKeever
92 Ed Meador
93 Bill Munson RC
94 Merlin Olsen
95 Bobby Smith
96 Frank Varrichione
97 Ben Wilson
98 Rams Play of the Year
99 Vikings Team
101 Hal Bedsole RC
102 Bill Brown
103 Bill Butler
104 Fred Cox RC
105 Carl Eller RC
106 Paul Flatley
107 Jim Marshall
108 Tommy Mason
109 George Rose
110 Fran Tarkenton
111 Mick Tingelhoff
112 Vikings Play of the Year
113 Giants Team
114 Erich Barnes
115 Roosevelt Brown
116 Clarence Childs
117 Jerry Hillebrand
118 Greg Larson RC
119 Dick Lynch
120 Joe Morrison RC
121 Lou Slaby
122 Aaron Thomas RC
123 Steve Thurlow
124 Ernie Wheelwright RC
125 Gary Wood RC
126 Giants Play of the Year
127 Eagles Team
128 Sam Baker
129 Maxie Baughan
130 Timmy Brown
131 Jack Concannon RC
132 Irv Cross
133 Earl Gros
134 Dave Lloyd
135 Floyd Peters RC
136 Nate Ramsey
137 Pete Retzlaff
138 Jim Ringo
139 Norm Snead
140 Eagles Play of the Y
141 Steelers Team
142 John Baker
143 Gary Ballman
144 Charley Bradshaw
145 Ed Brown
146 Dick Haley
147 John Henry Johnson
148 Brady Keys
149 Ray Lemek
150 Ben McGee
151 Clarence Peaks
152 Myron Pottios
153 Clendon Thomas
154 Steelers Play of the Year
155 Cardinals Team
156 Jim Bakken RC
157 Joe Childress
158 Bobby Joe Conrad
159 Bob DeMarco
160 Pat Fischer RC
161 Irv Goode
162 Ken Gray
163 Charley Johnson
164 Bill Koman
165 Dale Meinert
166 Jerry Stovall RC
167 Abe Woodson
168 Cardinals Play of the Year
169 49ers Team
170 Kermit Alexander
171 John Brodie
172 Bernie Casey
173 John David Crow
174 Tommy Davis
175 Matt Hazeltine
176 Jim Johnson
177 Charlie Krueger RC
178 Roland Lakes
179 George Mira RC
180 Dave Parks RC
181 John Thomas RC
182 49ers Play of the Year
183 Redskins Team
184 Pervis Atkins
185 Preston Carpenter
186 Angelo Coia
187 Sam Huff
188 Sonny Jurgensen
189 Paul Krause RC
190 Jim Martin
191 Bobby Mitchell
192 John Nisby
193 John Paluck
194 Vince Promuto
195 Charley Taylor RC
196 Redskins Play of the Year
197 Checklist 1
198 Checklist 2 UER
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Michael Mencer
I find this great except it’s confusing on how to view what I want like team sets from all years pre 1969. 1925 or even before. Also how to buy either single or team or sets. Cards someone on a fixed income can afford would be nice.