1966 Topps Football Cards
Product Details
The 1966 Topps Football card set is one that easily gets lost in the shuffle of other sets from the decade. Comprised of 132 standard-sized cards measuring 2-1/2 by 3-1/2 inches, there are very few rookie cards included in the set. The best-known are Jim Turner (#103), Otis Taylor (#75) and Wendell Hayes (#34). This was the third straight year where only players from the AFL were included in Topps' annual football offering. Key veterans in the set include: Joe Namath (#96), Jack Kemp (#26), Len Dawson (#67) and George Blanda (#48).
Design
The design of the 1966 Topps Football card set was fitting as this was the same year all three major television networks transitioned to standardized color TV broadcasts. Featuring a horizontal orientation, the card fronts were designed to resemble a color console TV with a wooden cabinet. It wasn't exactly new, as Bowman featured it on its 1955 baseball set and Topps used a similar design for its 1961 football highlights cards. The player picture appears to be surrounded by a picture tube that mimics the rounded shape of a TV screen from the era. The brown wood border runs around the card and contains the player's name, team and position at the bottom of the card. On the reverse side, a white box in the upper left corner contains a card number and a team logo. To the right of that, the player's name, team, position and vital stats appear. A short biographical write-up is displayed below that, and then a cartoon that explains a highlight of that player's career. For some players, an area for year and lifetime statistics appears below the cartoon.
The cards are numbered so each team is grouped together. The teams are arranged alphabetically by city name, and each player is arranged alphabetically by last name. The set also includes the first cards of the Miami Dolphins, who joined the AFL as an expansion team that year. There are three checklist cards. Two list the cards in the set, while the other lists all the different Funny Rings that were included as inserts in that year's wax packs. As always, the checklists are tougher to find unmarked, but the Funny Rings checklist can be nearly impossible to find in any condition because many kids in 1966 simply tossed it away.
Condition Issues, Printing and Distribution
Due to the brown borders, the cards show edge and corner wear very easily. As a result, cards from the set are hard to find in top condition. The other significant condition issue common to the 1996 Topps Football card set is centering, top-to-bottom. Because of the relatively small size of the checklist, there are no short-printed cards. The entire set was printed on a single 132-card sheet and distributed in a single series. The cards were available in 5c wax packs and cello packs.
Despite the set's lack of big name rookies, it remains popular with vintage collectors simply due to the fact that cards can be so difficult to find in higher-grade condition. As a result, the value of the chase, in this circumstance, often exceeds the sets actual overall worth.
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Key Cards
Key 1966 Topps Football Cards
Funny Ring Checklist #15
Joe Namath #96
Jack Kemp #26
Checklist #132
Fred Biletnikoff #104
Set Checklist
1966 Topps Football Set Checklist
Base Set Checklist
2 Houston Antwine
3 Nick Buoniconti
4 Gino Cappelletti
5 Bob Dee
6 Larry Garron
7 Art Graham
8 Ron Hall
9 Charles Long
10 Jon Morris
11 Don Oakes
12 Babe Parilli
13 Don Webb
14 Jim Whalen
15 Funny Ring Checklist
16 Stew Barber
17 Glenn Bass
18 Dave Behrman
19 Al Bemiller
20 George Byrd RC
21 Wray Carlton
22 Tom Day
23 Elbert Dubenion
24 Jim Dunaway
25 Dick Hudson
26 Jack Kemp
27 Daryle Lamonica
28 Tom Sestak
29 Billy Shaw
30 Mike Stratton
31 Eldon Danenhauer
32 Cookie Gilchrist
33 Goose Gonsoulin
34 Wendell Hayes RC
35 Abner Haynes
36 Jerry Hopkins
37 Ray Jacobs
38 Charlie Janerette
39 Ray Kubala
40 John McCormick
41 Leroy Moore
42 Bob Scarpitto
43 Mickey Slaughter
44 Jerry Sturm
45 Lionel Taylor
46 Scott Appleton
47 Johnny Baker
48 George Blanda
49 Sid Blanks
50 Danny Brabham
51 Ode Burrell
52 Gary Cutsinger
53 Larry Elkins
54 Don Floyd
55 Willie Frazier RC
56 Freddy Glick
57 Charlie Hennigan
58 Bobby Jancik
59 Rich Michael
60 Don Trull
61 Checklist
62 Fred Arbanas
63 Pete Beathard
64 Bobby Bell
65 Ed Budde
66 Chris Burford
68 Jon Gilliam
69 Sherrill Headrick
70 E.J. Holub UER
71 Bobby Hunt
72 Curtis McClinton
73 Jerry Mays
74 Johnny Robinson
75 Otis Taylor RC
76 Tom Erlandson
77 Norm Evans RC
78 Tom Goode
79 Mike Hudock
80 Frank Jackson
81 Billy Joe
82 Dave Kocourek
83 Bo Roberson
84 Jack Spikes
85 Jim Warren RC
86 Willie West RC
87 Dick Westmoreland
88 Eddie Wilson
89 Dick Wood
90 Verlon Biggs
91 Sam DeLuca
92 Winston Hill
93 Dee Mackey
94 Bill Mathis
95 Don Maynard
96 Joe Namath
97 Dainard Paulson
98 Gerry Philbin
99 Sherman Plunkett
100 Paul Rochester
101 George Sauer Jr. RC
102 Matt Snell
103 Jim Turner RC
104 Fred Biletnikoff UER
105 Bill Budness
106 Billy Cannon
107 Clem Daniels
108 Ben Davidson
109 Cotton Davidson
110 Claude Gibson
111 Wayne Hawkins
112 Ken Herock
113 Bob Mischak
114 Gus Otto
115 Jim Otto
116 Art Powell
117 Harry Schuh
118 Chuck Allen
119 Lance Alworth
120 Frank Buncom
121 Steve DeLong
122 John Farris
123 Kenny Graham
124 Sam Gruneisen
125 John Hadl
126 Walt Sweeney
127 Keith Lincoln
128 Ron Mix
129 Don Norton
130 Pat Shea
131 Ernie Wright
132 Checklist
Funny Rings Set Checklist
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
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24
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Phil Chmiel
No major rookies but the set has the second year Joe Namath card. TV borders are interesting and work quite well although the pictures are horizontal. Nice photography makes this a winner.