1959 Topps Football Card # 5 Hugh McElhenny (HOF) - San Francisco 49ers (VG)
1950-1959 Football Cards
Although not technically the beginning of football cards, the late-1940s and early-1950s marked the the emergence of regularly-issued football cards. While they don’t have the same popularity as baseball cards from the same period, 1950s cards are very popular for collectors based on their classic design and rookie offerings. Once again, Topps and Bowman battled for card supremacy during the decade. Bowman dominated the early-1950s and Topps owned the late-1950s.
Top rookie options from the 1950s include Jim Brown, Johnny Unitas, Raymond Berry, Lenny Moore, Otto Graham, Dick Lane, Bart Star, Norm Van Brocklin, George Blanda, Paul Hornung and Joe Paterno.
1959 Topps Football Cards
1959 Topps Football features one of the most distinct designs of all-time. It was also the company’s biggest gridiron offering to date. Key rookies include Sam Huff and Jim Taylor.
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.
How We Grade:
Gem
Mint (GMT): (10.0) A flawless card. To be in Gem Mint condition,
a card’s borders must have a ratio of 50/50 side to side and top to
bottom.
Mint
(MT): (9.0-9.5) A perfect card. Well-centered with parallel borders which appear
equal to the naked eye. Four sharp, square corners. No creases, edge dents,
surface scratches, paper flaws, loss of luster, yellowing or fading, regardless
of age. No imperfectly printed cards – out of register, badly cut or ink flawed
– or card stained by contact with gum, wax or other substances can be
considered truly Mint, even if new out of the pack. Generally, to be considered
in Mint condition, a card’s borders must exist in a ratio of 60/40 side to side
and top to bottom.
Near
Mint/Mint (NM/MT): (8.0-8.5) A super high-end card that
appears Mint 9 at first glance, but upon closer inspection, may exhibit a very
slight wax stain on reverse, slight fraying at one or two corners, or a minor
printing imperfection. Centering must be app. 65/35 to 70/30 or better on the
front and 90/10 or better on the reverse.
Near
Mint (NM): (7.0-7.5) A nearly perfect card at first glance, but
upon closer inspection, may have slight surface wear, slight fraying on some
corners, slightly out-of-register picture focus, a minor printing blemish or
slight wax stain on reverse. Centering must be 70/30 to 75/25 or better on the
front and 90/10 or better on the reverse.
Excellent/Near
Mint (EX/NM): (6.0-6.5) Card may have visible surface
wear or a printing defect. A very light scratch. Corners may have slightly
graduated fraying. Picture focus may be slightly out-of-register. Card may have
minor wax stain on reverse, may have very slight nothing on edges. Centering
must be 80/20 or better on the front and 90/10 or better on the reverse.
Excellent
(EX): (5.0-5.5) Corners are still fairly sharp with only moderate wear. Card
borders may be off center as much as 85/15. No creases. May have very minor
gum, wax or product stains, front or back. Surfaces may show slight loss of
luster from rubbing across other cards. Dark bordered cards may have one or two
small nicks.
Very
Good/Excellent (VG/EX): (4.0-4.5) Shows obvious handling, but still
looks nice. Corners may be rounded or have minor creases. No major creases,
tape marks or extraneous markings or writing. Surfaces does exhibit loss of
luster, but the printing is intact. May have paper wrinkles. May show major
gum, wax or other packaging stains. All four borders visible, though the ratio
may be as poor as 95/5. Exhibits honest wear.
Very
Good (VG): (3.0-3.5) A well-worn card, but exhibits no intentional
damage or abuse. May be “Mis-cut or Off-Center” with no border visible. May
have major or multiple creases, however, creases are not so deep as to show the
underlying paper. This card is completely readable, has not been written on,
and has no tape marks or holes. Corner rounding may extend well beyond the
border.
Good
(GD) (2.0-2.5) Shows excessive wear, along with damage or abuse. Will show all
the wear characteristics of a Very Good card, along with such damage as thumb
tack holes in or near margins, evidence of having been taped or pasted, perhaps
small tears around the edges or creases so heavily as to break the cardboard.
Backs may show minor added pen or pencil writing or be missing small bits of
paper. Still basically a complete card.
Poor
(P): (1.0-1.5) A card that has been tortured to death. Corners or other areas
may be torn off. Card may have been trimmed, show holes from a paper punch or
have been used for BB gun practice. Front may have extraneous pen or pencil
writing, or other defacement. Major portions of front or back design may be
missing. Not a pretty sight.
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