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1972 TOPPS FOOTBALL Official PSA Thread

Given the popularity of this set, I thought it was quite odd that there was no "Official Thread" for it.
So I decided to start one.

First off this is my all-time childhood favorite set. Being a hugh Cowboy fan as an 8 year old boy in 1972 every card in this set brings back
the fond memories of days gone past when card collecting was purely a kid thing. Long before the adults and businessmen robbed the hobby from the kids. Seems like just yesterday my cousin and I were putting rubberbands around sorted out team sets and chomping on mouth fulls of that EVER lovable brittle gum. I wonder if I can get a piece of that gum slabbed by PSA for my set?

As so many others, we grew older and interests went on to other things. Although I retained a small amount of the cards(beat to Death) Im kinda vague on what happend to the boxes full of, not only the 72 Topps football, but Baseball and Basketball cards we had from 72 thru 79.
(Spring Cleaning Mother might have got some) But I think I traded a box of cards to a comicbook dealer in the early 80's for some spiderman comics. Years later I found a complete 1976 Topps football set in my mothers closest. Problem was my cousin and I had glued every card onto three ring notebook paper and put it in a binder. It was still very cool and nostalgic to see it. Yes I tried to peel the Water Payton Rookie off as well as many of the other stars. Yes we pretty much destroyed it.

In the Mid 80's I became reaquianted with the cards of my youth at a local card show and have collected every since. I had put together many of my favorite Baseball sets from the seventies as well as a complete run of football sets from 1970 thru 1979.

By the mid 90's I decided to refocus my collection. FOOTBALL thats where my true heart was at! I decided to dump most of my baseball sets and concentrate building the absolute finest MINT 1972 Topps Football set on the PLANET! I went to the ends of the earth searching high and low for the most pefect cards for my set, right down to the LAST common!

Then came the internet and ebay and Third party graders and that was the end of the local card shops and shows. While I was content with the quality of my set and I vowed not to give one red dime to these ridiculous grading companies. Well, not quite two years ago I lost that battle and decided to choose one set to have graded. My beloved 1972 TOPPS FOOTBALL SET.

While I have faired quite well with submissons from my raw set, I did have to turn to ebay and other sellers for many of the cards that I needed to upgrade my set to the condition and grade I was looking for.

Thankfully many of the Key cards I had cherry picked over the years were up to grade.

Roger Staubach ( my all-time boyhood hero) I had three nicely centered PSA 8's
Bradshaw, Riggins, Manning, Hendricks, checklists and many commons I got consistant 8's and 9's on

On the other hand I have since dropped a boat load of cash it seems on many other cards in the set.

Im at about 85% on the set in the PSA Registry and basically down to some of the lower pop cards. Rest assure I will get them no matter how long it takes.

Oppps, Sorry, How long have I been rambling on?

Without further ado I present to you a few of my all time favorite cards from the all-time greatest set of the seventies!

THE 1972 TOPPS FOOTBALL SET!

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Ahhhh... The 72 Roger Staubach Rookie! We all wanted to be "the Dodger", "Captain Comeback" and while the legend of Johnny Unitas can never be disputed in the annals of Pro football history. Roger Staubach was our boyhood hero and not only the Greatest Quarterback Ive ever seen, but also one of the most honorable and noble MEN the game has ever seen. Roger was a class act and a true roll model for every mothers' son.
While I thought about going after a PSA 9, the Prices were just plain ridiculous. Besides, This card had been in my raw set for over 20 years and I think it displays as well as many of the 9's I have seen.


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Roger led the league in passing. The 72 set features the first league leader cards in a Topps set. Roger led the league many times through out the seventies and I believe at the time retired as the all-time passer rating leader. No small feat in light of giving up the first years of his career to honor his Naval academy commitments.


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Hot Damn! Look at this classic card! No super hi-Res modern day hi-tech photography here! along with the generic airbrushed helmets and the classic vintage pose and exactly why modern day cards will never have the same nostalgic appeal.
These "Pro Action" cards were also a first featured in the 72 set.


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And now my All-Time Favorite 1972 Topps Card! I mean look at that vintage pose along with the B/W! I never could figure out why this card could be had so much cheaper than the other 3 Staubach cards in the set. In my honest opinion it is by far the coolest and most nostalgic one. Heck you can pick up nice PSA 8's for $12-$20 bucks! I think it is quite possibly the most under valued card in the set! I amost feel like buying everyone I see just because its that cheap and it is my Favorite card. I know that the 72 Dolphin cards are very much sought after in the 72 set in honor of that undefeated season. I guess this card may be hard to look at and swallow next their fabled 72 Dolphins cards beings how Roger and Doomsday CRUSHED that same Dolphin team just a few months earlier in the Super Bowl. I also feel that had those old men from the "Over the Hill Gang" had not somehow slipped by the Cowboys in 72, The Cowboys would have beat that Dolphin team again in 72.
God bless their hearts, but that Redskin team in no way matched up to the 72 Dolphin team as well as that 72 Cowboy Team.

Gotta go for now, But I will return with more of my Favorite cards and Stories from the 1972 TOPPS FOOTBALL SET!

Im always looking for PSA 9's! Help Me!

John
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Comments

  • GDM67GDM67 Posts: 2,523 ✭✭✭✭


    << <i> I also feel that had those old men from the "Over the Hill Gang" had not somehow slipped by the Cowboys in 72 [...] >>

    26-3, man. I know it hurts, but that's not really "slipping by" image

    That set is an absolute gold mine for Cowboy fans, with the Staubach rookie, as well as the Wright, great late career cards for HOFers Lance Alworth and Herb Adderley and some true beauties of guys like Calvin Hill and Bob Hayes. In spite of all of that...

    ...it's probably my favorite Football set image

    It's the only one I've made any significant effort to collect as a registry set. It's a touch before my time to have bought much of any in pack form, but I used to always like to trade for singles in elementary school. The look of them intrigued me, even then.

    A wonderful set, justly popular.
  • nearmintnearmint Posts: 1,111 ✭✭✭
    Here's my 1972 Topps story: I collected those cards when I was a kid, but after the first two series I'd lost interest. My brother, who was 5, bought me a single pack of 3rd series cards for Christmas. I opened them, ate the gum, and stuck the cards in the box with the rest. Years later, when I looked through the box, I found a couple hundred beat-up cards from the first two series and 9 shiny cards from the 3rd series. One was the Namath IA card. My brother's 10-cent Christmas present appreciated pretty well!
  • I'm glad to see someone started a thread on my favorite set finally. This was the only sports I collected as a boy. I was the second to complete this set behind Carlos Aponte and it took alot to come up with mint cards. There were only 2 PSA 9 Hendricks Rookies, 13 9 Staubachs and only one psa 10 Namath PA. When I started, there were a little over 20 cards that didn't even have 9's graded. I was very proud to grade the first 9 #1 AFC Rushing leaders and the only PSA 10 #165 Unitas. I kept my Dolphins but slacked off collecting for awhile but made a comeback and still have the #1 1972 Dolphins set and just recently graded the 2nd Griese #80 PSA 10. THIS IS A GREAT SET !!! Unique in the amount of cards and sub-sets it has, it brought Football up to par with baseball cards. Best of luck to all of you who are putting this set together.image
    Any team on any given Sunday, can beat any other team...unless they were playing the Miami Dolphins in 1972.
  • perkdogperkdog Posts: 29,361 ✭✭✭✭✭
    That Pro Action card is sweeeeet!
  • The pro action cards from this set have always been some of my favorite looking football cards!! how many pro actions are in this set?
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    Mark
    --------------------------------------------
    NFL HOF RC SET
  • GDM67GDM67 Posts: 2,523 ✭✭✭✭
    I count 42, including 14 in the Third Series.

    Here's an earlier thread of brd's about this set.
  • Thank you, I'de like to sometime do a 72' pro action set..
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    Mark
    --------------------------------------------
    NFL HOF RC SET
  • ymareaymarea Posts: 1,576 ✭✭✭
    Like bigreddog, I am a huge Cowboy fan and have been one since I first saw them in those beautiful bad-luck dark jerseys in Super Bowl V. As an 8-year old in '72, these were the first FB cards I ever purchased. I love the colors, the subsets, and all the great memories that come flooding back every time I look at these cards. I only wish that Topps had included cards of Mel Renfro and Chuck Howley.

    The 1972 set is the first set that I have tried to complete in all PSA graded. I currently have the #5 all-time set, with the hope of reaching a grade of 9.00. My set is currently at 8.78, so I still have a bit of work to do. My love for this set has inspired me to tackle the much smaller 1972 OPC CFL set. The set is styled similarly to its Topps counterpart and includes many familiar players. My CFL set is at 78% complete. All the remaining cards are currently at PSA awaiting grades. They received them on April 9, but still no poppage. I'm getting more than a little worried. Although I will never have the #1 Topps or OPC set, it would be pretty neat to have the first '72 CFL at 100% complete to make a nice bookend with the Topps set.
    Brett
  • 2dueces2dueces Posts: 6,231 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Bigreddog, Great thread. It's alway good to see a collector show his favorite set and have fond memories of it from his childhood. Nice cards and a great set. Joe
    W.C.Fields
    "I spent 50% of my money on alcohol, women, and gambling. The other half I wasted.
  • GDM67GDM67 Posts: 2,523 ✭✭✭✭
    I'm going to have to pick up that Theismann-with-the-Argonauts OPC card at some point image
  • Great Stories about the Set!

    GDM67

    "slipping by" was just a figure of speach. Note, that the Redskins were only nursing a 10-3 lead in the 4th quarter,
    until HOFer Charley Taylor broke it open with a 45 yd Touchdown from Billy Kilmer. Yes it did hurt that the Cowboys did
    not play very well and the main reason was that Redskin Defense. George Allen's famous "40 men playing together, can't lose"
    was one of the greastest inspirational pre game speech's EVER.
    My main point was that IMHO, that Cowboy team matched up so much better against that Dolphin team.

    One thing that always bothers me is, The ignorant Football Fan. The one's that are not intellegent enough to add any kind
    of real discussion about the rivalries in Football other than to say "They Suck" As a Cowboy Fan I get this alot from Eagle and Redskin "Fans".
    Boards are full of this kind of stupid talk, eg. The recent Giant/Patriot Super Bowl. Thanks to all who have responded here
    for not going that route. It is reassuring that intellegent Football people are responding here.

    The very foundation and legendary history of Pro Football is based on these intense Rivalries. As a Cowboy Fan,
    Yes the Redskins are the enemy, but they have always gotten my utmost respect. That 72 "Over the Hill Gang" Redskin
    team is the stuff Movies are made of, and next to my beloved Cowboy cards in the 72 set, the classic Redskin cards in the
    set are some of my very favorites as well.

    There was no greater rivalry in the 70's than Cowboys/Redskins. Those historic memories are forever etched in my
    very fabric and is what drives me to collect football cards and the 1972 Topps set in picticular. Without the 70's Redskin Teams
    There would be no 70's Cowboy Teams and I'll always give credit where credit is due.

    I present to you............ The memorable 1972 Washington Redskins: "The Over The Hill Gang"








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    BILLY KILMER, You just got to love this guy! After the beating he took with the Saints earlier in his career. He didn't look like your
    prototype NFL QB. He looked more like he should have been in a wheelchair! Seems like he was always limping and bleeding,
    his uniform was always tattered and never seemed to fit quite right.
    Seems like I always remember him looking out of his earhole after being sacked. In spite of all that, he had heart & soul.
    As well as the guts to do whatever it took to win. Today's pampered prissy Quaterbacks pale in comparison if they ever
    had to play in Billy's day.


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    I don't recall Sonny being in the 1973 Topps Set, But if memory serves me correctly he was part of the 72 team. Help me here guys.
    Seems I remember he was on the sidelines with a broke leg or something. A legendary and Great QB in his time,
    Sonny truely was "Over the Hill". I think he could still out drink most of the team though. Sonny was the 2nd All-Time
    Passing leader at this point behind Unitas.



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    LARRY BROWN: A big part of the Redskins success was their running game. Larry Brown was one of the toughest runners Ive ever seen.
    When this guy got the ball it was all out North South Running! Brown an Hardaway were as formidable as any backfield in the league.
    I can still see that hit Brown takes in NFL Films highlights when his helmet was jarred loose. The man was tough as nails.




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    CHARLEY TAYLOR: What more can you say? Not only a Legendary Redskin, But a Legendary Player.
    Damn him for catching 7 balls for 147 yrds and two TD's in that 72 Chamionship game
    I almost bought a PSA 9, but it didn't have no better centering than the one I have so I passed. I prefer to by the card
    and not just the label.




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    PAT FISCHER: 5' 9 170lbs of hellfire! Dispite his size, Pat could bring the wood! Although many times getting the worst of it!
    Although he had a rep as a tough little hitter, Fischer used he's smarts more often than not to gain the advantage on his opponents.
    I just love those 70's arm pads he has on. A Classic Card indeed!




    The Supporting Cast

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    Im still in need of #142 ROY JEFFERSON, #293 JACK PARDEE & #342 LARRY BROWN IA
    Although I have all three in my raw set, Im not as confident that they have a shot at PSA 9






    MCDOLFAN

    Congratulations on your set and the tough top grades you got on many of them. The Carlos Aponte Set was recently sold off.
    Im proud to say that I picked up a few cards from his set.

    NOW????? Is that a little boy sticking a butterknife in a wall socket???




    GDM67 is correct. There are 42 "Pro Action" Cards in the set. 14 from each series. Plus the 7 Playoff Cards

    While I have Most I am still looking for nice centered PSA 9's of the Following:

    #253 DUANE THOMAS #257 LC GREENWOOD #259 LARRY CSONKA #260 MIKE McCOY #262 RAY MAY #342 LARRY BROWN

    #348 GEORGE BLANDA

    Yes the Pro Action cards were a very innovative part of the 72 set and is another reason for the sets popularity

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    YMAREA

    Congratulation on your beautiful high ranking set. I think im setting at #12 with about the same Average.
    Its easy to get caught up in the PSA set rankings. Inside the top 10 or so we're just splitting hairs, let alone the top 5.
    Cover the flips up and anyone of these sets could be considered the "All -Time" Finest. Believe me I know the amount of time and
    money it can take to build a top graded set.
    GDM67 posted a link to a thread I previously posted discussing the omission of certain players
    Like Mel Renfro and Chuck Howely. You would be surprised by just how many HOFer's and Star Cards were issued in
    the previous sets like the 1970 and 1971 Topps Football Sets. But yet were not issued in the 72 Set, only to reappear
    in the 73,74,75 etc Sets. It's very interesting the theories as to why this is.
    I started that Thread because I wanted to know why there was no LEROY JORDAN in the 72 set before I realized there
    were so many more players mysteriously not issed in the set.


    Until next Time! I will leave you with this NFL tid Bit.
    Walt Garrison once bit the end of his tongue off and played with a hunk of gauze on it.
    Little Puddin was one tough hombre

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  • GDM67GDM67 Posts: 2,523 ✭✭✭✭
    This is how I know you're a serious collector of this set: you have more Skins, and in generally higher grade, than I do image I have Taylor, Kilmer, Sonny and Larry Brown in 8's. I haven't worked on this set in a while.

    You're correct on both counts: this is Jurgensen's last card, even though he was active for two more seasons, and he was nursing a broken leg by the time the Super Bowl came around.

    I mentioned it in the linked thread, but I'll write it again, especially in view of you indulgently talking up the Skins: that era's Cowboys teams are overlooked. I understand that even knowlegable Football fans can get caught up in the Smith-Aikman teams of the early 90's and/or the White/Dorsett teams of the late 70's, but that early 70's team, with the core of players who Landry had developed since the mid 60's, was really special. I don't have any graded Cowboys from the 72 set yet, but I have numerous raws (Lilly, Hill, Alworth and Adderly), and I too wish there had been a Renfro card. As I mentioned before, Jerry Smith and Chris Hanburger are the main missing Redskins.

    A couple of final things: Verlon Biggs owns a Super Bowl ring from his afternoon's work in Miami in January of '69 when he, Namath and a bunch of castoffs rocked the world. He also had a great, fierce sack of Griese in SB VII. Watching the full network replay of that game on The NFL Network in January, I realized that the Redskins defense actually played pretty well that day.

    Secondly, look at the Calvin Hill Pro Action card. That photo was several years old. Those are the old Redskin uniforms, from when they had the arrow/spear decal. The last year they wore those was 69, which was Calvin's rookie year. You can also see what looks like one of those "NFL 50" patches on the one Redskin defender's left shoulder.
  • recbballrecbball Posts: 1,520 ✭✭✭
    Hello,

    I am selling off all my extras from 1972 FB on e-bay. It is a lot of 1000 cards, mostly all beaters - vg-ex. and alot of duplicates.
    Thought someone on this thread might be interested, I doubt anything in this lot would grade above 7, but a start on making a low to mid-grade set.
    If a registry member wins give me a PM and I'll add whatever I have left.


    http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=140238008598&ssPageName=STRK:MESE:IT&ih=004




  • Congratulations on your set and the tough top grades you got on many of them. The Carlos Aponte Set was recently sold off.
    Im proud to say that I picked up a few cards from his set.

    NOW????? Is that a little boy sticking a butterknife in a wall socket???


    Thanks BIGREDDOG, I miss having those cards sometimes. Congradulations on the Fischer card in a PSA 9, I was the first to grade one in a 9 and I think it is still one of the toughest cards in the set. And yes that is a butter knife, but if you notice, he's not grounded so it's OK !!!








































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    Any team on any given Sunday, can beat any other team...unless they were playing the Miami Dolphins in 1972.
  • GDM67

    Good eye on that Calvin Hill Pro-Action Card. Another reason to love this set. Even after years of scrutinizing the cards in the set it
    seems you can always find some kind of interesting tid bit or story about the cards.
    Although the Cowboys were my Team. In general I just love early 70's football in General. I think it was one of the Greatest era's
    in football history. With the AFL/NFL merger and the emerging Television market it had become more colorful and visual than ever before.
    It also was a time that featured some of the most colorful personalities the game has ever seen. Not to mention Legendary Teams that I still consider the greatest in many of NFL teams Franchise history. It was just a glorious time in Pro-Football history.


    Here are a few Extra cards I have if anybody is in need of them for their set:

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    NCDOLFAN

    This Fischer is a tough one. A few floated thru ebay around the same time. The first one I saw I passed on because of the centering.
    The 8 I had was a better card IMHO(above). There are many others that seem to be some what elusive.

    #20 Carl Eller
    #24 Bill Thompson
    These might be the two toughest cards in the set. While Ive seen and Pasted on a PSA 9 Thompson. I have yet to see
    a PSA 9 Eller anywhere. The 8's Ive seen and passed on were always to off center for me.

    #37 Ron Shanklin
    #58 Ken Bowman
    Both these cards I have seen. I missed a nice PSA 9 Shanklin one time. The few Bowmans Ive seen are always suffering from
    bad centering as well.

    #118 Norm Snead
    I have a real beauty on this card in my raw set. I tuely believe it was nice enough to warrant a 9 consideration. PSA graded it a 7?
    what the hell?!!?? Maybe I missed something on it. Cracked it out.... NOPE. Pack Fresh, sharp corners, etc.... Only thing I can figure
    is it became a victim of the PSA regrade for more money program.

    Some other cards Im still on the hunt for in PSA 9 (or Dead on centered undergraded PSA 8's)

    #140 Larry Csnoka
    #142 Roy Jefferson
    #151 MacArthur Lane
    #152 Jack Snow
    #162 Ernie Kellermann
    #166 Clint Jones
    #170 Dick Butkus
    #185 Bob Tucker
    #186 Gene Upshaw
    #190 Bubba Smith
    #191 Edd Hargett
    #193 Jake Scott
    #198 John Rowser
    #203 Tom Beer
    #208 Sam Brunelli
    #211 Bill Nelsen
    #219 Paul Robinson
    #220 John Brodie
    #221 Manny Fernadez
    #233 Spider Lockhart
    #237 Dave Lewis
    #239 Fair Hooker
    #242 Glen Ray Hines
    #249 Frank Nunley
    #253 Duane Thomas IA
    #257 LC Greenwood IA
    #259 Larry Csonka IA
    #262 Ray May IA
    #265 Ron Yary AP( seen quite a few. Didn't want to pay that much)
    #268 John Niland AP
    #275 Garo Yepriemum AP
    #277 Carl Eller AP
    #264 Jim Johnson AP
    #290 John Gilliam
    #292 Walter Johnson
    #293 Jack Pardee
    #297 Ray May
    #312 Jim Marsalis
    #314 Tom Mcneill
    #316 Rayfield Wright
    #320 Bob Wallace
    #323 George Atkinson
    #327 Miller Farr
    #329 John Niland
    #333 Jerrel Wilson
    #342 Larry Brown IA
    #345 Doug Cunningham IA
    #348 George Blanda IA

    And now without further ado! The rest of the Legendary Cowboy Cards from the set.











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    The Playoff cards are just absolutely hair raising! That classic shot of Duane Thomas breaking thru the famed Purple People Eaters.
    The Greatest and ONLY card to ever to feature the core of that Cowboys' "Doomsday Defense" Bob Lilly, Larry Cole and Jethro Pugh.
    It is a shame that Pugh or Cole wasn't in the set. Let alone Leroy Jordan, Mel Renfro and Cliff Harris.



    And now I leave you with this little NFL tid-bit.
    Walt Garrison once fractured his leg in a game and played the entire game.
    Yes... Little Puddin was one tough hombre.

    image

    John
  • Man Skins and Da-boys no bigger game in football as a avid Skins fan i think your comments on the love hate relationship i have about the Cowboys are right on the mark, After a true Cowboys fan i think only a Redskin fan knew the Cowboys team better.
    I think my all time favorite memory was Ken Houston stopping Walt Garrison on the the goal line on 4th down but there have been so many the Turkyday game comes to mind even though we were on the wrong side of that one,Then there Coach Landry screaming no Danny no as he SAID HIKE on a 4th down play.
    Man i could go on forever but you will not find a true Redskin or Cowboys fan that does not recall any of the few plays i or games i mentioned.
    I cant think of a better way to say it then Ron SPRINGS did when Shawn first came to the skins, With a smile he said yea he is now on the 2nd best franchise in football Only someone who truly understands the respect these teams have for each other can really appriate it.
    It looks like the NFC East is back to the best overall division in football so i look forward to many more great memories
  • GDM67GDM67 Posts: 2,523 ✭✭✭✭


    << <i> That classic shot of Duane Thomas breaking thru the famed Purple People Eaters. >>

    Those two teams weren't in the same division and thus didn't have the blood feud kind of rivalry that the Cowboys and Skins had, but...they had some truly classic playoff matchups during the 70's. Between them, they split all but a couple (Washington in '72 and the Rams in '79) of the NFC titles during the decade.

    How many of you '72 guys collect the Sunoco stamp set from that year? There's a Staubach rookie in it, as well. Graded or otherwise, those are really great items.
  • FavreFan1971FavreFan1971 Posts: 3,105 ✭✭✭
    I was right behind NCDolfan (Paul Deal I think) to complete the set 100%. I made a tough choice to sell my set due to some financial issues in late 2006 but have slowly started it back up. I was 100% completed with all 8's and 9's except for three cards. I sold a high series to a friend so he could complete the set and also down graded a couple of cards to 7's for him.

    This set by far was the most fun to collect. I bought about a half dozen packs in 2005 and got a PSA 10 Dave Williams that I trade to Rick at Mint State for 15 or so cards I needed for my set.

    I retired the set just short of 100% complete in PSA 8.

    But, I am starting back up again with the goal of 100% complete in PSA 7 or better.
  • Hey Troy, Nice job on the Packer team sets !! Collect what you love !!image
    Any team on any given Sunday, can beat any other team...unless they were playing the Miami Dolphins in 1972.
  • Hey, did anybody else notice that MOSH retired his set ? Hope to see a couple of those cards come up at auction !!!
    Any team on any given Sunday, can beat any other team...unless they were playing the Miami Dolphins in 1972.
  • Awesome 72's. I love the introduction of the playoff games, league leaders, and Pro Action cards. Personally, I like the look of the All-Pro cards. Tons of stars in those early 70's sets. Thanks for posting. Some incredible teams in that era...Cowboys, Steelers, Dolphins, Raiders, Vikings, Redskins.

    In the last couple of years, I've gotten back into collecting and it's all football cards from 1960-1980. I started in the hobby opening a lot of wax as a kid in the late 70's to mid 80's. Now I like to go back and get cards of the players I never had as a kid...Unitas, Brown, Namath, Sayers, Tarkenton, Griese etc.

    Paul
    Vintage Football Collector and Dolphins fan.
    First Cards ever collected - 1978 Topps Football.
    Working on a collection of the Top Ten FB Cards of each year from 1957-1987.
  • GDM67GDM67 Posts: 2,523 ✭✭✭✭
    I got boosted up a notch by his shuttering his set. I bought my PSA 9 Alan Page from him, so he has credit for a small portion of my set (small in number, but large in importance.)

    Likewise, Troy sold me his PSA 7 Yary rookie when he upgraded to an 8, right before he sold his original set, which was a real beauty.
  • Did I hear somebody ask the silly question, "Do I have the 72 Sunoco Stamps?"

    Why of course I do! I love them more than the Topps set!

    They were Licensed by the NFL, so they were able to feature full team logos, and the player selection is so complete.
    They cover almost every teams offense and defensive Players.

    We collected these as well when we were kids. I remember them being so much more exciting than the cards because of
    all the players, full team logos and the GREAT Action shots! 72 was a very special year.

    I have complete sets as well as the 56 page colletor book and the Deluxe 128 page collector Book. Both are in top grade with all the original stamps.

    I thought about having them graded. But with over 600 stamps in the set I could not justify spending three grand in grading fees just
    to have some clown at psa tell me what I already know. Im confident all the stamps in my set are in top NM-M/MINT condition.

    Lets take a closer look at the whole package.


    1st: The standard 56 page collect book(sorry it wouldn't fit on my scanner)
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    The 56 Page Book features and Introduction and a two page 1971 Super Bowl spread
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    The Book contains and offensive and defensive section for every team to collect the stamps:
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    The 128 Page Book features a Hall of Fame section and the same two page super bowl spread.
    It then carries the theme "Year of the Cowboy" and also features a two page color spread for each team
    that year and then the section for that teams stamps.
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    No DOUBT the album and photos are as awsome as the stamps. If not More


    Ive had my set stored in complete stamp sheets housed in 3-Ring plastic sheet with a white paper backing.
    This set was made completely out of the 9-stamp packets. They are still in complete sheet form. I just remove the perforated sides
    to open them. The covers (Cowboys, Jets, Eagles or Dolphins) are folded back under the sheet so it would fit in the 3-ring
    plastic sheets.
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    The stamps were issued in a varity of ways, The most common were the 9-stamp packets that you could
    get at sunoco with a gas purchase. There were four different covers on the 9-stamp packets.
    Cowboys, Eagles, Dolphins & Jets. Each packet was sealed on the edges with a perferation.
    image
    The inside cover had the mail-in offer for the 56 page album or the 128 page deluxe album. Both came with
    144 stamps(6 full sheets of 24) Just last year I purchased a full team sheet of Dallas Cowboys. I was unaware
    that they were issued in team sheets this way. I do not know how these were aquired.
    I have also seen the vinyl "Wallet" ablum. Im unsure weather or not they were issued with any stamps.
    I think it is safe to say that most of the High grade stamps are most likely coming from the full page sheets
    issued in the 56 and 128 page books.


    I was really going to submitt some stamps and start a PSA set. I removed a page of stamps from the 128 page book and
    seperated some of them. Needless to say the book is no longer complete(Oh well it still cool to look at)
    I also seperated a few sheets from my 9-stamp packet set, so now that set is not in tact anymore. although I do have all the stamps.
    All this and then I decieded 624 stamps = over three thousand dollars in grading fees. Scratch that Ideal.

    Here are the stamps from the Cowboys Team Sheet I purchased as well as the one graded stamp I got
    image
    image
    image

    image
    image
    image

    KILLER!!!!!!!! Now thats a TEAM Set! Every Player and Postion! Yes I do have the Mike Clark(Kicker)


    image

    The one graded one I have (Does this surprise anyone?)


    Next time, Back to the 72 Topps Set.


    So untill then, Don't lick the stamps. Our Tid-bit of the day?

    Walt Garrison once hit a Spitoon dead center with a chaw of snuff, while riding a bull.
    Yup, you guessed it...... Little Puddin was one tough hombre
    image

  • GDM67GDM67 Posts: 2,523 ✭✭✭✭


    << <i>Did I hear somebody ask the silly question, "Do I have the 72 Sunoco Stamps?" >>

    I had a pretty good idea what the answer to that question was, but I had to ask image

    << <i> Just last year I purchased a full team sheet of Dallas Cowboys. I was unaware
    that they were issued in team sheets this way. I do not know how these were aquired. >>

    Those generally featured a couple of new players, not available in the regular set. Who were the Cowboys' updates?
  • The Updates were Calvin Hill, Toni Fritsch, Marv Bateman

    Do you know if these team sheets were issued for all the teams.

    I know there is an update set.

    Im just wondering how the team set sheets were issued.


    John
  • wolfbearwolfbear Posts: 2,759 ✭✭✭

    The Sunoco stamps are awesome. Not only because so many players are represented,
    but the team logos aren't airbrushed out, so the action shots beat anything topps produced during the 1970's.

    I've got 16 complete team sheets : Atlanta, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Denver, Detroit, Green Bay,
    Houston, Miami, New England, New Orleans, Pittsburgh, San Diego, San Francisco, New York Jets, St. Louis, and Washington.

    The other 10 teams I never found in complete sheet form, so I have those teams assembled in small plastic packets.
    It's been years since I searched for them on eBay, but one seller used to have quite a hoard of them that he auctioned regularly.

    Thanks for bringing them up. Forgot I had them. It was fun digging them out and looking at them again. Just wish they were bigger.
    Pix of 'My Kids'

    "How about a little fire Scarecrow ?"
  • GDM67GDM67 Posts: 2,523 ✭✭✭✭


    << <i>The Updates were Calvin Hill, Toni Fritsch, Marv Bateman

    Do you know if these team sheets were issued for all the teams. >>

    Yes, they were. I've seen full sets up on eBay before.

    I'm surprised that Calvin wasn't in the original set.

    << <i>Im just wondering how the team set sheets were issued. >>

    A good question. Maybe a mail in premium, like the albums?
  • GDM67GDM67 Posts: 2,523 ✭✭✭✭


    << <i>It's been years since I searched for them on eBay, but one seller used to have quite a hoard of them that he auctioned regularly. >>

    Most likely the guy I bought my two team sheets, basic album and @ 25 unopened booklets from a couple of years ago. Not to shill for him, but he has several team sheets, including more than a few that you're missing, up on eBay right now.
  • cardbendercardbender Posts: 1,831 ✭✭
    Great thread guys...... being from Packerland, I wished Topps would've included a high number Bart Starr and Ray Nitschke in that series. That would have closed out their HOF careers nicely.

    I'm not working on this set, but I completed it as a kid in Ex-Mt shape and eventually ended up selling it. Since then I've purchased a few cards here and there and I've submitted some cards from a vending box purchase from a few years ago.

    The third series cards while somewhat tough to find in some parts of the country were plentiful here in Milwaukee, WI. I remember seeing all kinds of third series wax packs available all the way through Christmas 1972. They didn't seem to sell very well. I think a lot of FB collectors back then were use to only two series of cards. When this odd 3rd series came out, collectors in my neighborhood were saying WTF. Also there were only two Packers (Brockington all-pro and Carroll Dale) in the 3rd series, so it didn't go over real well with kids here in the cheese state.

    The Topps story goes that all the retailers returned their unsold Third Series packs/boxes to Topps and they then shipped them to Larry Fritsch for freight charges only. That's how he ended up with so many 3rd series wax boxes/packs. I'm not sure if that's a verifyable(sp) story but that was the rumor.

    Here's a few '72 cards from my collection:

    image
    image
    image

    Fischer looked like such a bad a$$ on this card sitting on the bench. Great player, under appreciated. I loved the Fischer hand pads so much as a kid, it inspired me to go out and buy a pair of them to wear while playing Football. The last cards of HOFers Larry Wilson and Jurgensen too.

    Those Sunoco stamps were cool. I had tons of them as a kid too. l stuck most of mine in the album book also. I liked the fact that they portrayed the full offense and defense of each team and you got to see a lot of players that never appeared on any regular cards.

    Good point Wolfbear, the logo's on the Sunoco's really made them appealing. I despise air brushing.

    Rich
  • ymareaymarea Posts: 1,576 ✭✭✭
    bigreddog,

    Thanks for sharing the album and the stamps. Those are sooooooooo cool! I love the action shots, the fact that they give us a good look at both light and dark jerseys (you'll notice that, with few exceptions, the Topps cards feature each team in only light or dark), and the inclusion of many players not featured on the cards. Looking at the photos with all those cool uniforms and games played in the elements reminds me of when NFL football was really football. Besides that, the Cowboys were actually good.image
    Brett
  • GDM67
    I scanned through ebay and I could not find any of the TEAM SHEETS you spoke of. Do you have a link/seller?



    CARDBENDER/RICH
    Very nice looking cards. I couldn't agree more on the Pat Fischer. ANY chance of me talking that UPSHAW card from you?


    John
  • jmoran19jmoran19 Posts: 1,605 ✭✭✭
    bigred, i won a Vikings sheet last week, I believe this was the seller:

    m1ch1gansports

    John

    Current obsession, all things Topps 1969 - 1972

  • GDM67GDM67 Posts: 2,523 ✭✭✭✭
    Yeah, that's who I was talking about.
  • Thanks for the info guys!

    I did find the seller, but he has nothing listed at this time.


    JOHN Did you recieve the Viking sheet? If so were you happy with the condition and seller?




    Thanks
    John
  • "Any team on any given Sunday, can beat any other team... unless they were playing the Miami Dolphins in 1972"


    NCDOLFAN

    You may want to adjust your tagline. To read the 1972 SEASON



    Technically, The Cowboys crushed that Dolphin Team on January 16, 1972 (24-3) Super Bowl

    image
    image
    image
    image
    image
  • elsnortoelsnorto Posts: 2,013
    Great thread... this is what collecting is all about for me. As long as this has somewhat turned into a Cowboys / all 1972 sort of thread at times, I thought I would share this:

    image

    These are from the 1972 NFLPA Vinyl Stickers set and includes another Staubach rookie (pictured) as well as another Cowboys legend, Bob Hayes. These vending machine issued 2 3/4" x 4 3/4" stickers are pretty cool and very affordable... might be worth adding Staubach and/or Hayes to your incredible 1972 Cowboys collection, Red.

    Snorto~
  • jmoran19jmoran19 Posts: 1,605 ✭✭✭


    << <i>Thanks for the info guys!

    I did find the seller, but he has nothing listed at this time.


    JOHN Did you recieve the Viking sheet? If so were you happy with the condition and seller? >>



    yes, the top left stamp had a small tear, probably happen when it was put in between the cardboard pieces, besides that it looks brand new

    Current obsession, all things Topps 1969 - 1972

  • Snorto

    Those are some nice looking "Stickers" (I thought they were Iron -Ons?)

    I have been aware of these pieces for many years and have just never got around to pursuing any of them.

    Although I am a Cowboy Fan and the 72 Set features the Cowboys 71 SB victory. The set has many more stories to
    be told besides the Cowboys. The 72 Dolphin Cards seem to be very popular for their historic undefeated season.
    Technically the 1973 Topps set features that undeafeated Dolphin season.

    I will be back with some other discussions of legendary cards from the 72 Topps Set.


    John
  • "Technically, The Cowboys crushed that Dolphin Team on January 16, 1972 (24-3) Super Bowl"
    I'll give you that one, It's just a shame that the Dolphins couldn't return the favor the next year....or the next year !!!image
    Any team on any given Sunday, can beat any other team...unless they were playing the Miami Dolphins in 1972.
  • scotgrebscotgreb Posts: 808 ✭✭✭
    Looking for numbers 224, 233, and 248 to complete raw Series 2.

    Please PM if you have any extras available in Ex/Mt or better. Thx.
  • Very neat thread to read through. Keep up the good work guys.
  • Now that another "passing" collection has been retired, and the cards are beginning to find their way into other collections albeit slowly because of asking prices, I wonder if it's more of a curse to finnish this set in high grade than a blessing. This makes 4 of the last 5 collections that have occupied the top 2 spots not last in their owners hands for more than 3 years. MOSH is the only exception and he bought the John Mclain set to get started. This was and probably will be the only full set of cards I will ever completely grade and although it did save me in my time of need, I will always miss it.
    Any team on any given Sunday, can beat any other team...unless they were playing the Miami Dolphins in 1972.
  • Hi ALL!

    Sorry Ive been absent here for awhile. Work, kids..... you know.

    Just to comment on the passing of another top ranked set. I know we all strive to do well on the registry, and while I did pick up a few cards from the latest set being retired I had to pass on many of the other cards for the simple fact that many of the 9's in that set were suffering from centering issues. I buy cards and not labels for my 72 set. This brings up another point I would like to make about the set Registry. Having the #1 ranked spot does NOT necessarily mean you have the best set. It does mean you have the best labels.
    Once again if you are holding one of the top 5-10 spots your simply splitting hairs. Anyone of those sets could easily be the top set depending on centering, etc..... While I really wanted to pick up a few of those low pop cards from that #1 set being sold off, many did not have the eye appeal and centering I try to require for my set. Bottom line was that I think my high end dead on 8's are nicer cards.

    Here are a few I did cherry pick and aquire from that set.

    image
    image
    imageimage

    John
  • ymareaymarea Posts: 1,576 ✭✭✭
    John,
    Those are all very nice pick-ups. You have a good eye for quality. I bought 16 cards from that set before they were listed on eBay. The owner, from whom I've bought many 8's in the past, emailed me when he decided to retire it and gave me an early crack at the cards. All the cards that I bought were 9's...I simply can't afford the 10's. I managed to acquire 4 or 5 more from the eBay auctions.

    With just one or two more upgrades I will move up to #4 all-time. It looks like I won't be in that spot very long, though. Someone else has been buying up cards like crazy from the now-retired set and is on the verge of blowing past mine on the registry. I don't mind though. You're right about the top sets being more about the flips than the cards. When they're all a bunch of 9's and 10's, it's like 6 of one, half-dozen of another.
    Brett
  • This is a great thread...

    I've always wondered how many others loved all things '72....The Sunoco stamps are way under appreciated in the hobby.

    And yes, Roger Staubach was (and still is) my football hero!

    Did I mention that this was a great thread?
    Collecting:
    Dallas Cowboys
    SuperBowl MVPs
    Heisman Trophy Winers
  • Anyone know the story on the series numbering. i.e. why did series 2 stop at 263? Shouldn't it have been 264 to complete the 132 cards sheet? Was one card double printed? Series 3 has 88 cards, were an additional 44 double printed?

    Also, how many wax pack variations are there in total for the 3 series?
  • jmoran19jmoran19 Posts: 1,605 ✭✭✭


    << <i>Anyone know the story on the series numbering. i.e. why did series 2 stop at 263? Shouldn't it have been 264 to complete the 132 cards sheet? Was one card double printed? Series 3 has 88 cards, were an additional 44 double printed?

    Also, how many wax pack variations are there in total for the 3 series? >>



    Topps usually printed the next series's checklist on the previous series sheet, a cheap form of advertising to who was coming up in the next series, therefore usually all but the 1st series checklists were double printed.

    The 3rd series sheets printed each card 3 times in blocks of 4 rows (88x3=264), most 87/88 cards series followed this pattern for the 60's and 70's. FYI, a true uncut sheet w/b 264 cards then topps would cut in half for easier handling. Here is the 3rd series half sheets (not mine, just like to save pictures):

    image

    image

    Current obsession, all things Topps 1969 - 1972

  • Thanks JM, good info.

    Anyone know about the pack variations also?
  • shouldabeena10shouldabeena10 Posts: 1,357 ✭✭✭
    I believe there are 6 wax wrapper COLOR variations for the '72 Topps set. Of course, there could be others I don't know about, but I have 5 of these 6 variations:

    Blue Players / Yellow "Football" / side panel is "Fifty State Charms"
    Blue Players / Orange "Football" / side panel is "Whale's Tooth charm"
    Red Players / Green "Football" / side panel is "Magic Magnet set"
    Green Players / Red "Football" / side panel is "Big mouth on a stick"
    Orange Players / Red "Football" / side panel is "Shake it up"
    Yellow Players / Red "Football" / side panel is "Shake it up"

    There's also another slight variation listed for the Blue / Orange wrapper. In Dave Richardson's "Wrapper Price Guide" it says that the Blue/Orange wrapper can be found with the number "12" printed next to the cutting bar. I have a couple without the number printed, but I have yet to get this "number 12" variation.

    If anyone knows of any other variations, please list them.

    Mike
    "Vintage Football Cards" A private Facebook Group of 4000 members, for vintage football card trading, sales & auctions. https://facebook.com/groups/vintagefootball/
  • Thanks Mike.


    What are the top 5-10 SMR values in PSA 8? Just curious as to how much the tough ones cost.
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