Thinking about starting a 1970s football set - but which one?

NeilDowney

Hi Guys, I'm thinking of starting a football set. I'd like some of the insight of the boards to help me decide. I am a big Cowboys fan so I loved the 90s (three superbowls in four years). However, I began being a Cowboys fan on January 17, 1971. Therefore, I remember collecting 1971 and 1972 Topps football cards. I also believe that the football that was played in the 70s was the best football ever. Those guys were REAL football players and played for the love of the game. I pretty much know that the set will be a 70s set for that reason. I am leaning towards the 1971 set because having put together the 1972 Topps baseball set, I like the bright colors. They also look like the 1975 Topps baseball cards (another big plus in my book). I also remember the 1972 Topps footbal set very clearly as being one that I liked as a kid. I don't want to bleed too much money from my 1956 Topps set so I'm not sure if I want to collect the whole set in PSA 7 or perhaps just the stars in an 8 and the rest in raw. I also thought about collecting just the rookie cards from all of the stars in the 70s. However, it doesn't have the same allure as an actual set does (I can't list it on the registry). Can anyone give me some advice on this subject? Neil

grilloj39

Neil...I don't collect football so I'll provide a recommendation on eye appeal alone. I think the 70 and 72 football are dull-looking sets, the 71 is the nicest of the three.

elway65

My 0.02.

Being a Cowboy fan, why not take the challenge of putting together a '72 Topps football set (it has Staubach's rookie card, along with a load of HOFers). The scarcer high numbers are tough, but you'll have fun putting together this vintage set. And if you like color, of course, you'll love this set. I actually made a good run at this set, but once I got to the high numbers, I threw in the towel (read: ran out of money and patience). I have tons of '72 commons in EXMT condition if you need any.



The '73 has some pretty interesting cards in it too, including The Snake and Franco's rookie cards.

SKINSFAN

NEAL think about a mid 70,s set like 76 on the cowboys front that opens up a whole bunch of great stars from da-bows like randy white and harvey martin and too tall rookies and you still have all the classic cowboys like roger the doger drew pearson 2nd yr.
The nice thing as you said you dont want to put a lot of $ in it and you can buy common nines in the 10 buck range and 8,s are dirt cheap.

But if you really want to collect something special forget those cowboys and go for a real team like the REDSKINS

Lothar52

yep... continue to collect 1956 topps BB!!!!

loth

1420sports

TTT
(it was bound to happen anyway)

JasP24

A couple of Key Card sets for you to consider would be the All-Time Cowboys Team set...Has all the great Cowboy rookie cards..Or if you are looking strictly for stars from the 70's, try the 1970's team of the decade set. Not all Cowboys players, but there are a couple on the all-decade team.

Both sets are fairly small (less than 20 cards), and it would be a way for you to list your set even though you have a diversified 70's collection like me...lol

If you are just looking for a yearly set, the 1971 set is the choice. But the bad thing is, it doesnt contain any All-Time Great Cowboys...Like SKINSFAN said, the 1976 set gives you the best selection of Cowboy greats...But then you are still missing out on the 1978 Dorsett RC...

Best of luck,
Jason

NeilDowney

Hi Guys, Thanks for your insight and advise. I think that I might have come up with the solution for my needs. The main problem as most of us know is when you collect a set, most times 60%-80% of the cards are commons or players that we aren't too familier with. However, since they are part of the set - we still have to spend good money on not so good players. My idea is to perhaps collect team sets. The savings of not having to get maybe 100s of cards that I don't really want would allow me to work on 12-15 different teams from all across the decade of the 1970s. This system would also allow me to get the great player cards from say the Cowboys from a few different years along with some of the great players from the Steelers, Jets, Dolphins, Colts etc. The savings from not getting 100s of commons would also allow me to get better grades for some of these players. That's a major plus for me. Now my new question is which teams from which years to choose. I am going to start a poll so that I can get a wide overview from 1970s football collectors and hopefully their reasons why. Neil

carkim

1972 Topps Football

1420sports

I think this should be moved to the Vintage thread. This is basically an indirect request for board members to sell cards so you can once again start a new set.

NeilDowney

Hi Guys, I am looking for advise and opinions with this thread - not cards to buy. Every thread is not suppose to be made into a pissing contest. Relax and enjoy this thread. We all might learn something about 70s football cards (I hope I do). Neil

Kid4hof03

Why not simply consider super bowl champs of each year if you want to do a whole handful of sets? I've done that with autographed cards for some years now.

I don't really get the pissy replies to the post it seems easier to pass a post by than to take the time to made foolish responses. Just my 2 cents.

perkdog

I have collected super bowl teams starting offensive players ie: QB, RB,WR, or even standout D players to ect...just a thought. Also of great teams as well, the fact that there is no registry for that type of collection lets me not worry abot spending $$$

1420sports

edited -

NeilDowney

Hi Kid, You gave me a good idea. I have been working on a spreadsheet of teams that made it to the championship games for that decade. It has been very helpful in seeing which teams had staying power and which ones were one playoff wonders. I'm using the info from Superbowl V (1969) thought Superbowl XVI (1980). I also like this era because it was after Green Bay was great and before the 49ers were great (spoken like a real Cowboys fan). Here's some things that I learned. Both the Chiefs and Jets won one Superbowl (no other championship game appearances). The Broncos and Redskins each lost one Superbowl (no other playoffs appearances). But the Cowboys - 8, Raiders - 8, Steelers - 6, Vikings - 5, Dolphins - 3, Colts - 3 and Rams - 5 did well in playoff appearances. I think that I'll focus on these 11 teams for now and narrow it down as I go. Now to figure out which years were the best teams for each. Neil