1972 Topps Football Cards

For the first and only time before it began issuing its sets all at once, Topps issued three series in its 1972 football set. However, the decision to include a third series seems to have been made at the last minute; there were no checklists for the new series as there were in previous years, and the final series has long been a very scarce issue. In the end, the set contained 351 cards, which made it the largest football card set ever issued to that time.

Card fronts feature a very basic design in comparison to previous years' sets. There are no banners or cartoons, or even team-specific logos, just square shapes and block lettering. A player picture shows up, with his name and position below, superimposed over him. The team name is shown at the top of the card inside a box that frames the picture. Each team has its own distinct color scheme. A white border surrounds the card. Backs feature the player's name, position and team stretched across the top and the rest of the card broken into two parts. On the left is some vital stats and a cartoon about the player, along with a circle containing the card number. The right side features a biography and year-by-year statistics for most players.

For the first time in several years, there are subsets. There are three runs (one in each series) of Pro Action cards, featuring game-action pictures. Cards #1-8 feature the 1971 conference leaders in several statistical categories. Playoff cards - including one for the Super Bowl - run from card #133-139. Finally, a series of elaborately-designed All-Pro cards appears in the final series, running from cards #264-287.

Originally, it appears Topps went with the same series format it had used since 1969: two 132-card series, with the second series checklist appearing in both series to let collectors know they would be showing up later. That led to a 263-card set, just like the three previous years. However, a third series of 88 cards showed up very late in the season. They don't appear to have been distributed in mass quantities. In fact, many of them have filtered into the hobby over the years after being offered by one seller who managed to hold onto several cases of them. As a result, the cards in the third series are much more valuable than the cards #1-263.

The most expensive card in the 1972 set is Joe Namath's third-series Pro Action card, and its key rookie card features Roger Staubach. Other rookies of note include L.C. Greenwood, John Riggins, Charlie Joyner, Gene Upshaw, Emmitt Thomas, Larry Little, Rayfield Wright, Ron Yary, Ted Hendricks, Jim Plunkett and Steve Spurrier.

Key 1972 Topps Football Cards:

• Joe Namath IA #343
• Roger Staubach RC #200
• Steve Spurrier RC #291
• Bob Greise AP #272
• Dick Butkus IA #341

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1972 Topps Archie Manning Rookie Card $8.49

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