Nearmint's Vintage Football Card Blog

Yesterday I added a virtual uncut sheet of 1964 Philadelphia football cards to the Vintage Football Card Gallery. I modeled the virtual sheet after a real one that is for sale in an upcoming auction. Thanks to Steve of the thecowboysguide.com for pointing out the auction.

Whereas 1965, 1966, and 1967 Philadelphia sheets appear to have had the same card numbering scheme, the 1964 Philadelphia sheet is numbered differently. On the 1964 sheet, groups of five to ten teammates appear on consecutive cards in the same row. I suspect that this caused a lot of teammates to appear together in packs, and that’s why Philadelphia changed their numbering scheme in 1965 to one that appeared more random.

(Click on the image to see the full virtual sheet.)

Gale Gillingham, an offensive lineman for ten seasons with the Green Bay Packers, passed away on October 20. Today’s Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has a report. Gillingham made the Pro Bowl five times, and he was inducted into the Packers Hall of Fame in 1982.

The cards pictured here are Gillingham’s rookie card, a 1970 Topps, and his last card, a 1975 Topps. He appeared on a number of cards and stamps in the intervening years, as well. You can see all of Gale Gillingham’s cards in the Vintage Football Card Gallery.

The Miami Dolphins will add Jim “Mad Dog” Mandich to the Dolphins Honor Roll on December 4, according to the Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel web site. Mandich played tight end for the Dolphins for eight seasons, then did radio broadcasts for the team for nineteen years. He passed away earlier this year.

The card shown here is Mandich’s rookie card, a 1975 Topps. I added it to the list of vintage football cards of members of the Miami Dolphins Honor Roll in the Vintage Football Card Gallery.

As I have said in previous posts, I have concluded that uncut 1965, 1966, and 1967 Philadelphia football card sheets all had the same card numbering scheme. Thus, from a picture of a 1966 Philadelphia half-sheet, I was able to assemble virtual half-sheets of 1965, 1966, and 1967 Philadelphia cards. Of course, I would also like to assemble the second half-sheet for each set, but I haven’t yet seen an example of a real one. So I started collecting badly miscut cards from the three sets, in hopes of piecing together the second half-sheet. For example, by looking at the miscut Ernie Green card shown here, I can tell that the card to its left was Ben McGee, and I can conclude that cards 154 and 41 were adjacent on the sheets for all three Philadelphia sets.

The cards I have so far are toward the bottom of my Uncut Sheets in Progress page. If you have any badly miscut cards that could help the cause, please send me some scans!

Yesterday I added a virtual uncut sheet of 1965 Philadelphia football cards to the Vintage Football Card Gallery. I have not seen an actual 1965 Philadelphia uncut sheet, but by looking at badly miscut cards, I have concluded that 1965, 1966, and 1967 Philadelphia sheets all had the same numbering scheme. I have seen a picture of a 1966 sheet, and I used it to construct the 1965 virtual sheet.

Each of the 1964-1967 Philadelphia sets contains 66 double prints, though I have not seen the double prints documented in any of the price guides. The 1965 Philadelphia virtual sheet shows which cards are double prints.

(Click on the image to see the full virtual sheet.)

In honor of Al Davis, who passed away today, I added an interactive 1964 Topps Oakland Raiders team card to the Vintage Football Card Gallery. The card pictures the 1963 Raiders team, which Davis coached to a 10-4 record. That was the Raiders’ first winning season, and Davis was named the AFL Coach of the Year.

As always, I learned a few things while assembling the interactive card. One thing I learned is that one of the players pictured, Tom Morrow, holds the NFL record for most consecutive games with an interception. As far as I know, Morrow never appeared on a card by himself.

(Click on the card image shown here to go to the interactive version.)

Yesterday I added a virtual uncut sheet of 1967 Philadelphia football cards to the Vintage Football Card Gallery. I have not seen an actual uncut sheet, but by looking at badly miscut cards, I concluded that 1967 Philadelphia sheets were numbered like 1966 Philadelphia sheets. I have seen a picture of a 1966 sheet, so I used it to construct the 1967 virtual sheet.

Like the 1966 Philadelphia set, the 1967 Philadelphia set contains 66 double prints, but they are not documented in the price guides. The virtual sheet shows which cards are double prints.

(Click on the image to see the full sheet.)

Don’t ask me how I got there, but the other day I found myself thinking about players with “Mad” nicknames. Here are four I thought of: Daryle “Mad Bomber” Lamonica, on his 1968 Topps Stand Up insert; Ted “Mad Stork” Hendricks, on his 1975 Wonder Bread card; Alex “The Mad Duck” Karras, on his 1966 Philadelphia card, and Jim “Mad Dog” Mandich, on his 1976 Topps card.

Can you think of more?

Joe Krupa, a defensive tackle for the Pittsburgh Steelers from 1956 to 1964, passed away on September 13. The Chicago Sun-Times web site has a report. Krupa was a Pro Bowler for the Steelers in 1963.

The cards pictured here are Krupa’s rookie card, a 1958 Topps, and his 1964 Philadelphia card. He also appeared on a 1959 Topps card, and on a number of minor issues. You can see all of Joe Krupa’s football cards in the Vintage Football Card Gallery.

Robert “Buddy” Tinsley, a member of the CFL Hall of Fame, passed away on September 14. After spending one year, 1949, with the AAFC’s Los Angeles Dons, Tinsley played eleven seasons for the CFL’s Winnipeg Blue Bombers. In those eleven seasons, he played in five Grey Cup (CFL championship) games. The Blue Bombers won two of them, in 1958 and 1959.

Though he never played in the NFL, Tinsley appeared on a 1950 Bowman card for the Pittsburgh Steelers. When the AAFC folded after the 1949 season, the AAFC’s Colts, 49ers, and Browns joined the NFL, and players from the other AAFC teams were distributed among the NFL teams in a “dispersal draft.” The Steelers chose Tinsley in the first round, but he opted to play in Canada instead. (See Tinsley’s CFL Hall of Fame page for a brief summary of his career.)

Tinsley also appeared on a number of CFL cards. I don’t have them in the Gallery yet, but you can find most of them on eBay.

A few other members of the CFL Hall of Fame appeared on NFL football cards, as well. You can search for cards of CFL Hall of Famers in the Vintage Football Card Gallery.