tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27257197959732447.post7700143768658329483..comments2024-03-24T16:08:17.795-04:00Comments on The Topps Archives: Team Worktoppcathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10698182920578539949noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27257197959732447.post-55706906042212345542019-10-20T22:41:21.501-04:002019-10-20T22:41:21.501-04:00Thanks for sharing this great find. I love the 19...Thanks for sharing this great find. I love the 1968 Topps Football and Cloth Patches set, although given the scarcity I haven't made much progress in putting together a set of the team cards or the patches.<br /><br />Here is my look at the patches and cards:<br /><br />https://fleersticker.blogspot.com/2010/11/1968-topps-test-football-cloth-patches.html<br /><br />I think your theory that the NFL had more to do with the cards that ended up in the landfill than poor sales makes sense, as I agree Topps would likely rather not just want to dump product unless they had to. <br /><br />However, I'm not sure it was due to the logos. Some of the logos on the patches and the 1968 & 1969 Topps Football cards do look a bit homemade, but for the most part, they do match the logos that the teams were using at the time, or had used in the past.<br /><br />Here is an Coke ad from 1966 that has a number of logos that match:<br /><br />https://fleersticker.blogspot.com/2008/12/favorite-coke-ad-vintage-1960s-nfl.html<br /><br />Many of the NFL logos are also on this sheet of NFL pennants:<br /><br />https://www.ebay.com/itm/VERY-RARE-1967-Punt-Pass-Kick-NFL-16-Pennant-Uncut-Sheet-VERY-COOL/401291277050?hash=item5d6ed2f2fa:g:1T4AAOSwCU1YyGmp<br /><br />Here is a look at the AFL logos from the time:<br /><br />http://www.remembertheafl.com/AFLdecals.htm<br /><br />The AFL logos look a bit more handmade, but do match up pretty close to the teams' logos except for the Jets and Bills, which do appear to have been made up by Topps. <br /><br />The reason I don't think the logos were the issue is that there were NFL logos on some cards. For instance, the 1968 set does feature logos on helmets, such as card # 74 John Mackey, # 93 Bobby Bell and # 163 Andy Russell. The 1969 set also features helmets with logos, such as #33 Boyd Dowler and #214 Tom Vaughn. It wasn't until 1970 that Topps had to start airbrushing logos.<br /><br />If I had to guess, I would say there was an issue selling team photo cards where some of the people pictured on the card were not under contract to Topps. <br /><br />For example, I'm looking at the back of the Rams team card. It lists the Team Physician, the Equipment Manager, and a number of trainers and assistant coaches by name. I would not imagine all of those people had contracts to appear on Topps cards. <br /><br />Unlike team cards in a regular football or baseball set where you can barely tell who is who, these cards list by name all of the people pictured. Perhaps the fact that they were listing everyone by name on the back of the card became an issue since Topps didn't have contracts with everyone pictured, so rather than having do contract with every single person pictured, they decided to scrap the cards. Fleerfanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15864097341083255908noreply@blogger.com