Collectors celebrate return of Topps Football, classic NFL designs

Football collectors are looking forward to many great things during the 2024 NFL season, and one of them is the return of Topps cards for the first time since 2015.

After decades of producing cards featuring gridiron greats, Topps returns to the football card market after the NFLPA last year announced that it had terminated its relationship with Panini in favor of Fanatics. In response, Panini filed an anti-trust lawsuit. Fanatics responded with a countersuit.

Fanatics had initially struck a name, image and likeness deal with the NFLPA in 2021 to produce NFL trading cards, a deal that was set to start in 2026 but instead was pushed up sooner following the NFLPA’s sudden breakup with Panini.

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While lawyers attempt to sort things out, Topps has officially re-entered the NFL card market. The result has been the release of Topps Now cards following the recent NFL Draft—a deep class where six quarterbacks were selected in the first round—and a new set called Topps Composite, which was released Aug. 30 and features card brands such as Topps Chrome, Chrome Black, Topps Finest, Allen & Ginter, Heritage and others. The players on the cards feature no team logos but an array of designs. 

Headlining the new Topps Composite series is quarterback C.J. Stroud’s first autographed rookie card. Other Fanatics-exclusive athletes such as Will Levis and Bryce Young will also have their first autographed cards featured in the sets.

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Other Topps Football highlights include:

• Base cards featuring current NFL players as well as legends such as Tom Brady. Each pack contains eight cards with each hobby box containing three autographs.

• New Topps Resurgence cards featuring Voltaic Randy Moss and other designs.

• Chrome Black and Cosmic Chrome on-card autographs.

• Paper inserts including Modern Artists, Portrait Gallery, Football Flashbacks and Spotless Spans. Chrome inserts honor the 50th anniversary of 1973 Topps Football.

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• Chrome Radiating Rookies, a new modified base set design that features the top radiating rookies with a cosmic-esque green and yellow radiation look coming off the player's silhouette.

Collector and Sports Card Investor Geoff Wilson called the return of Topps Football cards “a big deal for collectors.” “This is a big topic,” he said on his YouTube channel. 

While Wilson said unlicensed cards are often not the way to go, “it will be interesting to see how it will impact pricing on Panini products” from this year.

Most of this year’s top draft picks can be found in Topps products such as 2023 Bowman University Chrome Football and in the 2023-24 Bowman University Best Football release. While those cards feature players in their college uniforms, future NFL releases produced by Topps will feature these future stars with their pro teams. Their Topps NFL rookie cards would be part of sets that are released next year.

It was in 1951 when the Topps Magic Football set became the company’s first foray into the sport. It wasn't until the college-themed 1955 All-American Football set that Topps tried again. Starting in 1956, and every year through 2015, Topps produced NFL sets until they lost the license to Panini.

The evolution of Topps flagship set grew from portraits to action shots. The biggest design innovation came in 1965. While the design looked traditional in terms of layout, the cards—known as “tall boys”—were larger than normal. Measuring 2½-by-5 inches and featuring bright colors, it was Topps’ one-time deviation from standard sizes. The set is also famous for having the legendary rookie card of New York Jets quarterback Joe Namath.

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Prior to Topps, Bowman and Leaf had produced NFL cards. Like with baseball, Topps would become synonymous with the sport by the 1960s after Bowman lost its license by 1955.

“It was the standard. Topps was the set to get,” said Mike Hattley, who owns Touchdown Treasures in New York.

All these years later, Hattley said, there remain Topps sets that stand out for most vintage collectors. He said among them is the 1972 set. Prior to then, Topps had released cards in two, 132-card sets. In 1972, Topps surprised collectors by releasing a third series late in the season. The third series was printed in smaller quantities. As a result, the cards from that series, including Namath’s Pro Action card, have become valuable.

“The cards are hard to find and extremely difficult to find complete sets,” Hattley said.

Hattley said another set collectors like because of its rarity is 1977 Topps, in particular one in Spanish that was sold in Mexico, the NFL’s first international foray.

“These are particularly hard to find,” he said of the 528-card set that often feature cards that are off-centered.

The 1980s brought with it big stars and overproduction. However, sets from 1981, featuring quarterback Joe Montana’s rookie card, and 1985, with quarterback Warren Moon’s first appearance in an NFL product, have become very collectable in recent years. Montana’s cards from that time— especially ones that are autographed—can sell at high prices.

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While Tom Brady is all the rage among newer collectors, Hattley noted that Montana continues to sell well because he’s “never lost a Super Bowl game. Brady lost three.”

In fact, there has been a spike in collectors seeking vintage NFL cards. James Mooney, a hobbyist who attended the Chantilly Show in June at the Dulles Expo Center in Virginia, said he’s “excited to see Topps making football cards” again.

“Some of the designs have become iconic over the years,” he added, noting that cards from the 1970s and early ’80s are his favorite to collect. “The possibility of seeing some modern players with a vintage design will be awesome.”

Designs took on a modern look in the early 1990s as competition with other manufacturers such as Upper Deck, Score, Pro Line and Pro Set grew fiercer. Standard card stock gave way to glossy and foil enhancements as the early 2000s approached. Topps eventually lost the NFL license to Panini beginning in 2016.

“Imagine seeing Patrick Mahomes featured in a 1985 Topps design? That would be incredible,” Mooney said. “It’s something new to look forward to in the coming years.”