1970 Topps Football Cards

There are 263 cards in the 1970 Topps football card set. They were released in two series, with cards 1-132 in the first series, and cards 132-263 in the second. Second series cards appear to have been printed in slightly smaller quantities, so they tend to sell for a bit more. Card #132, the second series checklist, was included in both series, and is thus a double print.

There are variations of two cards in the set: the Lance Rentzel and Calvin Hill cards were printed with the player's name in either red or black. In each case, the variation with the black name is much scarcer than the one with the red name.

First series 1970 Topps packs included poster inserts, and second series packs included 1970 Topps Super Glossy cards. The posters were a weak effort: though they have the players' names on them, the pictures on them are generic drawings that could be anybody. I don't yet have the posters in the Gallery, but you can see examples on eBay. The Super Glossies, on the other hand, are brilliant, and they are among my favorite football cards.

Rookie cards of Pro Football Hall of Famers in the 1970 Topps set: Lem Barney, Elvin Bethea, Tom Mack, Alan Page, O.J. Simpson, Jan Stenerud. Rookie cards of Heisman Trophy winners in the 1970 Topps set: O.J. Simpson, Mike Garrett.