Uncut Sheets of 1969 Topps Football Cards

Below are two virtual uncut 132-card sheets of 1969 Topps football cards, one for each series. If you hold your cursor above a card, your browser should show you the number of the card and the name of the player. Clicking on a card will bring up the full-sized scan. (A real uncut sheet would not have black lines between the cards--that is an effect of scanning them individually.)

There are 264 cards in the 1969 Topps set, 132 in each series. The cards are numbered from 1 to 263, and there are two versions of card number 132, the second series checklist. Card 132A came in the first series, and like the other first series cards, it has no border. Card 132B came in the second series, and it has a white border. I imagine that Topps included a second series checklist with the first series to entice kids to buy second series cards later.

Full sheets, such as this 1966 Topps baseball card sheet, contain 264 standard-sized cards. Each of two 1969 Topps football card sheets shown here was half of a full 264-card sheet, and I presume the other half was identical.

You can see on the sheets that the checklists are inverted compared to the other cards in their rows. This way the white headers of the checklists aligned with the white footers of the other cards, and the cards' colored backgrounds also aligned.

Every other row of cards is inverted, as well. On the first series sheet this created large blocks of solid color, but on the second series sheet the blocks of color were divided by the cards' white borders. On the first series sheet the blocks of solid color made sense, because the absence of lines between the cards made off-centering less obvious. On the second series sheet the inverted cards make less sense to me, but perhaps Topps just printed them that way because they printed the first series that way.

Series 1 Sheet

Series 2 Sheet

Compared to the second series, first series cards are easier to find in high grade. The first series cards show wear easily on their colored edges, but the second series cards are often off-center. I have also seen a lot of second series cards with gray shadows on them from the adjacent cards in the pack. The numbered football on the back of one card often left an imprint on the front of the next card.

The following tables show how the cards were arranged by number on the sheet. As I said on the other virtual sheet pages, perhaps this was so the cards would appear to be randomly distributed in packs, even if they were packaged in order by row or column.

Series 1 Sheet Numbering

129	57	47	19	106	41	73	31	61	120	80
114	18	22	8	65	115	117	40	67	50	101
27	108	44	126	70	58	21	121	66	113	119
7	20	9	122	45	116	23	128	49	4	43
130	112	104	60	36	110	39	1	102	42	55
68	48	5	46	62	12	118	69	78	32	13
3	64	127	30	10	75	124	6	71	2	16
92	25	81	98	59	85	38	96	87	82	63
74	107	29	35	72	14	100	89	33	91	15
99	52	90	37	56	93	11	34	86	28	95
51	76	94	84	88	17	83	77	97	105	132
125	53	26	111	24	109	54	103	79	131	123

Series 2 Sheet Numbering

The backs of the cards marked in green on the second series sheet were pieces to a Fran Tarkenton puzzle.

139	133	257	201	242	188	215	166	206	184	246
136	160	147	263	253	220	233	199	156	231	176
178	249	193	170	207	240	262	222	255	179	244
251	140	161	175	169	227	236	216	155	223	186
208	151	250	219	194	224	174	168	235	149	132
245	144	143	177	137	211	145	256	243	150	167
171	148	229	221	197	198	164	254	196	192	135
158	182	204	172	225	228	230	173	180	183	189
165	203	226	239	241	191	200	234	260	157	252
190	153	181	210	205	138	248	232	261	209	134
154	247	217	162	218	213	141	187	146	259	237
163	212	185	159	258	238	152	202	142	214	195

You can see on the Series 1 sheet that the Jim Turner card is numbered 29A. That's one variation of the card; it has a red dot between NEW YORK JETS and KICKER. The other variation has a yellow dot. No card authority I know of recognizes the variations, but I call them 29A and 29B. I have not seen a yellow dot on any other cards in the set.

At the time of this writing, there were ten cards in this set with forty or fewer examples graded PSA 8 or better. The ten cards are 3, 132B, 133, 135, 154, 165, 167, 178, 208, and 245. Each of these cards is on either the left edge or the right edge of the sheet, demonstrating again that a card's position on the sheet affects its scarcity.

For general information on uncut sheets of vintage football cards, see my blog article, U is for Uncut Sheets. Also see my other virtual uncut sheets, listed in the left column of this page.