1958 Topps Football Card # 108 Ken Keller - Philadelphia Eagles (VG/EX) For Sale

1958 Topps Football Card # 108 Ken Keller - Philadelphia Eagles (VG/EX)

Football Cards

Football cards have long played second fiddle to their baseball counterparts, but it appears as if times are changing. As football has exploded in popularity to surpass baseball as America\'s Pastime, football cards have begun to follow suit.

1950-1959 Football Cards

Although not technically the beginning of football cards, the late-1940s and early-1950s marked the the emergence of regularly-issued football cards. While they don’t have the same popularity as baseball cards from the same period, 1950s cards are very popular for collectors based on their classic design and rookie offerings. Once again, Topps and Bowman battled for card supremacy during the decade. Bowman dominated the early-1950s and Topps owned the late-1950s.

Top rookie options from the 1950s include Jim Brown, Johnny Unitas, Raymond Berry, Lenny Moore, Otto Graham, Dick Lane, Bart Star, Norm Van Brocklin, George Blanda, Paul Hornung and Joe Paterno.

Product Details

The 1958 Topps Football card set\'s major claim to fame is the rookie card of the legendary Jim Brown (#62). The only other significant rookie in the set belongs to Sonny Jurgenson (#90). Other other players making their debut include Gene Filipski (#1), Milt Plum (#5), Jon Arnett (#20) and Willie Galimore (#114). A number of Hall of Fame players anchor the set, such as Bobby Layne (#2), Bart Starr (#66) and Johnny Unitas (#22). The checklist contains 132 standard-sized trading cards, measuring 2-1/2 by 3-1/2 inches. Some new design elements are incorporated into the set and a few things were restored after being left out in 1957 Topps Football.

Design

1958 Topps Football offers a distinctive design. For the first time since taking over the professional football monopoly from Bowman, Topps included a natural background behind players. They are shown inside an oval-shaped picture. It gives the illusion that the collector is \"taking a peek behind the curtain,\" so to speak. A solid color runs around the oval, which was dependent on the player\'s team (however, there were some exceptions, due to trades and other factors). In the case of a white background, a black box was placed at the bottom. The player\'s name, position and team appeared below the photo in a color scheme that was also dependent upon the team.

The card backs feature a bisected design similar to the 1957 format. The left side begins with a card number inside a circle, with the player\'s name beside it. Underneath is the player\'s position and team, with a couple lines of vital statistics. A short biography follows, with some players also getting a year/life stat box added at the bottom. The right side has a trivia question that has been designed to be scratched off with the edge of a coin to find the answer. Of course, cards that have not been subjected to the scratching are worth more than those that were.

Printing and Distribution

1958 Topps Football was released in a single series. As a result, all of the cards were printed in equal numbers. There are no short prints.

After a one-year hiatus, team cards return to the product. Each of the team photographs is set inside an oval frame like the rest of the cards, however, the players are not named due to space constraints. One card that is not considered a part of the set but was distributed inside wax packs, is a send-in wrapper redemption offer for felt initials. The set also has an unnumbered checklist.

Condition Issues

The solid colored edges of the oval are highly susceptible to chipping. Veteran hobbyists complain of the red cards being the most difficult to locate free from this issue. Centering on some cards is also a problem.

How We Grade:

GemMint (GMT): (10.0)A flawless card. To be in Gem Mint condition,a card’s borders must have a ratio of 50/50 side to side and top tobottom.

Mint(MT): (9.0-9.5)A perfect card. Well-centered with parallel borders which appearequal to the naked eye. Four sharp, square corners. No creases, edge dents,surface scratches, paper flaws, loss of luster, yellowing or fading, regardlessof age. No imperfectly printed cards – out of register, badly cut or ink flawed– or card stained by contact with gum, wax or other substances can beconsidered truly Mint, even if new out of the pack. Generally, to be consideredin Mint condition, a card’s borders must exist in a ratio of 60/40 side to sideand top to bottom.

NearMint/Mint (NM/MT): (8.0-8.5)A super high-end card thatappears Mint 9 at first glance, but upon closer inspection, may exhibit a veryslight wax stain on reverse, slight fraying at one or two corners, or a minorprinting imperfection. Centering must be app. 65/35 to 70/30 or better on thefront and 90/10 or better on the reverse.

NearMint (NM): (7.0-7.5)A nearly perfect card at first glance, butupon closer inspection, may have slight surface wear, slight fraying on somecorners, slightly out-of-register picture focus, a minor printing blemish orslight wax stain on reverse. Centering must be 70/30 to 75/25 or better on thefront and 90/10 or better on the reverse.

Excellent/NearMint (EX/NM): (6.0-6.5)Card may have visible surfacewear or a printing defect. A very light scratch. Corners may have slightlygraduated fraying. Picture focus may be slightly out-of-register. Card may haveminor wax stain on reverse, may have very slight nothing on edges. Centeringmust be 80/20 or better on the front and 90/10 or better on the reverse.

Excellent(EX): (5.0-5.5)Corners are still fairly sharp with only moderate wear. Cardborders may be off center as much as 85/15. No creases. May have very minorgum, wax or product stains, front or back. Surfaces may show slight loss ofluster from rubbing across other cards. Dark bordered cards may have one or twosmall nicks.

VeryGood/Excellent (VG/EX): (4.0-4.5)Shows obvious handling, but stilllooks nice. Corners may be rounded or have minor creases. No major creases,tape marks or extraneous markings or writing. Surfaces does exhibit loss ofluster, but the printing is intact. May have paper wrinkles. May show majorgum, wax or other packaging stains. All four borders visible, though the ratiomay be as poor as 95/5. Exhibits honest wear.

VeryGood (VG): (3.0-3.5)A well-worn card, but exhibits no intentionaldamage or abuse. May be “Mis-cut or Off-Center” with no border visible. Mayhave major or multiple creases, however, creases are not so deep as to show theunderlying paper. This card is completely readable, has not been written on,and has no tape marks or holes. Corner rounding may extend well beyond theborder.

Good(GD) (2.0-2.5)Shows excessive wear, along with damage or abuse. Will show allthe wear characteristics of a Very Good card, along with such damage as thumbtack holes in or near margins, evidence of having been taped or pasted, perhapssmall tears around the edges or creases so heavily as to break the cardboard.Backs may show minor added pen or pencil writing or be missing small bits ofpaper. Still basically a complete card.

Poor(P): (1.0-1.5)A card that has been tortured to death. Corners or other areasmay be torn off. Card may have been trimmed, show holes from a paper punch orhave been used for BB gun practice. Front may have extraneous pen or pencilwriting, or other defacement. Major portions of front or back design may bemissing. Not a pretty sight.