Every football card collector often has that set they come back to. Most wait for new rookie sets, while others fill their binders with vintage collections. Regardless of your preference, we’ve included our best football card sets for the month.
The 1957 Topps, 2012 Panini Prizm, and 1989 Score sets are our top three football card sets. We picked these card sets due to their scarcity, appeal, price, era, and history. In this article, we'll discuss all you need to know about these card sets, including their numbers, highest sales, and whether they're playable. Let's go!
Granted, every card collector has their preferences. But some card sets are just too hard to ignore due to their impressive features, such as scarcity, historical significance, and current estimated market price.
After thorough research, our experts have picked the 1957 Topps, 2012 Panini Prizm, and 1989 Score sets as our top three football card sets. We’ll discuss all you need to know about these sets, including their unique features and every other crucial detail to enable you to decide whether they’re worth collecting.
The 1957 Topps Football card set is the first one we’d point every collector toward when discussing vintage football cards. Our experts picked this card set due to its historical importance. Also, it’s suitable for people who love collecting high-priced card sets.
If you have followed news about the 1957 football season, you’ll recognize that this set features rookies like Johnny Unitas, Bart Starr, and Paul Hornung. Johnny Unitas’s popularity made this card set a favorite among vintage football card collectors.
Among our top three football card sets, it has the highest sale price, with collectors paying as high as $288,000 for the Johnny Unitas card. From the price, you can already deduce how scarce this vintage football card is.
| Card | Number | Highest Sale | Artist | Significance Within the Set |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Johnny Unitas | #138 | $288,000 | Topps art department | Most popular |
| Bart Starr | #119 | $167,300 | Topps art department | First full art featuring a certain character |
| Paul Hornung | #151 | $50,323 | Topps art department | Collectible |
The second card set on our list of football card sets is the 2012 Panini Prizm Football. Many collectors still talk about this set because it marked the beginning of card-printing changes that have remained popular in the football card collecting circle to date.
Panini Prizm introduced new card-printing concepts like Chromium, also called Opti-Chrome, which was a remarkable improvement from how traditional trading cards were printed in the 1980s and 1990s.
For context, trading cards back then were printed on paper stock or cardboard. On the other hand, Panini Prizm printed its cards on synthetic polymer, which gave them a metallic shine. This new genius card-printing method drew attention to the 2012 Panini Prizm Football card set. To this day, this appeal hasn’t yet waned.
It’s also one of the sets many collectors mention when conversations shift to memorable Prizm releases and rookie cards. There are a few parallels of this card set, which has, as expected, made it scarce and further increased the price.
| Card | Number | Highest Sale | Artist | Significance within the set |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Russell Wilson | #230 | $10,000 – $15,000 | Panini America design team | Popular character |
| Andrew Luck | #203 | $5,000 – $7,500 | Panini America design team | Full-color photographs featuring a certain character |
| Luke Kuechly | #279 | $500 – $600+ | Panini America design team | Collectible |
The 1989 Score Football set brings back conversations about Hall of Famers: Troy Aikman, Deion Sanders, and Barry Sanders. Therefore, we weren’t surprised it made this list.
This football card set is treasured by vintage card collectors due to its history. The 1989 Score football card set used cardstock instead of the cheap cardboard used by Topps.
Also, each card’s front and back featured catchy photographs rather than artworks. Another reason the 1989 Score Football card set became a hit was that the manufacturer waited until the NFL draft to release a Rookie card set; something that Topps had failed to do in their previous card set releases.
With this type of rich history, it’s unsurprising that the 1989 Score football card set commands such high prices among avid collectors.
| Card | Number | Highest Sale | Artist | Significance within the set |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Barry Sanders | #257 | $2,500 – $3,500 | Score’s graphic design team | Popular character |
| Deion Sanders | #246 | $1,000 – $1,250+ | Score’s graphic design team | First full-color photo featuring a certain character |
| Troy Aikman | #270 | $800 – $1,500+ | Score’s graphic design team | Collectible |
Before choosing our best NFL trading cards, our experts considered many factors. Below, we’ll show you how we judged the best football card sets before picking our top three:
One of the first things we consider before any NFL card rips is recent auction sales data from reputable sources like Heritage. Seeing the latest price collectors paid for the set helps us know how much it’s currently worth instead of relying only on the listed price.
Another important factor we check is the estimated market price for our recommended complete football card sets. We’ve included high-priced cards on our list. You can also find some that are sold below $500. With these estimated prices, you already know that these cards may fetch significant sums when you decide to sell in the future.
Our top three football card sets have historical importance. For instance, the 2012 Panini Prizm marked the manufacturer’s debut and introduced a new card-printing concept. Also, the 1989 Score football card set marked a switch from cardboard to cardstock in trading card printing. The history attached to these card sets is one of the reasons our experts picked them.
Before full-color photos on card sets became popular, some trading card manufacturers used artists to draw pictures on card sets. But our top three football card sets weren’t painted by artists. Instead, the photos on the cards’ front and back were from the manufacturers’ in-house design team. Each of these card sets features catchy photographs of the relevant football players.
A card set’s popularity or uniqueness is also something we consider before deciding whether it should join our list. Some fans of popular athletes may be partial to cards that feature them. For instance, some collectors believe Russell Wilson’s marriage to Ciara may have increased his popularity among millennial collectors, which further increased cards with his photo.
After live streaming the best football card breaks for a long time, one pattern has remained obvious. Scarce cards often attract collectors’ interest. For instance, only 10 of the Gold Prizm parallels of the 2012 Panini Prizm Football card set were manufactured. Therefore, this has increased scarcity and greatly increased the price of that football card set. In case you’re wondering how you can identify this card set, look out for the /10 figure on the front or back foil.
We also love to compare what seasoned collectors are saying about a set before adding it to our list. This way, you’ll be armed with the right insider information before making your purchase. Note that our rankings will be updated periodically. So, check our page from time to time.
There’s really no definite answer to this question. That’s because each collector has their own preference.
Some like NFL card sets with historical significance, while others may not care about such features. We’ve also observed that fans of popular athletes are partial to their cards.
The table below contains some categories of NFL card collectors we’ve noticed:
| Collector category | Card sets to try | Price level | Scarcity level |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vintage collectors | 1957 Topps football card set | Highest | Very scarce |
| Historical importance collectors | 1989 Score Football set and the 2012 Panini Prizm Football set | High | Scarce |
| Fan base collectors | 2012 Panini Prizm Football card set | Medium | Not too scarce |
| Unique card collectors | 1989 Score Football card set | High | Scarce |
Few hobbies can truly match the feeling of pulling a football set, finding the card you’ve always wanted, and finally sliding it into its rightful place in your binder. But you need to know the best football card sets to go for. After many NFL card breaks, our experts selected the 1957 Topps, 2012 Panini Prizm, and 1989 Score as the top football card sets.
These card sets are rich with historical significance. Plus, they’re scarce and high-priced, making them a collector’s dream.
We’ve included our list of football card sets to check out. Choose one and visit the sites on the banners on this page to check it out and add to your collection.
We’ve included three top football card sets in this article. Choose any of them to add to your collections.
The best football card set depends on your preference. Our three best NFL card sets are remarkable. So, you can make your choice from them.
Before buying a football card set, we recommend checking the PSA, verified auction sales data, and artwork. Don’t forget to check reliable collector sources for every detail you need to know about the card.
Loading …
