Once again we see a hint of what's to come on Topps baseball cards from their football cards. Specifically, I'm referring to the blue and red lettering on the player's name. That same lettering would be used on the 1960 Topps baseball cards. Here's a side by side comparison of a 1959 card of Hall of Fame Colts receiver Raymond Berry and the 1959 AL MVP Nellie Fox on the baseball version. Nellie is looking particularly sweaty. Perhaps he just swallowed his trademark cheek full of tobacco.
In 1957 both Topps baseball and football cards became the modern standard size of 2.5" x 3.5". The football cards featured side by side photos, one head shot and one "action" photo. Here is George Blanda's 1957 Topps card.
And here is the 1957 NL MVP Hank Aaron on a 1957 Topps football styled card.
1956 marked Topps' first foray into NFL football. Again the card sizes were a bit larger, just like the 1956 Topps at 2 5/8" by 3 5/8". As usual, I resized it to the modern day 2.5" x3.5". Here is a side by side of the actual 1956 Topps Football card of Hall of Fame quarterback Bobby Layne and the 1956 AL MVP Mickey Mantle. The Mantle card has already made an appearance on my Twitter page. It stemmed from an off the cuff remark from my brother. Now I am making baseball cards of all the (vintage) Topps football cards. You never know what will set me off, lol.
After Topps' 1951 (and their 1950 felt backs which I skipped over) venture into football cards, they took a break until 1955. Again they were collegiate cards, not NFL cards. The set was the 1955 Topps All-Americans, based on past All-American selections and included many all time greats of the game. They were the same size as the 1955 Topps baseball cards, 3 5/8" by 2 5/8". Here is Bears great Sid Luckman with the Columbia Lions.
Before I start another round of All Star Cards That Never Were, I am going to throw in something a little different. I was playing around with an idea of what Topps baseball cards would look like if they use Topps football format. So for absolutely no good reason at all, the next few posts will be MVP baseball players from the '50s on Topps football card designs.
In 1951 Topps had a set called Football Magic. The "Magic" referred to a scratch off quiz on the backs. The set also featured college players, not pros. This is Billy Wade who played quarterback for the Rams and Bears from 1954-1966. He's shown here playing for Vanderbilt.
I took the 1951 NL MVP Roy Campanella and put him in that card design. The baseball version looks a little wider because the '51 football cards were 2 1/16" by 2 15/16". I made the baseball version standard size, 2 1/ 2" by 3 1/2". Here they are side by side:
