connriv Posted February 1, 2009 Share Posted February 1, 2009 Showing my age here, but I can remember getting a pack of Topps football cards (pretty sure Topps was the only sports card maker at the time) and thinking how bizarre the action shots looked with blank helmets. Most of the pictures featured players without their helmets if I recall correctly, but I clearly remember getting a special card of the NFC Championship game (Bucs/Rams) only to see the logos airbrushed off of the helmets.I assume this was because the NFL didn't grant them the rights to use the logos? Topps was a pretty cheap outfit at the time.By the time I got to college, sports cards had become a multimillion dollar industry again, so logos abounded. Anyone know more? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coast2CoastAM2006 Posted February 1, 2009 Share Posted February 1, 2009 Showing my age here, but I can remember getting a pack of Topps football cards (pretty sure Topps was the only sports card maker at the time) and thinking how bizarre the action shots looked with blank helmets. Most of the pictures featured players without their helmets if I recall correctly, but I clearly remember getting a special card of the NFC Championship game (Bucs/Rams) only to see the logos airbrushed off of the helmets.I assume this was because the NFL didn't grant them the rights to use the logos? Topps was a pretty cheap outfit at the time.By the time I got to college, sports cards had become a multimillion dollar industry again, so logos abounded. Anyone know more?i have a huge box of cards that are what you describe. i've been wanting to sell them but i'm not sure what the value are for them. Spoilers! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buzzcut Posted February 1, 2009 Share Posted February 1, 2009 Showing my age here, but I can remember getting a pack of Topps football cards (pretty sure Topps was the only sports card maker at the time) and thinking how bizarre the action shots looked with blank helmets. Most of the pictures featured players without their helmets if I recall correctly, but I clearly remember getting a special card of the NFC Championship game (Bucs/Rams) only to see the logos airbrushed off of the helmets.I assume this was because the NFL didn't grant them the rights to use the logos? Topps was a pretty cheap outfit at the time.Bingo. Topps only had a license with the NFLPA at that time. In 1982, Topps got back the license it had with the NFL in the late 1960's, but lost in 1970. Strangely in 1990, the NFL refused to grant a license to Topps, leading the company to issue this disclaimer: "Topps player cards are not endorsed by any team or league." Topps took it as a sign that they needed to upgrade it's cards in order to get back an NFL license and in 1991, they got it back. The CCSLC's resident Geelong Cats fan. Viva La Vida or Death And All His Friends. Sounds like something from a Rocky & Bullwinkle story arc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheo25 Posted February 2, 2009 Share Posted February 2, 2009 Showing my age here, but I can remember getting a pack of Topps football cards (pretty sure Topps was the only sports card maker at the time) and thinking how bizarre the action shots looked with blank helmets. Most of the pictures featured players without their helmets if I recall correctly, but I clearly remember getting a special card of the NFC Championship game (Bucs/Rams) only to see the logos airbrushed off of the helmets.I assume this was because the NFL didn't grant them the rights to use the logos? Topps was a pretty cheap outfit at the time.By the time I got to college, sports cards had become a multimillion dollar industry again, so logos abounded. Anyone know more?Topps baseball cards used MLB logos during that same time, so I wouldn't necessarily blame Topps willingness (or lack thereof) to spend for the absence of logos. May have been a reluctance on NFL Properties to release logo usage, for reasons we don't understand. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigEd76 Posted February 2, 2009 Share Posted February 2, 2009 The same thing occurred with Topps basketball cards around 1969-70, where they couldn't show the team name or logo, so the players wore their jerseys backwards, wore generic jerseys with nothing but a giant number, or wore a jacket... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimmy! Posted February 2, 2009 Share Posted February 2, 2009 Showing my age here, but I can remember getting a pack of Topps football cards (pretty sure Topps was the only sports card maker at the time) and thinking how bizarre the action shots looked with blank helmets. Most of the pictures featured players without their helmets if I recall correctly, but I clearly remember getting a special card of the NFC Championship game (Bucs/Rams) only to see the logos airbrushed off of the helmets.I assume this was because the NFL didn't grant them the rights to use the logos? Topps was a pretty cheap outfit at the time.By the time I got to college, sports cards had become a multimillion dollar industry again, so logos abounded. Anyone know more?Donruss was the same way with their early baseball cards (circa '81) "I secretly hope people like that hydroplane into a wall." - Dennis "Big Sexy" Ittner POTD - 7/3/14 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
apeman33 Posted February 3, 2009 Share Posted February 3, 2009 Showing my age here, but I can remember getting a pack of Topps football cards (pretty sure Topps was the only sports card maker at the time) and thinking how bizarre the action shots looked with blank helmets. Most of the pictures featured players without their helmets if I recall correctly, but I clearly remember getting a special card of the NFC Championship game (Bucs/Rams) only to see the logos airbrushed off of the helmets.I assume this was because the NFL didn't grant them the rights to use the logos? Topps was a pretty cheap outfit at the time.Bingo. Topps only had a license with the NFLPA at that time. In 1982, Topps got back the license it had with the NFL in the late 1960's, but lost in 1970. Strangely in 1990, the NFL refused to grant a license to Topps, leading the company to issue this disclaimer: "Topps player cards are not endorsed by any team or league." Topps took it as a sign that they needed to upgrade it's cards in order to get back an NFL license and in 1991, they got it back.I think that for Chargers players, they even airbrushed the lightning bolt out of the stripes over the shoulders. I could be wrong but I remember it that way. What seemed to be odd was that they could use the team name (Dan Fouts-QB-Chargers) but not the logo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
illwauk Posted February 3, 2009 Share Posted February 3, 2009 Back when I used to collect cards (this is when they still came with that strip of gum that was made during the civil war), I remember reading about how Topps started making the AFL's cards in the 1960's and the NFL had their made by Philadelphia. Maybe it stuck in the NFL's craw that Topps would dare try to legitimize an upstart league that they held a grudge against the card company til long after the merger? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
larrypep Posted February 3, 2009 Share Posted February 3, 2009 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StPatty33 Posted February 3, 2009 Share Posted February 3, 2009 I also recall a batch of hockey cards I got ~1997-98 where the Avalanche players had the logo on their jersey removed AND the main torso portion of the jersey was bright yellow. That freaked me out at the time. The below to be updated once the newest banner is raised! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigEd76 Posted February 4, 2009 Share Posted February 4, 2009 Joe Montana's Topps RC (1981) is missing the helmet logo:...and here's Steve Largent without the Seahawks logos:....and here's the Eagles without wings: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OMMF Posted February 4, 2009 Share Posted February 4, 2009 It seems odd that they would be able to use the team name but not the logo. Aren't the two usually connected?I remember back in the Genesis days, NHLPA 93 just used the city name and the colors leading to the New York Islanders becoming Long Island. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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