Between his basic and master set, Jim Brown is the most popular Pre-1970 player in PSA’s football player set registry. It’s no surprise why. Brown was an All-American at Syracuse University, was dominant over his NFL career, then had a successful post-NFL career in film. Brown is the only player in NFL history to average over 100 rushing yards per game. He was the 1957 Rookie of the Year, 3x NFL MVP, NFL champion in 1964, and an 8x First-Team All-Pro with 12312 rushing years, 106 rushing TDs, 2499 receiving yards, and 20 receiving touchdowns. Remember, in Brown’s first four seasons, there were only 12 games, and in his last five seasons, there were 14 making his statistical achievements even more impressive.
While many people are familiar with the 1958 Topps Jim Brown rookie card, it’s an iconic card for football collectors; I thought I would highlight five other Jim Brown cards that collectors may not know.
1959 Bazooka Jim Brown Hand Cut
PSA has graded 21 of these cards, and they carry a hefty premium. Memory Lane Auctions sold a PSA 3 for $7161 in March 2021. A PSA 7 last sold in August 2019 for $15k. Most of the cards are graded authentic because of miscuts along the dotted lines that border the card.
1960 O-Pee-Chee Tattoos Jim Brown
PSA’s Set Registry weighting of 5 for this card is wholly inappropriate. The 1960 O-Pee-Chee Tattoos Jim Brown card is the most challenging Jim Brown card to find. Not a single collector in the Top 10 of the registry has one. That’s because it’s a Pop 1 card that last sold in March 2018 when the PSA 2 copy pictured above sold for $400 on eBay.
In describing the set, Beckett writes that “This set was thought to have been distributed in 1960 like the corresponding baseball issue. It appears they were issued as a separate set by both Topps and O-Pee-Chee in Canada.”
1962 Kahn’s Wieners Jim Brown
PSA has graded 30 1962 Kahn’s Wieners Jim Brown cards, so they are a little more affordable when one comes to market. In October 2020, a PSA 7 sold for $900 on eBay. And yes, these cards were packaged with hot dogs.
1962 Post Cereal #61 Jim Brown
The 1962 Post Cereal Jim Brown is a bit more common with a PSA population of 134, which means this is one of the more affordable Jim Brown cards. A PSA 2 sold for $36 in July 2021, and the last higher-grade card, a PSA 7, sold for $359 in April 2019.
If you want to know more about the set, check out the book “Goal Posts: The 1962 Post Cereal Football Card Promotion” by Ken Marks.
1964 Wheaties Stamps Jim Brown
The 1964 Wheaties Stamps set is pretty affordable as a whole. The set of 74 came perforated in a 48-page album; Sports Collectors Daily has an excellent overview of the set. With a population of 49, a Jim Brown will set you back between $160-$200 for a PSA 8 or 9.
If you’re a Jim Brown collector, let me know which oddball card has been the toughest for you to find down in the comments. And don’t forget to follow @PostWarCards on Twitter for more hobby chats.