When you think of TCMA, you probably think of the countless inexpensive baseball sets the company produced during the 1970s and ’80s. But TCMA dipped its toes into football, too, and its second football release is a lot tougher than you might expect for a 12-card oddball set from the dawn of the junk era.
The 1987 TCMA Football set, sometimes referred to as the 1987 TCMA Update, or 1987 TCMC Update CMC set, added 12 cards to TCMA’s 1981 “TCMA Greats” football issue. Although the numbering picks up where the earlier set left off, beginning with card #79, the 1987 cards are generally considered a separate release. Beckett does say that the first 78 numbered cards were reissued in 1987 as part of a 90-card set.
There’s another interesting wrinkle: the cards carry a © CMC 1987 copyright on the bottom of the backs. CMC was TCMA’s successor, which may help explain why this little 12-card release isn’t nearly as plentiful as you might expect.
My 2006 Standard Catalog of Football Cards (9th Edition) valued the complete set at just $20. Good luck putting one together for that today.
It’s not an expensive set by vintage-football standards, but it can be surprisingly annoying to complete cheaply. I’d figure on spending closer to $70–$80 for a set, with O.J. Simpson alone generally costing around $10 and Joe Theismann closer to $8. And if you’re impatient, expect to pay considerably more, like $125. And if you want graded copies, well, PSA has only slabbed 25 and SGC has encased just 2, including this O.J. Simpson.
Occasionally, like once a year (at best), a complete set will pop up and sell for ~$50–$60 on eBay.
1987 TCMA Football Checklist
79. Fred Dryer
80. Ed Marinaro
81. O.J. Simpson
82. Joe Thiesmann
83. Roman Gabriel
84. Terry Metcalf
85. Lyle Alzado
86. Jake Scott
87. Cliff Branch
88. Rocky Bleier
89. Cliff Harris
90. Archie Manning
For a set that consists of only 12 cards and was issued in 1987, you’d think this would be an easy one to knock out in an afternoon. It isn’t. That’s part of what makes these little oddball issues so much fun.
Click here to check out all of the 1987 TCMA Football cards and sets on eBay.
Happy Collecting!
I finished my set earlier this year if you like I know that they don’t have the OJ card but I have a local shop that might have these still lmk if ya need me to get them for you ironically OJ was my last card I needed for my set.