Card of the Day — Cardboard Police

August 29, 2026

1974 Topps #219 Ray Guy RC — Three PSA 10s, and the Card Next Door Is Franco Harris

The Pro Football Hall of Fame did not enshrine a punter until 2014, and that punter's rookie card sits one number below Franco Harris in the same 1974 Topps set. PSA has assigned a straight grade to 741 copies of Ray Guy's #219. Three of them came ba...

Card of the Day Football Vintage Hall of Fame Rookie Card

CASE #0293 Misdemeanor

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August 28, 2026

1970 Topps #25 Jan Stenerud RC — Nine PSA 10s in 762, and Canton's First Pure Kicker

The 1970 Topps football design tucks each player's position into a little brown football in the bottom corner of the card. On card #25, that football reads KICKER. In every case file this blog has published, it has never once run the word. No kicker,...

Card of the Day Football Topps Vintage Hall of Fame

CASE #0290 Misdemeanor

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August 27, 2026

1971 Topps #245 Joe Greene RC — Zero PSA 10s in 3,296, and Fourteen Nines Behind a Black Border

The card above is a PSA NM-MT 8, certification number 14003129. On most vintage football cards that is a very good copy sitting two rungs below the ceiling. On this one it is sitting two rungs below nothing at all. PSA has certified 3,296 copies of ...

Card of the Day Football Vintage Hall of Fame Rookie Card

CASE #0287 Misdemeanor

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August 26, 2026

1935 National Chicle #34 Bronko Nagurski — 187 Graded, One Mint 9, and Not a Single 10

PSA has graded the 1935 National Chicle Bronko Nagurski 187 times and has never once written a ten on the label. Not a single Gem Mint copy exists. There is exactly one Mint 9. There are six NM-MT 8s. The other 180 grade below that. The card picture...

Card of the Day Football PSA Vintage Rookie Card Pre-War

CASE #0284 Misdemeanor

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August 25, 2026

1982 Topps #51 Anthony Muñoz All-Pro RC — 42 Gems From 2,359, and the Same Gem Rate as Lawrence Taylor

The card above is one of forty-two. PSA has certified 2,359 copies of Anthony Muñoz's 1982 Topps rookie card across every full grade it issues, and exactly 42 of them came back Gem Mint 10. The slab pictured is one of the forty-two — cert 81783861. ...

Card of the Day Football PSA Vintage Rookie Card

CASE #0281 Misdemeanor

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August 24, 2026

1966 Donruss Marvel Super Heroes #12 — Iron Man's First Card, 191 Graded, One PSA 10

Iron Man's first trading card does not have his name on the front, does not have his face on the front, and is mostly a joke about somebody else's cape. He is the small red-and-gold figure at the bottom edge, arm raised, dwarfed by a cloaked giant wh...

Card of the Day Vintage Rookie Card Non-Sports

CASE #0280 Misdemeanor

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August 24, 2026

1984 Topps #280 Eric Dickerson RC — 143 Gems From 11,276, and the Same Gem Rate as Marino

The 1983 NFL Draft is remembered for its quarterbacks, and this blog has opened a file on the rookie card of each of the three who reached Canton. John Elway went first overall, Jim Kelly fourteenth, and Dan Marino twenty-seventh — five other quarter...

Card of the Day Football Vintage Hall of Fame Rookie Card

CASE #0273 Misdemeanor

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August 23, 2026

1972 Topps #200 Roger Staubach RC — 4 PSA 10s From 5,626, and More Flawed Nines Than Clean Ones

Roger Staubach was a 30-year-old reigning Super Bowl MVP by the time Topps got around to printing his first card. He had won the Heisman at Navy in 1963, then spent four years of mandatory active duty — including service in Vietnam — before he could ...

Card of the Day Football Vintage Hall of Fame Rookie Card

CASE #0279 Misdemeanor

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August 22, 2026

1982 Topps #434 Lawrence Taylor All-Pro RC — 193 Gems From 10,801, and 309 Qualified Eights

The sack did not become an official NFL statistic until 1982. Lawrence Taylor had already spent a full season destroying offenses without the league formally counting the thing he was best at — his 9.5 rookie sacks are still carried as unofficial. Th...

Card of the Day Football Vintage Hall of Fame Rookie Card

CASE #0276 Misdemeanor

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August 21, 2026

1979 Topps #390 Earl Campbell RC — 7,050 Graded, 30 Gems, and 622 Slabs With a Qualifier

The card at the top of this page is one of thirty. That PSA 10 slab — cert 81513350, from the FIGHT4OLDDC Collection — is one of just 30 Gem Mint copies PSA has awarded to the 1979 Topps Earl Campbell rookie in the entire history of the grading compa...

Card of the Day Football Vintage Hall of Fame Rookie Card

CASE #0270 Misdemeanor

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the cardboard chronicle

Tagged: Card of the Day

1974 Topps #219 Ray Guy RC — Three PSA 10s, and the Card Next Door Is Franco Harris

1970 Topps #25 Jan Stenerud RC — Nine PSA 10s in 762, and Canton's First Pure Kicker

1971 Topps #245 Joe Greene RC — Zero PSA 10s in 3,296, and Fourteen Nines Behind a Black Border

1935 National Chicle #34 Bronko Nagurski — 187 Graded, One Mint 9, and Not a Single 10

1982 Topps #51 Anthony Muñoz All-Pro RC — 42 Gems From 2,359, and the Same Gem Rate as Lawrence Taylor

1966 Donruss Marvel Super Heroes #12 — Iron Man's First Card, 191 Graded, One PSA 10

1984 Topps #280 Eric Dickerson RC — 143 Gems From 11,276, and the Same Gem Rate as Marino

1972 Topps #200 Roger Staubach RC — 4 PSA 10s From 5,626, and More Flawed Nines Than Clean Ones

1982 Topps #434 Lawrence Taylor All-Pro RC — 193 Gems From 10,801, and 309 Qualified Eights

1979 Topps #390 Earl Campbell RC — 7,050 Graded, 30 Gems, and 622 Slabs With a Qualifier