Once upon a time, O.J. Simpson football cards were some of the most sought after in the entire hobby.
After all, O.J. was a Heisman Trophy winner … a rushing champion … a Hall of Famer … a movie star, for goodness sakes!
Then, well, the summer of 1994 changed all that forever, and O.J. eventually ended up in prison — though not for the reason a lot of folks thought he should have.
But within the hobby, at least, Simpson has rebounded to some degree, and his cards make some noise on the market again these days.
And, while many of his Topps cards from the 1970s are classics, O.J. also featured prominently in some pretty darn freaky oddball sets.
That’s why we’re here … to run down 15 of the best off-the-wall O.J. Simpson football cards you’re likely to ever see.
1969 Glendale Stamps O.J. Simpson
This was a fairly huge set for the time, numbering 312 stamps in all.
They were issued in sheets by team, either perforated or not.
If you find a single stamp, then, it’s either been pulled apart from its mates — or cut apart.
Either way this is about as oddball of an O.J. rookie card you’re likely to find.
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1970 Kellogg’s O.J. Simpson (#48)
In 1970, kids got either a treat or a major disappointment with their corn flakes.
If you were looking for a toy or iron-on of that silly rooster, you were out of luck.
But if you were looking for nifty 3-D cards of your favorite football (or baseball) players, well, Kellogg’s had you covered!
These cards are reminiscent of the super scarce 1968 Topps 3-D baseball test issue, and the O.J. looks sort of ominous in hindsight.
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1970 Topps Super Glossy O.J. Simpson (#22)
These Super Glossy cards were inserted as premiums in Series 2 packs of the 1970 Topps football product and featured 16 different players.
The cards are colorful with rounded corners and minimal backs, and — true to their title — feature a high-gloss finish.
In addition to Simpson, big names include Joe Namath, Johnny Unitas, Bart Starr, and Len Dawson.
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1970 Topps Super O.J. Simpson (#24)
Like their baseball counterparts, these cards were big (3 1/8″ x 5 1/4″) and as thick as melted candy corn (it’s nearly October as I write this — live with it!).
A standalone set of 35, this thing was also loaded with Hall of Famers, including Dick Butkus, Bob Griese, Namath, Simpson, and others.
The Simpson card features the same image as on the Super Glossy, against a solid yellow background.
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1971 Bazooka O.J. Simpson (#14)
Bazooka is actually a Topps product, so these cards are, too.
Issued in panels of three cards per 25-cent box of Bazooka, this set was a one-year wonder … but it made the most of its run by including 17 future Hall of Famers among the 36 cards.
A smiling O.J. was among them, and this is a pretty tough card to find, especially in top condition.
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1971 Dell O.J. Simpson
This set of 48 cards was issued as a centerfold in the 1971-72 Dell NFL yearbook.
Over the years — in the early years, mainly — collectors seemed to want to make these into individual pieces, so you will often find them as jagged singles (if you find them at all).
Like the others in this set, Simpson is fairly tough … but not super expensive.
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1971 Mattel Instant Replay Records O.J. Simpson
These “cards” were actually tiny (2 1/2 inches in diameter) records that could be played in a special toy made just for that purpose.
Each record gave kids about 30 seconds of hightlights about the player pictured, who was rendered in a comic drawing.
While far from a typical collectible, there is no denying this is one eye-catching O.J. issue that screams “Seventies!”.
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1971 Topps Game Cards O.J. Simpson (#7)
Topps issued a set of baseball playing cards in 1968 (not to mention two such sets in 1951), so it was high time they did likewise for football by 1971.
Sy Berger and the other big wigs at T.C.G. must have felt the same way, because they gave us this 53-card set — 52 players and one first-down marker.
O.J. goes for a nine-yard run on his card, which seems just about right for a prime-time Juice.
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1971 Topps Pin-Ups O.J. Simpson (#13)
Go ahead … admit it …
You thought you were going to see a picture of O.J. in a bikini here, didn’t you?
Nah … these aren’t that kind of pin-up.
Rather, these are little posters (5″ x 7″) that were issued folded up as inserts in packs of 1971 Topps football cards.
And O.J. appears in full Bills uniform, plus a smile.
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1972 NFLPA Iron-Ons O.J. Simpson
If you ever wanted to have Simpson’s face at peak sideburn grooviness tattooed all over the front of your shirt, this is the card for you.
The disclaimer here is that these things aren’t really cards at all — they’re floppy cloth.
All 35 of them were available at vending machines across the nation.
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1972 NFLPA Wonderful World Stamps O.J. Simpson (#43)
The NFLPA was busy in 1972, also issuing this set of 390 stamps, along with the requisite stamp album.
O.J. is looking pretty Hollywood in his shot, especially considering he was still toiling in cold, snowy Buffalo.
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1977 Topps Mexican O.J. Simpson All-Pro (#100)
In 1977, Topps tried a little experiment, printing an entire duplicate run of their base football card set in Mexico … identical in every way … except the text was in Spanish.
And the cards were perforated on the sheets.
And … they may have been hand-torn and placed into packs.
And you only got two (with gum) or four (no gum) cards per pack.
And the cards allegedly bombed in Mexico and sat in a warehouse until 1980 or so.
Other than that — same.
The end result for us is a rare card of O.J. Simpson, seleccion AFC in 1976, and a dude who picked up 1000 yardas on the ground that same year.
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1977 Topps Mexican O.J. Simpson Record Breaker (#453)
Same story here, except Simpson was busy breaking records, in particular rushing for 273 yards against the Detroit Lions on November 25, 1976.
Impuso Record!
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1977 Topps Mexican Rushing Leaders – Simpson/Payton (#3)
This card would already be double trouble thanks to Simpson’s NFC-leading rushing counterpart, Walter Payton, another denizen of Canton.
But having Sweetness and Juice teamed up only sweetens what is considered to be one of the twelve or so scarcest cards in the set, probably due to a short-print situation.
Finding any of these three might be a problem, but finding this one would make you a Sherlock Holmes of the cardboard world.
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1978 Topps Holsum O.J. Simpson (#29)
These cards were issued with loaves of Holsum bread, but they bear no marking in testament to that fact.
Oh well, Topps made these things cleaner and brighter than any of their base sets of the era, so that’s a plus.
Even if O.J. does look ticked about landing with the woeful San Francisco 49ers.
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