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A Brief History of Olympic Trading Cards

It seems as if no matter what network you are watching, at some point during the televised Olympic coverage there will be a story about Olympic-related collectibles. Most of the time these stories focus on pins. You rarely, if ever, see any of these stories.

By Jul 27,2012  10

It seems as if no matter what network you are watching, at some point during the televised Olympic coverage there will be a story about Olympic-related collectibles. Most of the time these stories focus on pins. You rarely, if ever, see any of these stories mention trading cards. Part of that may be because it’s not very often that licensed Olympic trading card sets are produced. There are plenty of NBA, MLB and multi-sport trading card sets that have Team USA cards in them, including Upper Deck’s Goodwin Champions and Topps’ American Heritage, but as far as sets that focus on the games themselves, there have been less than 10 sets produced. Just in time for tonight’s Opening Ceremonies, here’s a brief history of what’s come so far:

Cassius Clay card from 1983 Topps set

Greatest Olympians (Topps, 1983) This 99-card included cards from sports legends such as Muhammad Ali, Jerry West, Cy Young, Bruce Jenner, Jim Thorpe, Jesse Owens, George Foreman, Dorothy Hamil and Joe Frazier. You can find sets for around $20.

Cards from 1991 Impel Hall of Fame card set

U.S. Olympics Hall of Fame (Impel, 1991) This is a 90-card set that features many of the same athletes that were in the Topps’ release from 1993. Like many cards produced in the early 1990s this set was overproduced and you can find boxes for around $15 – $20 and sets for less than $10.

Card from 1992 Impel set

U.S. Olympicards: 1992 U.S. Olympic Hopefuls (Impel, 1992) This released attempted to capitalize on the excitement of the “Dream Team” and featured cards of Team USA basketball members in most of it’s advertising. This 110-card set didn’t just focus on basketball, other sports were represented as well, although it was released before the Olympics which is why the subtitle included “Hopefulls”. It was also the beginning of trend of including past Olympic stars as well as Olympic hopefuls in card sets. The main reason being that getting the cards in stores during the Olympics requires the cards be produced before the teams are finalized. Autograph cards were randomly inserted which made the set popular, although you can still find unopened boxes for under $30.

Greg Louganis card from Upper Deck 1996 set

US Olympic Champions OlympiCards (Upper Deck, 1996) This set contains 135 base card set plus 44 insert cards. Following the example of the 1992 Impel release, this set contained past Olympic stars as well as athletes who were hoping to make Team USA. Unopened boxes can be found for around $40.

Looney Tunes Olympic Cards

Looney Tunes OlympiCards (Upper Deck, 1996) There are only 45 cards in the base set for this release features Bugs and his pals as athletes in various Olympic sports. Boxes contain 36 packs with 8 cards per pack. There were also insert cards, unopened boxes can be found for under $30.

Card from 1996 Collect-A-Card set

Centennial Olympic Games (Collect-A-Card, 1996) This 120-card set is more historical and artsy and less athlete based. The fronts of most of the cards feature Olympic sites and posters while the backs list winners of various events such as as the 4 x 100 meter relay races. There are athletes such as Bart Conner and Wilma Rudolph pictured on some of the cards, but for the most part, there is much more poster art. This should be a popular set for those who enjoy Olympic History. Chase cards for this series include 20 pogs, 20 poster cards and 12 torch cards. There are 36 packs in a box and box prices range from $15 – $20. The 120 card base sets sell in the $8 – $15 range. Chase cards range from $5 – $10 each.

Tyson Gay patch card from Topps 2012 set

US Olympic Team and Hopefulls (Topps, 2012) Hobby boxes promise 3 hits (autograph or memorabilia cards) per box. This is a set filled with insert cards including autographs, relic cards, patch cards and stamps. You can currently find sets for around $10, hobby boxes close to $100, retail boxes $63 and blasters (8 packs) for $20. If any of the athletes have a recording breaking 2012, like Michael Phelps did in 2008, look for the prices to rise on this product.

London 2012 Olympics Official Sticker Collection (Panini, 2012) This collection focuses on the athletes from Great Britain. The set is made up of 250 base cards, 50 glitter foil cards, 40 super foil cards and 10 ultimate foil cards. Unlike the US release, this also includes athletes from the Paro Olympic games. In addition to the stickers, Panini also produced an album to go with the stickers. Unopened boxes can be found for around $60, you can find individual sticker packs for $2 – $3 each.

In addition to the sets listed above, there have also been sets released for individual US Olympic sport teams. In 2000, there were Team USA sets produced for Volleyball, Table Tennis, Softball and Wrestling. When searching for Team USA baseball, be careful as there have been trading card sets produced for Team USA for the World Baseball Classic, not the Olympics. The US Womens Soccer team also has had trading card sets that are related to the World Cup and not the Olympics.

Enjoy the Opening Ceremony and the Games!

 

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10 Comments

  • jay August 7, 2012 Reply

    Are there cards called Olympic gold 2012 spot the winner cards? Seen them on ebay, not sure if there real, thanks

    1

  • Rich August 25, 2013 Reply

    There was also a “M&M Olympic” card set issued by Topps in 1983…had similar cards to the other 1983 set, but still different set.

    2

    • Rich September 1, 2013 Reply

      This set had pretty much the same cards/pictures as the Greatest Olympians set, but had a different border and fewer cards (44 instead of 90).
      There was also a Hostesss set issued in ’83/’84 (and mentioned below) that also had pretty much the same cards/pictures as the Greatest Olympians set, but, again with a different border, and even less cards (24 instead of 90).

      3

      • Rich September 1, 2013 Reply

        I meant 44 instead of 99, and 24 instead of 99 respectively. Not 90. Sorry. Also, the Hostess set came in 3-card panels that had to be cut apart manually so intact panels can be found.

        4

  • Rich August 25, 2013 Reply

    ….oh, and there is also another Topps set coming out for the 2014 Winter Olympics that will be issued in Nov 2013. Supposed to be similar to the way they did the 2012 Summer Olympics set.

    5

  • Rich August 25, 2013 Reply

    Sorry I should be leaving this all in one post, but late and tired. LOL! There were also…1994 Topps Olympic card set (88 cards)…2012 Kellogg’s (the cereal) Olympic card set (on the back of the boxes)…1996 US Mint Olympic Post card set (24 cards…generic pics)…( and not just Olympic sets, but…1987 Leaf Special Olympics 6 card insert set…1992 and 1994 Skybox US Olympics Basketball (17 card and ?? card sub sets respectively)…( and 52 card playing card decks with same backs…2 separate bridge sets for 1984 Olympics…17 separate card sets for 1996 Olympics)….plus several non-US issue Olympic card sets, of which the oldest I’m aware is the 1954 100-card set for the 1952 Helsinki games issued by Germany.. Hope that is helpful too. :)

    6

  • Rich August 25, 2013 Reply

    one update…the 1994 Topps set is really just on Nancy Kerrigan, with some of the cards being from her time in the Olympics. So, technically it’s not an Olympics only set.

    7

  • Rich August 28, 2013 Reply

    There was a 2002 US Women’s Hockey Olympic 22-card set….a 1995 set produced containing the 1980 US Olympic Hockey team.

    8

  • Rich August 28, 2013 Reply

    1980 Kellog’s Olympic Stickers set…a set of 2012 Olympic gymnastics cards (issued by Aceo?)…1983/4 set from Hostess containing 24 cards.

    9

  • cindy July 29, 2014 Reply

    This article omits all of the international Olympic cards that go back to the 1928 Olympics. Cards were sold with cigarette packs and the owner was encouraged to keep them in books – similar to stamp collecting today. These cards are a treasure of sports history.

    10

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