Jim Brown Football Cards: The Ultimate Collector’s Guide

The 1958 Topps #62 Jim Brown rookie card is one of the most iconic and valuable football cards in the hobby.

During his first season he was named both Rookie of the Year and Most Valuable Player.

The card features a young Brown in his #32 jersey making a sharp cutback.

Unfortunately, this card is troubled by print defects, poor centering and chipping on the reverse red edges.

It’s still a sweet card and easily his most important.

Not to mention it’s one of the most valuable football cards in the hobby.

His 1959 Topps card shows Brown from the waist up, holding a football in one hand with a determined look across his face.

The printing quality does not tend to hold up in the long term but can be preserved if cared for properly.

The blue background highlights Brown’s intimidating features and size, matching the blue and red lettering below his picture.

In 1960, Jim Brown had already cemented his reputation as a fearsome and intimidating fullback.

His 1960 Topps card is somewhat plain in design.

A headshot of Brown takes center stage while in the bottom right hand corner is a blue football with his name, team and position.

Those somewhat dull features of the card do make it easier to find in high grade, though, as there are not as many print defects as you’ll find on Brown’s other cards.

Topps released two cards for Jim Brown in 1961, one of which, #71, follows the typical Topps formatting and design.

The other card, #77, is a “1960 Football Highlights”, and is designed to look like a TV, with Brown running with the ball.

It’s more of a live action card.

#71, on the other hand, shows Brown with the ball in motion looking to run for a touchdown.

At the bottom of the card his name, position, and team is listed.

he bright blue background behind Brown serves as a stark contrast to his dark brown jersey.

The card has a lot of pop to it and looks great but it is not one of his most valuable.

In 1962, Topps came out with a landscape design with black border segmentation that divided the cards into three sections.

The majority of Brown’s card is taken up by a picture of him cropped from his 1961 Topps card on the right side.

On the bottom left corner, a bright yellow box shows his name, team, and position.

Above the box is a black and white action shot of Brown blasting down the field during a game.

It’s one of his most valuable cards but can be tough to find in high grade due to the black borders being susceptible to showing chipping and wear.

The 1963 Topps card took a slightly different aesthetic design, with a close up of Brown’s face surrounded by a light green and darker green border.

Some collectors think the green border design is odd.

But I think it adds an extra layer of design appeal and highlights Brown’s face in the card.

Those same green colored borders can show wear and chipping easily, though, so be careful.

Centering can also be a tough challenge with this card.