1935 National Chicle Football Set Guide: Key Cards, Rookies, and Checklist

The 1935 National Chicle Football set one of the most important and popular football sets ever released.  The driving force behind its popularity is because it was the 1st nationally released football set.  It also has a killer lineup of Hall of Famers including the "Holy Grail" of football cards; the Bronco Nagurski rookie.  National Chicle, the same company who released the Diamond Stars and Batter Up baseball sets, produced this 36 card set.  It is similar in design to the 1934-36 Diamond Stars set, with the art deco design and bright colors being prominent on every card.  Backgrounds feature team flags or stadiums behind the image of the player. The back of each card contains playing tips from a former coach. One interesting is note is that the backs state each card is "one of 240 football players" in the set.  Of course it is known that only 36 cards were released in total.  It is thought to be a printing error.  The first 24 cards are more common than the last 12.  The set features both professionals and collegiate players.  As previously mentioned, the Bronco Nagurski rookie is the key to the set.  Many collectors consider this card to be the football equivalent to the 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle card.  PSA has graded less than 200 copies and even low grade copies sell for $15k.