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Just Collect Presents The Set of the Week - 1935 National Chicle Football

Learn More About Sports Cards Sets Each Week!

July 01, 2025

Bronko

A small but powerful football set from 1935 is where you'll find the likes of Bronko Nagurski, Knute Rockne, Ken Strong, and more. Today, we'll teach you about these incredible treasures in our new series: The Set of the Week.

Bronko Nagurksi caught the eyes of the world in the 1930's. On the gridiron, the football star was an All-American fullback at Minnesota while in college, and was a four-time All-Pro in the NFL while leading the Chicago Bears to three NFL Championships. Nagurksi was inducted into both the College and the Pro Football Hall of Fame. During his football career, Nagurksi also wrestled professionally in the National Wrestling Association where he won the World Title on June 23rd, 1939 over Lou Thesz. If you're a wrestling fan, you know this is the same title that was eventually held by the likes of Ric Flair (woooooo!) and Dusty Rhodes. Where can you find a rookie card of Bronko Nagurksi? In our Set of the Week, 1935 National Chicle.

1935 NATIONAL CHICLE FOOTBALL

National Chicle Co. created their inaugural release of "Football Stars" in 1935. The same company that gave us 1934-1936 Diamond Stars (you can see Diamond Stars cards in the Leap of Faith Collection purchased by Just Collect) and 1934-1936 Batter Up cards (you can see Batter Up cards in the Name Tag Collection purchased by Just Collect) got into the football world. Why is this important? 1935 National Chicle is the fist set released nationally that includes only football players!

Each card measures 2-3/8" x 2-7/8", slightly smaller than the standard-card size you see today at 2.5" x 3.5". On the front of each card is a color illustration of each player and vibrant backgrounds. The backs of each card have a writeup from a former coach; a bit different than the stats we usually see today. You may have heard a broadcaster say "they're not living up to the back of the their bubblegum card." before during a game. No stats, but a nice blurb makes this set standout even more!

Only 36 cards makeup the entire set! Imagine a 36-card set today... remember collecting Topps baseball cards in the 1980's? 792 cards in the 1984 Topps baseball set made us feel we could never complete it. National Chicle made it easier to find your favorite football player in 1936.

The best card in the set is the Bronko Nagurski rookie card (card #34). Aside from Nagurski, the set includes coveted cards such as Knute Rockne (card #9), a 3-time National Champion winner as the coach of Notre Dame. Ken Strong (card #7), like Nagurski, is in both the College and Pro Football Hall of Fame, as is Turk Edwards (card #11).

Checking the PSA population report, a total of 8,174 cards from the 1935 National Chicle set have been graded. How scarce are these cards to find in top condition? Only ONE card of those 8.174 has been graded a Gem Mint PSA 10! Just 212 total Nagurski cards have been graded by PSA. Never mind finding a PSA 10 Nagurski; it's hard to simply find this card at all.

Let's go back to 1935 when gas was 19 cents per gallon, nobody had a TV in their home to watch a football game, and if you wanted football cards, you needed a pack of 1935 National Chicle gum cards!

Here are a few photos of 1935 National Chicle cards:

Just Collect has purchased a collection of 1935 National Chicle cards including the rare Bronko Nagurski rookie card! You can see the National Chicle cards as well as other famous sports cards of Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, Jim Thorpe, and so many more in The Wooden Box Collection.

Just Collect is always buying 1935 National Chicle cards! If you have these cards and are interested in selling, reach out for a FREE APPRAISAL any time. The retail stores are focused on selling modern products and simply don't have the time or the knowledge to carefully evaluate vintage collections. This is where we are happy to help you! We have purchased thousands upon thousands of collections and bought and sold over 50 MILLION dollars in cards. Read below to see how easy it is to contact us today!

We hope you enjoyed learning about the 1935 National Chicle set! Make sure to come back next week to learn about our next Set of the Week.

WE ARE ALWAYS BUYING

Just Collect is always buying vintage sports and non-sports cards from 1879 to 1989 as well as select modern cards. If you have a collection that you are considering selling, contact us today to discuss or get our industry-leading purchase offer. If you have a collection that you want appraised, please contact us and we would be happy to discuss your collection and help you understand the real cash value of your collection in the current marketplace. Check out the Just Collect Buy List.

We always offer a FREE APPRAISAL for your collection here at the Just Collect site. Just click here:

We offer may ways to evaluate your cards other than or using our website, too.

Travel to Us

If you can make the trip here like the son from my hometown did for this collection- we can make a deal at the office. We once met a father-son duo that drove eight hours from Virginia to meet us to sell a Michael Jordan rookie card stored in Tupperware since 1986 - great read here.

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We keep a LIST of card shows we'll be attending. Come stop by the Just Collect table and chat.

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If you have a valuable collection and want us to come to you, we'll hop on the next plane out.

Meet in New York City

If you're near New York City and would like to meet in a public place, our owner, Leighton, would be happy to meet you; read all the information here.

SHIP your collection

If you choose to mail your cards for an appraisal, we will evaluate your cards for FREE still. If you choose not to sell the cards, we'll ship them back shipping fees paid by us! We can offer our FedEx account with 2-day shipping, fully insured, all covered by us. Simply contact the office to set up this option.

OUR BUYING PHILOSOPHY

We've run into a wide range of people and collections over the last 25 years. Although Just Collect is known for buying vintage sports cards and especially vintage baseball cards, we are also extremely interested in buying non-sports cards, too!

Every collection and every collector is different and we treat EVERY collection with the respect and attention that we show for our own collections. We understand that many have put their heart and souls into building their collections. So when you're ready to sell, we understand the feelings that you're going through and will work with you to help you reach a decision that is a WIN/WIN, because if you're not happy, we're not happy.