All Shook Up: Elvis Presley Lives on Through Trading Cards
Other than Frank Sinatra, The Beatles, and possibly Michael Jackson, very few performers have ever changed the course of music the way Elvis Presley has. As the undisputed King of Roll ’n Roll, the Big E made the girls swoon and the music rock like it never had before. Born a poor country boy, the Tupelo Tornado took a chance by recording two songs, “My Happiness” and “That’s When Your Heartaches Begin” for a fee of $3.25 at Sun Studios in Memphis, TN. Intrigued by the quality of his voice, a Sun assistant asked him who he sounded like. Elvis replied, “I don’t sound like nobody.” Word got out from that humble beginning and it wasn’t long before the Tennessee Troubador was on his way to his first hit record, “That’s All Right,” published by Sun Records July 19, 1954. The rest, as they say, is history.
Toppsing the Charts
Never one to miss out on the latest craze, Topps Chewing Gum Company negotiated the rights to produce Elvis Presley Picture Cards in 1956. Released under their Bubbles pseudonym, the 66 colorfully inked cards present The Vibrating Valentino at the height of Elvismania.
The first 42 cards feature photographs of The King in various performing situations like recording studios, concerts, TV shows, on movie sets, and even just strumming for fun. Each card front has a photo caption encased in a red guitar image. The backs display an Ask Elvis Q&A, supposedly answered by old swivel hips himself but most likely composed by Topps employees. Card # 2 is the exception, focusing on a Record Collector’s Check List, which referred to his hit songs and not the cards. Even though this card is no rarer than any other in the set, collectors will pay a premium price for it, especially in unchecked condition.
The remaining 24 cards concentrate on scenes from The Hoppin’ Hurricane’s first feature film, Love Me Tender. Card front photos are captioned on a movie clapboard image. Card backs feature lengthy plot synopses.
Topps marketed the set in a number of ways—1¢ & 5¢ packs, in generic Hobby Card boxes, and even in bubble gum machines, which dispensed one card along with one gum ball. While 1¢ wrappers are much more common than the 5¢ variety, 1¢ display boxes are considerably less common than the 5¢. An uncut three-card advertising panel has also been seen.
The Presley collection was the first time Topps dedicated a set to a single musical artist and today it is highly prized by trading card and Elvis collectors alike. Complete top-condition sets can go well in excess of $1,500, although the selling amount can vary widely. The number two set on the PSA registry sold through Goldin Auctions for $8,575, an amount that includes buyer’s premium. Meanwhile, a set advertised as High Grade went for $460, also at Goldin.
Endless Elvis
As with The Big Boss Man himself, Elvis-related cards are never done. In 1978, Boxcar Enterprises (aka Donruss) released a 66-card set, simply titled Elvis Collectors Series. The fronts feature a framed portrait of The Memphis Flash while the backs contain Elvis Facts or Elvis Records text. Card # 24 is available with two different card front images, the rumor being that the image of the rocker’s manager, Col. Tom Parker, was used only in the first print run and replaced a fter complaints from the colonel himself. The cards remain extremely common today.
The Hillbilly Cat surfaced again in 1992 in an ambitious three series set from The River Group. Billed as The Cards of His Life, The Elvis Collection chronicles his life from early days until a fter Ol’ Snake Hips discovered cholesterol. Weighing in with a monstrous 660-card base set, the mammoth assemblage also offered 40 Dufex Top Ten Hits, 50 Limited Edition Gold & Platinum Records (both with and without gold foil), 25 Quotable Elvis Cards, 25 oversized King Cards, mail-in Presley offers like wall posters, medallions and watches, an Official Elvis Stamp Art card, a five-card boxed set, a Tribute box, a Jumbo Pack, a card album,16 diff rent wrappers, 10 promo cards, and more. Promo # 2 is only available on one of two four-card promo panels. Any individual # 2 promos found today were cut from the panels.
One of several extensive Presley sets from Press Pass in the 2000s was Elv1s by the Numbers. Published in 2008, the series contained 80-base cards and multiple chase card subsets, including different levels of autograph and costume cards. Those who came across cut signature cards for Col. Parker or the King Creole star himself could really sing “I Got Lucky,” one of The King’s many hits.
Among the other sets dedicated to Mr. Sideburns was Elvis: The Platinum Collection from Inkworks in 1999 and a small factory set from Rittenhouse Archives in 2005 entitled Elvis: TV Guide Covers.
As cool as some of these trading cards are, they are only a reflection of the great music and the gyrating gent himself. As the Jail House Rocksinger once said, “Rock and roll music, if you like it, if you feel it, you can’t help but move to it. That’s what happens to me. I can’t help it.”
He Sure Paid His Blue Suede Dues
Elvis Presley was quoted as saying, “I never expected to be anybody important.” Boy, was he wrong! Forty-five years since his untimely death, the cards keep coming.
In January, Topps began online selling of 2022 Topps Elvis: The King of Rock & Roll trading cards packaged in three-card bundles or individually at the rate of three premium stock cards per week.
All print-to-order cards are considered sold out when the weekly countdown clock reaches zero. Cards were priced at $9.99 each or $24.99 for a bundle.
When, at the end of 2022, the collection is complete it will consist of 150 base cards and, for every card, a /45 Pink, /10 Blue, /5 Red, or 1/1 Gold card will be randomly inserted into print runs.
HI How much would an Elvis 1956 Topps 3 card Salesman Sample card in VG++ condition be worth these days? Thanks much, Brian M.