
Burt Grossman
1992 • Action Packed
#233

The 1981 Topps Mike Thomas #172 is a vintage football card featuring the San Diego Chargers player from the classic early-1980s Topps set.
1981 • Topps
National Football League • San Diego Chargers
Near Mint
172
New
Shipping Calculated at Checkout
The 1981 Topps Mike Thomas #172 card captures a moment from the golden era of football card collecting. Released during Topps' dominant run in the sport, this card showcases the design language and photography style that defined early-1980s football cards. Mike Thomas's card from the San Diego Chargers roster represents the broader appeal of vintage football cards from this period—a time when collecting football was gaining momentum among hobbyists and investors alike. Vintage Topps football cards from 1981 remain popular among collectors seeking to build era-specific collections or complete vintage sets. The card's age, combined with the Topps brand heritage, makes it a meaningful addition to football card portfolios. Whether you're pursuing a complete 1981 Topps football set, focusing on Chargers team cards, or collecting vintage football from this decade, the Mike Thomas #172 represents an accessible entry point into early-1980s sports card history. SuperCatch offers multiple copies across different preservation states, allowing collectors to find the right version for their collecting goals.
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Material
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Language
English
This 1981 Topps Mike Thomas card sits at the deep budget tier of the NFL vintage market, reflecting his limited career impact as a receiver who never achieved marquee status with the San Diego Chargers. Cards from the 1981 Topps football set generally trade at modest levels unless tied to Hall of Fame names, and Thomas's card aligns with the low-demand segment of that checklist. With only a single active listing available, the market is essentially illiquid, making price discovery difficult and unreliable.
As a base card from the 1981 Topps football set, this card carries no serial numbering, parallel distinction, or short-print designation — it was produced in mass quantities typical of the era's high print runs. Graded population reports for this card are likely minimal, as submitting low-demand vintage commons rarely pencils out economically for collectors. Raw copies vastly outnumber graded examples, meaning a high-grade PSA or BGS slab could command a relative premium simply due to the scarcity of professionally graded copies.
Mike Thomas had a brief NFL career without the statistical legacy or cultural cachet that drives long-term collector demand, making sustained appreciation unlikely under normal market conditions. The 1981 Topps set itself holds nostalgic value for vintage collectors, but that interest concentrates heavily on key names like Joe Montana's rookie card, leaving supporting players with limited momentum. Grading submission trends for commons of this era remain low, and without a pop-culture catalyst or historical reappraisal of Thomas's career, this card is best viewed as a low-cost set filler rather than an investment vehicle.

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