Scanlens was synonymous with footy cards for 3 decades and tens of thousands of Aussie’s still have fond memories of collecting these cards as kids and swapping them with their friends in the school playgrounds.
But what most people don’t know is the designs of the Scanlens cards were not their own. While we may look back and think Scanlens had a graphics team coming up with their set designs each year, the Sweets Company actually paid Topps to license their designs.
The now historic 1963 Scanlens design was actually taken from the 1959 Topps NFL set.
Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, Scanlens footy card designs were based on a Topps release in America from the year before. Either baseball, gridiron or even ice hockey!
The 1969 Scanlens Die Cuts were based on the 1968 Topps NFL Stand Ups.
And the iconic 1967 Scanlens TV screen set was alas taken from the Topps 1966 NFL series.
Regardless of their lack of originality when it came to card design, Scanlens cards remain some of the most collectable in the hobby, with prices for some of the legendary players rocketing in recent times.
