How Many Cards in a Master Set?
If you counted the cards on the Post company list page, you would get a total of 439. Bob Gaiters' Oat Flakes 15 oz. card was never produced as that notation was a clerical error, so that takes it down to 438. There were no Oat Flakes 15 oz. cards produced rather than 28 as shown on the company list, reducing the number to 410. Looking at #26 Andy Robustelli and #76 Raymond Berry from the list, only one Raisin Bran 14 oz. card is shown for each of them. In fact there were two RB14 cards for each, raising the total to 412. Other than the OF15 cards which were supposed to be double prints of SCCF10 but never printed, the Post company list did not include any of the double printed cards—Top 3 (36 cards), Crispy Critters 8 oz. (24 cards), Crispy Critters 13 oz. (28 cards) and Post Toasties 12 oz. Flip-Out Spout (28 cards). This adds another 116 cards, bringing the sum to 528.
Collectors set different goals when working on a set. Most choose to collect 200 cards. Some want to add the two cards that the guides show with red and black asterisks, #57 Jim Ninowski and #74 Sam Baker. Other collectors want to put together a master set of 412 cards which includes all but the double printed cards. Others want one of every card produced which would be 528. There are also collectors who try to keep any ink variation they can find, which would lead to an infinite set total. The page titled "Wax, Ink and Common Borders" discusses some of the reasons for card color variations.
Following is a list detailing how many cards were printed with each product:
| 1962 Post Cereal Football Master Product List | |||
| Product | Cards/Box | Boxes | Cards/Product |
| Alpha-Bits ¾ oz. | 1 | 6 | 6 |
| Alpha-Bits 13 oz. | 7 | 4 | 28 |
| Alpha-Bits 8 oz. | 6 | 4 | 24 |
| Bran Flakes 16 oz. | 7 | 4 | 28 |
| Bran Flakes 11 oz. | 6 | 4 | 24 |
| Crispy Critters 13 oz. | 7 | 4 | 28 |
| Crispy Critters 8 oz. | 6 | 4 | 24 |
| Grape Nuts 16 oz. | 3 | 3 | 9 |
| Grape Nuts 11 oz. | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| Grape Nuts Flakes 16 oz. | 7 | 4 | 28 |
| Grape Nuts Flakes 12 oz. | 6 | 6 | 36 |
| Oat Flakes 10 oz. | 5 | 4 | 20 |
| Post Tens | 3 | 7 | 21 |
| Post Toasties 18 oz. | 7 | 2 | 14 |
| Post Toasties 12 oz. Top Flap | 7 | 4 | 28 |
| Post Toasties 12 oz. Flip-Out Spout | 7 | 4 | 28 |
| Post Toasties 8 oz. | 5 | 3 | 15 |
| Raisin Bran 14 oz. | 5 | 4 | 20 |
| Raisin Bran 10 oz. | 4 | 4 | 16 |
| Rice Krinkles 10 oz. | 4 | 6 | 24 |
| Sugar Crisp 14 oz. | 7 | 3 | 21 |
| Sugar Crisp 9 oz. | 6 | 3 | 18 |
| Sugar Coated Corn Flakes 10 oz. | 7 | 4 | 28 |
| Top 3 10 oz. | 6 | 6 | 36 |
| Total cards | 528 | ||
Whoa! Wait a minute...are there still more?
And the answer is...YES! So what happened? If you're reading this, chances are that you linked to it from the Additions/Updates page. This is a great example of why the Additions/Updates page exists and also why this website exists rather than a book printed on paper. New research and new discoveries about Post cereal football cards keep happening, even more than 60 years after the release of "THE GREATEST SET EVER!"
The Producing Post Cereal Football Cards page was updated in early 2025 to show that Post not only double printed cards from different brands such as Alpha-Bits/Crispy Critters, Grape Nuts Flakes/Top 3 and Post Toasties with two box styles but also double printed some panels of the same brand and size box. That page explains how double prints within the same brand and size came into being. The chart below is an abridged version of the complete chart on the Producing Post Cereal Football Cards page and shows which panels on particular brands and sizes are double printed. The total of 222 of those cards when added to the master set total of 528 brings the number of different cards Post printed on all of the cereals that were sold in stores to 750.
| 1962 Post Cereal Football | |||||
| Double Prints within Brand and Size | |||||
| Brand | Ounces | Unduplicated |
Double print panels | Total panels | Version double prints |
| Post Toasties | 18 | 2 | All double | 4 | 14 |
| Post Toasties (Top) | 12 | 4 | 4 | ||
| Post Toasties (Spout) | 12 | 4 | 4 | ||
| Post Toasties | 8 | 3 | All double | 6 | 15 |
| Bran Flakes | 16 | 4 | 64, 134 | 6 | 14 |
| Bran Flakes | 11 | 4 | 5, 123 | 6 | 12 |
| Grape Nuts Flakes | 16 | 4 | 6, 70 | 6 | 14 |
| Grape Nuts Flakes | 12 | 6 | 6 | ||
| Top 3 | 10 | 6 | 6 | ||
| Raisin Bran | 14 | 4 | 8, 120 | 6 | 10 |
| Raisin Bran | 10 | 4 | 25, 84 | 6 | 8 |
| Post Tens | 9½ | 7 | All double | 14 | 21 |
| Alpha-Bits | 13 | 4 | 4 | ||
| Crispy Critters | 13 | 4 | 4 | ||
| Alpha-Bits | 8 | 4 | 115, 124 | 6 | 12 |
| Crispy Critters | 8 | 4 | 115, 124 | 6 | 12 |
| Alpha-Bits | ¾ | 6 | All double | 12 | 6 |
| Sugar Crisp | 14 | 3 | All double | 6 | 21 |
| Sugar Crisp | 9 | 3 | All double | 6 | 18 |
| Sugar Coated Corn Flakes | 10 | 4 | 15, 54 | 6 | 14 |
| Rice Krinkles | 10 | 6 | 6 | ||
| Oat Flakes | 10 | 4 | 129, 133 | 6 | 10 |
| Grape Nuts | 11 | 2 | All quadruple | 8 | 12 |
| Grape Nuts | 16 | 3 | All double | 6 | 9 |
| Total | 99 | 150 | 222 | ||
Are we done yet?
Yes and no.
Yes, in that if we had one of each box that Post printed, we would have 150 different panels with 750 cards on those panels.
No, if we want to include the three mechanical variations that Post actually corrected on purpose, two of which were performed on the same card number. There are myriad different printing versions that can be seen under a loupe or a scan of cards at high resolution. Some cards ended up with spots, dots, marks and splotches in all four basic colors—cyan (blue), yellow, magenta (red) and black—just because the presses were running at high speed pulling ink out of vats and transferring it to paper that unrolled as the ink was applied and then rolled back up after it was dried enough to not stain the back of the previously printed loop. Mechanical issues happened. Dirt was brought into the equation causing spots where the ink didn't stick. The moving parts of the press attracted tiny droplets of ink that ended up being transferred to places on the cards that weren't where they were supposed to be. All that makes it difficult these many years later to definitively tell the difference between a mechanical issue and a true difference in cards from the same brand and size based on consistent marks.
Each of the cards from 1-200 that have double prints within the same brand and size have been updated on the Master Set page. Every effort has been made to find as many consistent examples of each card version as possible. Inherently, the short prints can present problems in locating enough high resolution images to positively identify each of them. Grape Nuts 11 oz. cards are particularly problematic with four versions of each card believed to be printed. The GN11 cards are the least printed cards of all Post cereal football cards. They are also the smallest box size with only two cards on each box back. As shown on the Producing Post Cereal Football Cards page, the rotogravure images of each brand and size cereal contained two rows of boxes per revolution. GN11 boxes were small enough to allow for a third row of boxes and still be within the allowable cylinder circumference. However, the Alpha-Bits ¾ oz. single serving boxes were also small enough to have a third row, yet no discernible third version has been identified for that product's cards. All other boxes were printed as a two row cylinder image, so it is not hard to believe the GN11 boxes were also two row prints, meaning that there were four discernible GN11 versions for each card of Bob Gaiters (18), Sonny Jurgensen (37), Sam Baker (74) and Dave Baker (93). Although possible that two more versions of each GN11 card may be identified in the future, it is the belief here that four is the correct number of GN11 versions.
The method used to identify each version is to get as many high resolution images as possible of each card of a double printed brand and size card. Overlaying them quickly, back and forth, on a screen will ultimately result in one or more consistent marks that distinguish it from the other version. On each card's master set page that is linked from the list on the Master Set page, the marks that distinguish each card's version are identified. The designation of version 1 and version 2 is purely arbitrary as there has to be a way to catalog them. However, cards designated as a particular version match the other cards on that same panel. For example, all six cards on a Sugar Crisp 9 oz. panel designated as version 1 will be found together on that panel if it is uncut.
Mechanical correction versions
A mechanical correction version is one in which part of a card was corrected after a print run had begun to "fix" what Post saw as a problem with the card's appearance. It may have been done in the middle of a print run or prior to a second run as nobody knows for sure. But we do know that it happened simply by comparing cards.
Jim Martin's #55 Sugar Crisp 14 oz. card was a same brand and size double print card. Number 55 was not printed on any other cereal. The first prints showed Martin with only the whites of his eyes and no cornea or pupils. Post evidently thought they could improve Martin's look by giving him some pupils, so they physically scratched a spot in each eye on the black cylinder plate on both of the same brand/size boxes to make the ink adhere, magically giving Jim a less ghostly appearance. Unfortunately, most Post cereal cards are at least slightly out of color registration and when the black plate didn't line up the dot for Martin's pupils correctly, they ended up pointing in several different directions.
There were two SC14 versions of #55, Jim Martin, on the original rotogravure plates, both with no pupils. After the correction of both of those images, there were two additional versions, making a total of four Jim Martin versions.
Frank Ryan's #172 Alpha-Bits 13 oz. card image on the original blue rotogravure plate evidently did not etch correctly resulting in a spot over Ryan's left shoulder beside his neck that wouldn't hold blue ink. The result was a white spot where blue sky should have been. As with Martin, Post corrected the white area resulting in a blotchy blue patch on the Ryan card. There are white and blue spot versions for Frank Ryan's AB13 card.
Technically, even with the mechanical changes, if all the plates still existed and were loaded up and a complete run of every box was done today, there would still be 750 cards.
The Master Master Set
As always, a collector should collect whatever they want. As shown above, there are many variations to the actual number of cards in any particular master set collection. Collect whatever you want. Call them whatever you want. This website is choosing to call the set with all versions (mechanical corrections included or not) the Master Master Set.
Set names and definitions
Base set — 200 cards. Asterisk versions of Jim Ninowski and Sam Baker optional.
Base master set — 412 cards. Every card with a different photo image without any double printed cards.
Master set — 528 cards. Every card printed on a separate product.
Master master set — 750 cards. Every card printed on a Post cereal football box. Jim Martin and Frank Ryan mechanical issues optional.
