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 | ||
