1958 Topps Baseball Cards – 10 Most Valuable

What do you think of when someone says, “1958 Topps baseball cards”?

The Roger Maris rookie card, maybe?

Or the busy, busy, busy All-Star cards that really bump up the set’s star power?

Or how about that serious Ted Williams card, where he’s just staring at you … and you can feel — almost taste — his disappointment in you?

You really let him down, dude.

All of those are viable first thoughts, but they’re all underpinned by some of the boldest, brightest, plainest backgrounds you’ll ever find.

I mean …

If you’re ever in the mood for a lesson in the light spectrum, you could do worse than studying these things.

And, if you’re searching for some late ’50s cards that look good and cost a chunk of change (but not a mortgage), then, again, the 1958s might be for you.

These ten in particular — they’re the most valuable 1958 Topps baseball cards, as listed in the PSA Sports Market Report Price Guide for copies in PSA 7 condition.

1958 Topps Mickey Mantle (#150)

What, you were expecting maybe Bob Rush in this top spot? Nah, baby.

With all due respect to the Chicago Cubs right-hander (and fellow Hoosier), there can only be one most valuable card in any 1950s baseball card set.

And, unless your name begins with “1954 Topps,” then it better also end in “Mickey Mantle” if you want to be champ.

So, yeah, 1958 Topps Mickey Mantle is the champ here, weighing in at $1300+ in PSA 7.

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1958 Topps Ted Williams (#1)

Teddy Ballgame may never have quite reached the peak power levels that Mantle did, but, man what a sweet left-handed swing, huh?

And the results to show for it, what with the Majors’ last .400 season, 500+ home runs, and his very own baseball card set (1959 Fleer).

But in 1958, Topps was the only game in town if you wanted a card of the Splendid Splinter, and it was #1, to boot!

All of that adds up to a $550 price tag for PSA 7 copies of the 1958 Topps Williams card.

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1958 Topps Roger Maris Rookie Card (#47)

There was a time there in the 1950s and 1960s when the old Kansas City A’s served as a sort of Quadruple-A team for the mighty New York Yankees.

The A’s would build up a player ’til he was ready for The Show, then trade him to the Yanks for a bag of peanuts. You know, to satisfy that Athletics elephant, or something.

That sort of happened with Roger Maris late in 1959, when the A’s traded him, Joe DeMaestri, and Kent Hadley for Hank Bauer, Don Larsen, Norm Siebern, and Marv Throneberry.

But before that, the guy who broke Babe Ruth‘s single-season home run record toiled for the Cleveland Indians, and that’s how we find him here on his 1958 Topps rookie card.

Not surprisingly, the Maris RC has been a popular card forever, and today it pushes $500 in PSA 7 condition.

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1958 Topps Willie Mays (#5)

This card features an iconic head shot of a smiling young Mays, but otherwise, it probably seems fairly unremarkable.

But it’s not.

It’s remarkable.

Why? Because it’s the first Topps card showing The Say Hey Kid as a member of the San Francisco Giants, as opposed to the New York Giants.

That’s why.

And this classic card, wrapped in heartache and promise and despair and hope and history and future, brings about $400 in PSA 7 these days.

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1958 Topps Roberto Clemente (#52)

While the Mays card gets us up close with an icon, this Clemente pasteboard gives us a classic figurine pose of the Pittsburgh Pirates great.

There’s not a lot to be said about Clemente that hasn’t been written millions of times, but I’ll just say he seems to get more popular every year, even five decades after his death.

And deservedly so.

This blaring yellow card of an early “Bob” sells for close to $400 in PSA 7 today.

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1958 Topps World Series Batting Foes – Mantle, Aaron (#418)

Maybe Topps knew something the rest of the baseball world wouldn’t fully grasp for another 15 years or so.

And what would that be?

That Hank Aaron was every bit the star that Mickey Mantle was, and that Aaron was a genuine threat to Ruth’s all-time homer record.

Or maybe they were just showcasing the biggest stars from the two teams who participated in the 1957 World Series? Could be, but then you miss out on all the conspiracy-theory-type fun.

Either way, Topps managed to cram an awful lot of Cooperstown clout onto a little cardboard rectangle.

No wonder it hammers down around $350 in slabbed NM condition today.

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1958 Topps Hank Aaron (#30)

Aaron’s spot on this list is sort of a microcosm of his place in the game …

He’s always mentioned when talk turns to “best ever,” but he’s usually overshadowed by flashier guys like Mays, Mantle, even Barry Bonds and his various troubles.

That carries over to the cardboard world, too, but that’s alright … it just means you can get The Hammer at relative bargain prices.

In the case of 1958 Topps, that means about $275 for a PSA 7 specimen.

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1958 Topps Sandy Koufax (#187)

In 1958, hardly anyone knew who Sandy Koufax was, but that anonymity wouldn’t last too long.

For one thing, like Mays, Koufax would play that summer on the West Coast when his Brooklyn Dodgers moved to Los Angeles. That meant fans from sea to sea had at least some idea about the young fireballer.

More importantly, of course, Koufax put together one of the most dominant runs a starting pitcher has ever reeled off in the middle 1960s.

A demolished elbow that forced a very early retirement in 1966 (when Sandy was just 30) only added to his mystique and legend. Indeed, he sailed into the Hall of Fame on his first ballot.

Today, the Left Arm of God remains a popular hobby figure, and his 1958 Topps card brings in north of $200 in PSA 7.

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1958 Topps Mickey Mantle All-Star (#487)

Yeah, if you were making baseball cards in the 1950s, you’d want to squeeze in as many Mickey Mantle cards as you could, too.

Supply and demand, you know.

And, as the first set to feature separate All-Star cards, the ’58s were something of a groundbreaker … a trendsetter.

This Mick card looks pretty good, too, and it tries hard to live up to the literality of “all star.”

This third Mantle goes for around $150 in graded NM condition.

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1958 Topps Ernie Banks (#310)

Remember when Cal Ripken Jr. rewrote the rule book in the 1980s by being a big shortstop who could hit for power and average, and who won an MVP award in the process?

Yeah, Ernie Banks was doing all that a quarter century earlier.

And, sure, Mr. Cub wasn’t quite as big as Cal, but he won two MVP awards in a row. (He wasn’t allowed to stop at one because, you know, “Let’s play two!”.)

The first of those came in 1958, the same summer collectors were pulling this blazing Banks card from their wax packs.

Today, it’ll set you back $125 or more in PSA 7 condition.

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