When discussion turns to the most beautiful set ever issued, 1957 Topps baseball cards always feature heavy in the conversation.

With bright, clear photos and minimal design elements, there is nothing to distract collectors from the grandeur of the game and its denizens.

And, whether or not you love the 1957s or think they’re overrated (in which case you’re wrong), there is no denying their continued appeal and strength on the old-card market.

What follows is a rundown of the 12 most valuable 1957 Topps baseball cards, as culled for PSA 7 copies from the PSA Price Guide.

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1957 Topps Mickey Mantle (#95)

Against a dark Yankee Stadium background, Mantle stands out like a ghost in a spotlight as he follows through on a left-handed swing in his Yanks’ Pinstripes here on this 1957 Topps card.

And a spotlight would have been a fitting device for the young slugger, who had enjoyed perhaps his greatest season in 1956, winning the American League Triple Crown and MVP award, and driving the Yankees to yet another World Series title.

Like just about every other Mantle card issued in the 1950s, this one paces its set.

Value: $4200-4400

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1957 Topps Hank Aaron (#20)

Pretty must the same story here for Aaron as above for Mays, except Henry wouldn’t win his only MVP award until that summer of 1957, and he never did top 50 home runs in a season.

And, back in 1957, probably not many fans would have predicted that it would be Aaron who would go on to break Babe Ruth‘s all-time home run record.

That kind of talk was reserved for Mantle and Mays. Maybe Duke Snider if you were silly.

Anyway, Aaron may have been the best of the lot when all was said and done, and this card reflects that status.

Value: $1500-1800

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1957 Topps Brooks Robinson Rookie Card (#328)

What do you get when you combine one of the greatest players ever at his position, an all-time classic card design, and a rookie card in a scarce high-number series?

Why, you get the 1957 Topps Brooks Robinson rookie card, of course!

And you also get one of the most valuable cards in the whole set, a status this card has held for decades.

These days, the RC of the Hall of Famer and Baltimore Orioles legend generally stands near the top of the pecking order in this set.

Value: $1500-1700

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1957 Topps Ted Williams (#1)

Speaking of old dudes who could still rake, Ted Williams turned 39 in August of 1957.

It was amazing he could still tie his shoes at such an advanced age, right?

Uh-huh.

All the Splendid Splinter did that summer was hit .388 with 38 home runs for the Boston Red Sox. That was good enough for his fifth batting title.

And he’d win a another in 1958.

It’s all part of the glory of Teddy Ballgame and part of the reason his striking 1957 Topps card — the first in the set — sells for big bucks today..

Value: $1400-1500

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1957 Topps Frank Robinson Rookie Card (#35)

This card may be even better looking than the B. Robby above … or that could just be my Cincinnati Reds bias showing.

Whatever the case, there is no denying that Frank Robinson was one of the most dominant hitters of his time, and probably in the top 10 (or better) plate men of all time.

He was also the focal point of one of the worst/best trades in history when the Reds sent him to the Orioles before the 1966 season because he was an “old 30.”

A Triple Crown, MVP, and World Series MVP later, and it was clear F. Robby was headed to Cooperstown.

And considering there’s also no doubt this is one of the best looking of all 1957 Topps baseball cards, there’s little surprise it maintains a lofty position on lists like this one.

Value: $1200-1300

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1957 Topps Yankees’ Power Hitters — Mickey Mantle and Yogi Berra (#407)

From the #1 card in the 1957 Topps set, we now jump to the very end of the run.

Mickey Mantle and teammate, Yankees catcher Yogi Berra, were a threat to go deep every time they stepped to the plate.

And they seemingly had the American League MVP award on lockdown during the 1950s, with Berra nabbing three (1951, 1954, 1955) and Mantle taking the 1956 and 1957 hardware.

Appearing here at the very end of a tough high-number run, the Pinstripe Pair form the basis for another high-dollar card.

Value: $1100-1400

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1957 Topps Willie Mays (#10)

Willie Mays, on the other hand, was a bona fide superstar as 1957 dawned.

He already had a National League Rookie of the Year award (1951), an NL MVP award (1954), and a 50-homer season (1955) under his belt, and Topps rewarded him with the coveted #10 slot in their 1957 set.

(I’m not kidding — the “zero” cards were big things, especially this early in a set.)

Of course, The Say Hey Kid was on a collision course with all-time greatness, and this card reflects that status.

Value: $900-1000

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1957 Topps Sandy Koufax (#302)

Koufax was still several years from breaking out when this smiling shot of the young southpaws greeted collectors in the summer of 1957.

By the time he became a legend for the Los Angeles Dodgers, this classic must have twinged some painful memories for the faithful back home, owing to its “Brooklyn” team designation.

Value: $800-900

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1957 Topps Don Drysdale Rookie Card (#18)

Drysdale was just 20 years old heading into the 1957 season and fresh off a 25-game Major League debut in 1956 that saw him go 5-5 with a 2.64 ERA.

A jump to 17-9 in ’57 set up Drysdale as one of the first stars for the Los Angeles Dodgers when they moved west in 1958. Though it took him a few years to really settle in as a superstar, Big D eventually won enough games and garnered enough of the spotlight to put together a Hall of Fame career.

His smiling RC, here in the 1957 Topps set, is a hobby favorite all these years later.

Value: $700-800

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1957 Topps Roberto Clemente (#76)

Like others on this list, Clemente was still a few years away from superstardom when his smiling 1957 Topps card first found its way into collectors hands.

Still, he was already a regular for the Pittsburgh Pirates at just 22 years of age, and the future looked bright for “Bob” (as Topps insisted on calling him in those days).

The decades have been kind to this Bucs legend, and Clemente has never been more popular than he is today.

Value: $600-800

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1957 Topps Ernie Banks (#55)

Of all the great looking 1957 Topps baseball cards out there, this is one of the greatest-est.

Young Ernie Banks with sunlight squeezing through, casting stadium-structure shadows on his seldom-seen arching-red-underlined-Chicago jersey and his blue Cubs cap?

Yes, please!

Doeasn’t hurt, either, that this one was issued just a year before Banks began his two-year reign as National League MVP and set his course firmly toward Cooperstown.

Value: $375-400

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1957 Topps Yogi Berra (#2)

Mickey Mantle topped this list with his own single card.

Mickey Mantle and Yogi Berra made the cut with their duo card up above.

So it stands to reason that (probably) the greatest catcher of the 1950s makes the list on his own merits — or the merits of his solo card — too, right?

Right.

And Berra powers into the last slot on our list.

Value: $300-350

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1957 Topps Jim Bunning (#338)

Bunning appeared in 15 games for the Tigers in each of 1955 and 1956, compiling an 8-6 record with a hefty 5.00 ERA across 104.1 innings of mostly relief work.

That meager performance landed him more air time in Detroit in 1957 … and this cherry rookie card.

Making 30 starts among his 45 appearances that summer, Bunning led the N.L. with 20 wins and crafted a nifty 2.69 ERA. It was the first salvo in his assault on a Hall of Fame campaign that would ultimately prove successful.

Add in Bunning’s long run as a U.S. Senator (Kentucky), and you have the perfect recipe for keeping this card in the limelight.

Value: $300-350

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1957 Topps Dodgers Sluggers (#400)

How many Dodgers sluggers did it take to match the Yankees’ duo of Mickey Mantle and Yogi Berra?

Four, apparently, at least according to card #400 in the 1957 Topps set.

Even if that seems like overkill, it makes a for a great card as Carl Furillo, Gil Hodges, Roy Campanella, and Duke Snider do the old kneel-with-the-bat trick on this horizontal issue.

It’s a star-packed card with plenty of Cooperstown power … especially now that Hodges is in!

Value: $275-350

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1957 Topps Larry Doby (#85)

Doby hit 24 home runs with 102 RBI in 1956, his first season with the White Sox after making history for the Indians as the first African American player in the American League.

That would be the last time he’d top 15 homers or 80 RBI, and he wouldn’t see the 1960s as an active player. But Doby looms as one of the great hitters of the 1950s, and he looks pretty darn amazing in this classic posed follow-through.

Value: $275-300

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1957 Topps Baseball Cards Checklists

Consider this one both a wild card and an honorable mention.

Look …

Nobody likes checklist cards, and if they didn’t get thrown away, they got used as, you know, checklist cards — marked up, banged up, washed up.

(The were very “meta” though — a 1957 Topps baseball card to keep track of other 1957 Topps baseball cards.)

So, today, old checklists are tough to come by in decent shape, and that’s certainly true for 1957 Topps checklists. There are several variations, too, with PSA listing the following:

• Series 1 & Series 2 (front/back) with a Bazooka logo/ad
• Series 1 & Series 2 with a Big Blony logo
• Series 2 & Series 3 with a Bazooka logo
• Series 2 & Series 3 with a Big Blony logo
• Series 3 & Series 4 with a Bazooka logo
• Series 3 & Series 4 with a Twin Blony logo
• Series 4 & Series 5 with a Bazooka logo
• Series 4 & Series 5 with a Twin Blony logo

Prices for PSA 7 copies range from $500+ to nearly $4000, with later series falling nearer the upper end of that spectrum.

All of that, of course, is assuming you can even find one.

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Are 1967 Topps baseball cards the most beautiful issue ever produced?

You don’t hear it so much these days, but that used to be a conversation collectors would dust off once or twice a year.

Easy to see why, too, since the 1967s feature gorgeous photography and a simple design that only enhances those great color shots.

Whether or not the ’67s really are the most visually striking cards ever is a matter of personal choice, but no one can deny the value the set maintains today thanks to some high-powered rookie cards, high-number scarcity, and — yes — their physical beauty.

Here, then, are the most valuable 1967 Topps baseball cards based on PSA 7 listings pulled from the PSA Sports Market Report Price Guide.

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1967 Topps Tom Seaver (#581)

Before Nolan Ryan broke every strikeout and no-hitter record you could imagine, and before he moved to the Texas Rangers and threatened to pitch forever, a different hurler ruled 1960s cardboard.

By the time Tom Seaver notched his 300th victory — for the Chicago White Sox — in 1985, we already knew he was one of the greatest pitchers of all-time. The milestone and the winding down of his legendary career just nudged our consciousness.

Seaver’s high-number rookie card, shared with Bill Denehy, had been popular in the hobby for years, but as The Franchise marched toward Cooperstown, the thing took off.

Climbing to three figures, it threatened to take over the top spot among 1960s rookies from the 1963 Topps Pete Rose for awhile.

Value: $2200-2400

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1967 Topps Rod Carew (#569)

Even before the Seaver card shot through the stratosphere, the Rod Carew rookie card carried the 1967 Topps set.

The man who was a threat to hit .400 any season he took the field captured collectors’ imaginations like few others, and it didn’t hurt that his RC was also a high number.

Card mate Hank Allen didn’t do much to bump up the value, but Carew made it one of the first $50 cards from the 1960s before the boom took hold.

Value: $1000-1200

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1967 Topps Mickey Mantle (#150)

Combine a smiling Mickey Mantle with a classic 1960s card design, and you have a recipe for solid value.

I mean, unless The Mick is just standing there against a pale green painted block wall.

OK … even if The Mick is just standing there against a pale green painted block wall.

Yeah, Mantle has always been gold, and this is a top-drawer card in graded NM condition.

Value: $1000-1100

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1967 Topps Brooks Robinson (#600)

Brooks Robinson was already a Baltimore Orioles legend by the time his 1967 Topps card made its way to collectors, and the final 11 years or so of his career only cemented his Hall of Fame status.

Couple Robinson’s status as one of the greatest third basemen of all-time with a great looking card that’s hard to come by (relatively), and you have all the makings of a hefty price tag for a PSA 7 specimen.

Value: $500-600

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1967 Topps Willie Mays (#200)

In 1967, Mays was just a couple of seasons removed from his peak, when he won the 1965 National League MVP award with the San Francisco Giants on the back of 52 home runs.

Mays didn’t have the late-career surge that propelled Aaron to new heights, but Willie remains one of the greatest and most popular players to ever lace up the spikes.

Value: $450-500

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1967 Topps Roberto Clemente (#400)

Like other Clemente cards, this sharp looking 1967 Topps issue has only increased in popularity in the years since the Pirates legend’s untimely death before the 1973 season.

Even after the market tanked post-boom, Clemente remained solid, and today he’s more of a fan and collector favorite than ever.

Value: $325-350

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1967 Topps Hank Aaron (#250)

Hank Aaron was already a surefire Hall of Famer by the time his 1967 Topps card first greeted collectors from inside new wax packs that summer.

But he wasn’t yet the stone-cold legend who would one day break Babe Ruth‘s all-time home run record and finish as one of the top five or so position players of all-time.

This awesome card showing that classic Aaron batting follow-through has picked up steam in recent years.

Value: $320-350

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1967 Topps Pete Rose (#430)

Pete Rose may never make it to the Hall of Fame, but he’ll always be a legend of the game.

And he’ll always have enough fans and supporters to keep his cards near the top of the heap.

This classic Charlie Hustle issue always turns hobby heads, even all these years later.

Value: $225-300

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1967 Topps Mike Shannon (#605)

Shannon was never really a superstar, and he never even made an All-Star team.

But he was a key part of two Cardinals World Series champions, in 1964 and 1967, and he finished seventh in National League MVP voting in 1968 for helping the Cards push to another N.L. pennant.

Mix all that with a key high-number card, and you have the recipe for a big price tag where you might not otherwise expect one.

Value: $200-250

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1967 Topps Carl Yastrzemski (#355)

Yaz managed just 16 home runs and a so-so .278 batting average in 1966, the same summer National League import Frank Robinson stormed to the American League Triple Crown.

The Red Sox young star must have been taking notes, because he Yastrzemski broke out to hit .326 with 44 home runs and 121 RBI in 1967, nailing down his own Triple Crown and nabbing the only MVP award of his storied career.

This card, capturing Yaz at the end of his legendary swing, has become a hobby legend in its own right.

Value: $200-225

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1967 Topps Rocky Colavito (#580)

Now, Colavito normally wouldn’t appear on a list like this … I mean, he was a big-time slugger and overall producer for the Cleveland Indians and Detroit Tigers, but he’s a low-borderline Hall of Famer.

And, to this date, Rocky remains outside of Cooperstown.

But Colavito was a superstar, and the high-number scarcity of this card has had it near the top of the 1967 value list for decades.

Value: $175-225

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1967 Topps Red Sox Team (#604)

Another piece that wouldn’t normally appear on this type of list, but this team card has a couple of things going for it …

First, it was issued as the “Impossible Dream” Red Sox posted their first winning season since 1958 and came within a game of taking the 1967 World Series (against the St. Louis Cardinals).

Second, this is another high number affair.

All in all, this is a popular team card that sells for biggish bucks in PSA 7.

Value: $175-225

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1967 Topps Fence Busters – Willie Mays and Willie McCovey (#423)

Mays and McCovey combined for 73 home runs in 1966, which just so happens to match the total future Giant Barry Bonds reached in setting the all-time single-season record in 2001.

But in 1966, those were pretty hefty numbers, and no one knew what a PED was.

No doubt, McCovey and Mays were two of the biggest stars of the day, and Topps took full advantage of that fact with this stunner of a card. It’s still a hobby favorite today.

Value: $175-200

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1967 Topps Jim Bunning (#560)

In 1966, Bunning landed the ninth and final All-Star berth of his career, courtesy of a 19-16 record and sterling 2.41 ERA, not to mention a majors-leading 41 starts and five shutouts.

Even picked up a save!

Entering his age-35 season, Bunning looked like he had a shot at 300 wins. And, though he fell short, his star never dimmed in the eyes of hobbyists, and this great looking card remains strong all these years later.

Value: $125-150

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1967 Topps Maury Wills (#570)

Sort of the same story here as with the John card, except Wills doesn’t have much of a Cooperstown case. (John may still get in … mark my words!)

Still, Maury was the game’s preeminent speedster before Lou Brock and Rickey Henderson changed the standards.

Plus … and this is a big plus … 1967 was the first year Topps was able to feature the 1962 NL MVP in their set, after years of miscues that may or may not have involved hard feelings.

And, it’s another high number.

The result is a card that has haunted collector want lists for decades, and a price tag landing him on lists like this one.

Value: $125-150

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1967 Topps Jim Shellenback and Ron Willis Rookie Card (#592)

Neither Shellenback nor Willis lasted long in the majors, though Willis did win a ring with the 1967 Cardinals despite getting shelled by the Red Sox in his only Fall Classic appearance.

Willis passed away at age 34 in 1977 of a brain tumor, which makes his baseball story a bittersweet tale and keeps his cards on collector wantlists.

This one is also a tough high number, all of which contributes to the relatively hefty price tag.

Value: $125-150

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1967 Topps Tommy John (#609)

Like a few others on this list, the historical importance of the 1967 Topps Tommy John card is likely lost on newer collectors.

Makes sense, too, considering that John is not in the Hall of Fame and that this is not his rookie card.

But as a short-printed high number of a guy who made surgical history and who seemed to be a Hall of Famer in the making for years, this one was right there with Carew and Colavito as one of the more expensive pasteboards of the 1960s for decades.

Value: $100-150

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If you want proof that a monopoly doesn’t necessarily mean monotony, look no further than 1959 Topps baseball cards.

After buying out archrival Bowman heading into the 1956 cardboard season, Topps was poised to do whatever they wanted to do. And, after a 1956 set that looked remarkably like the 1955 issue, collectors might have thought they were in for a steep dive into mediocrity.

But instead, Topps unleashed an array of so many different looks over the next 25 years that they endeared themselves to generations of collectors.

And the 1959 cards played their role in that continued ascent, offering a very 50s-feeling porthole look after the cleancut 1957s and heavily painted(ish) 1958s.

Today, the 1959s are still super popular in the hobby even though the selection of stellar rookies is small (just one, really).

Read on for a rundown of the most valuable 1959 Topps baseball cards, as determined by PSA 7 values in the PSA Sports Market Price Guide.

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1959 Topps Mickey Mantle (#10)

Surprise! Mickey Mantle sits at the top of a “most valuable cards” list in a 1950 set.

OK, if you’ve been breathing sometime in the last 60 years, this is no shock at all.

Still, though, this is a great looking, 50s-feeling pasteboard that features a slightly amused — or at least contented — Mantle gazing out from the porthole in the card’s red-painted cardboard wall. Batting practice in the background makes the whole thing feel breezy and warm, like a place you definitely want to be.

The price of admission? Steep.

Value: $2000-2500

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1959 Topps Bob Gibson (#514)

You have to win one game with your life — or at least, like, the World Series — on the line. Who do you send to the mound?

It’s a hot stove and hot infield dirt conversation fans have had forever. For 50 years or more, one of the names that always ends up right near the top is St. Louis Cardinals Hall of Famer Bob Gibson.

During his 17-year career, Gibson won more than 250 games with a 2.91 ERA, went 7-2 in three World Series play, and picked up two National League Cy Young and one MVP awards.

He also left hundreds of batters questioning their career choices.

This smiling 1959 Topps version of Gibson is his rookie card, and graded NM copies sell like hotcakes. Indeed, Hoot pushes The Mick for the title of King of the 1959 Topps Baseball Cards.

Value: $1900-2000

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1959 Topps Hank Aaron (#380)

Like Mays, Aaron was already an established superstar by 1959, with an MVP of his own and a World Series title (in 1957) with the Milwaukee Braves, to boot.

Hammer’s 1959 Topps is a sunny, yellow-bordered beauty featuring a focused young legend, and it’s a hobby favorite.

Value: $850-875

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1959 Topps Willie Mays (#50)

Willie Mays, on the other hand, was already a superstar who was in the discussion for “best player in the game” as 1959 dawned.

A National League MVP award, 51 home runs in 1955, a couple of 30-30 seasons, and having still not reached his 28th birthday will do that for a fella.

This sunny yellow card, featuring a fairly serious looking young Mays, is on just about every vintage want list.

Value: $775-850

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1959 Topps Mickey Mantle All-Star (#564)

Pretty much any Mantle card will get a slot on lists like this, even if that card is not his main card in a set.

This All-Star issue shows the Mick in a posed batting shot, surrounded by a blue field featuring the American League eagle-and-shield emblem. The whole thing adds even more color to an already colorful Topps set.

Value: $775-800

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1959 Topps Sandy Koufax (#163)

Like Roberto Clemente (below), Koufax wasn’t yet the legend that he would one day become when this sunny, smiling 1959 Topps card first popped out of wax packs across the land.

With the 1960s just ahead, though, it wouldn’t be long until Sandy embarked on one of the most dominating runs in MLB pitching history.

Today, this card of the young Cooperstown-bound lefty is a hobby favorite.

Value: $575-600

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1959 Topps Roberto Clemente (#478)

As 1959 dawned, Clemente was still a year away from really finding his offensive groove in the Major Leagues, though stellar defense in right field was already helping boost his value — in WAR and in visuals — to the Pirates.

This yellow-splashed card features the Pirates logo to good effect and shows a young, fresh-faced legend just on the verge of letting the world know who he was.

Value: $450-500

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1959 Topps Harry Hanebrink (#322) – no trade statement

Hanebrink wasn’t anything like a star in the big leagues over the course of his four-year career, though, as you can see from the back of his 1959 Topps card, he flashed some leather in the minors.

Even that glove prowess doesn’t account for his lofty position here, though.

Nope, Hanebrink is here by virtue of some of his cards appearing without the “Traded to Phillies in March 1959” line. The “no trade” version is the scarcer of the two variations and commands a premium.

(The Billy Loes card from this set, #336, exists in two similar variations.)

Value: $300-400

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1959 Topps Willie Mays All-Star (#563)

As with Mantle, every Mays card in a set makes that set better, and this All-Star entry is no exception.

Willie himself doesn’t look all that comfortable scrunched into home plate, but it still a Mays card.

Value: $300-400

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1959 Topps Stan Musial (#150)

Heading into 1959, Stan Musial was already 38 years old and had more than 3100 hits to his name, with nearly 400 home runs and a .340 batting average.

A Hall of Fame lock, in other words.

He kept going, though, for another five years, and continued to produce pretty much all along the way for the St. Louis Cardinals.

In the process, Musial forever cemented his cards as collector favorites.

Value: $300-325

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1959 Topps Mays’ Catch Makes Series History (#464)

So, yes, another Willie Mays card, and this one was five years in the making.

This exciting pasteboard celebrates one of those amazing baseball memories that can be summarized in just a word or two.

The Catch.

You know instantly that we’re talking about Mays’ amazing, no-look, over-the-shoulder catch in the 1954 World Series against the Cleveland Indians.

You know it.

But it’s still great to “watch” the action unfold over and over again, and this card gives you that in the palm of your hand.

Value: $300-325

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1959 Topps Billiy Pierce All-Star (#572)

Billy Pierce was a star pitcher — an All-Star pitcher, in fact, on seven different occasions. He also won 20 games twice and was a key member of the 1959 White Sox and 1962 Giants World Series teams.

But, for as good as he was, Pierce was never a super duper star on the level of, say, a Koufax or Gibson.

So … where’s the rub? How does he end up on this list?

Well, the rub is on the front and back surfaces of many of these Pierce All-Star cards, the very last in the 1959 Topps baseball cards checklist.

And, not only does the Pierce card suffer from the typical types of condition scarcity you often find with first and last cards, it’s also a last card (redundancy alert), which means it was likely issued in lesser quantities than cards from earlier series in the set.

And, of course, it doesn’t hurt that Pierce was a star.

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Value: $250-300

1959 Topps Roger Maris (#202) – gray back

This is Maris’ second card, showing the young slugger after he’d moved on from the Cleveland Indians to the Kansas City Athletics, but before he landed on the “destiny” square of the baseball gameboard with the New York Yankees.

That would almost be enough to get Rajah onto our list, but he needed an extra push.

And that push comes in the form of a cardstock variation that afflicted all Series 3 cards (#199-286) in 1959, wherein you could find them with either gray or white backs.

These babies generally show up at about the same frequency in the wild, but the gray backs seem to be less plentiful in nice graded condition.

And THAT is Maris’ push.

Value: $200-300

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1959 Topps Hank Aaron All-Star (#561)

If you’ll allow a bit of editorialization, this is a smokin’ baseball card.

Whereas Mays looks cramped on his All-Star entry in this set, Aaron looks triumphant. Sure the choice of pose makes all the difference, but the facts are the facts.

And Henry’s Braves uniform looks pretty amazing inside the bright red borders here, too.

All of which wouldn’t matter if this were almot anyone other than The Hammer. But this is The Hammer, and collectors love this card … once they discover it, at least.

Value: $225-275

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1959 Topps Ernie Banks (#350)

This is peak Banks, fresh off his first MVP award (1958) and heading for his second (1959).

You don’t have to squint too hard, either, to make that sunlight splashing off Mr. Cubs face into twilight, guiding us into the second game of a doubleheader.

Let’s play two!

Value: $225-250

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1959 Topps Harmon Killebrew (#515)

Killer was in sort of a funny position heading into 1959. Like others on this list, he had yet to break out.

But, at just 22 entering the season, he had already spent parts of five years in the Major Leagues, with just 11 home runs and a lifetime .224 batting average to show for it.

At the same time collectors were pulling his fire-alarm red 1959 Topps card from wax wrappers that summer, though, Killebrew was hitting the cover off baseballs to the tune of 42 home runs and a slash line of .242/.354/.516.

He didn’t stop mashing for another 16 years, and eventually landed in Cooperstown.

Given all that, the price tag for a PSA 7 copy of the Topps card from his breakout season seems downright reasonable.

Value: $200-225

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1959 Topps Roy Campanella – Symbol of Courage (#550)

Roy Campanella was one of the studs of those old Brooklyn Dodgers teams that seemed to make it to the World Series every year only to fall short to the New York Yankees.

Until 1955, that is, when Dem Bums won it all, thanks in large part to Campy’s third MVP season in five seasons.

Just a couple years later, unfortunately, Campanella suffered catastrophic injuries in a car accident, which would leave him wheelchair-bound for the rest of his life.

Regardless of his struggles, though, the Hall of Fame catcher maintained a cheerful public persona and became even more of an idol for fans everywhere.

Topps commemorated Roy’s career and recovery in this 1959 card, dubbed “Symbol of Courage.”

Over the years, the stature of this card has grown along with Campy’s legacy, and today it will set you back a pretty penny in PSA 7. Fitting for the most inspirational of all 1959 Topps baseball cards.

Value: $200-225

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—

So, did your favorite make this list of most valuable 1959 Topps baseball cards? Or are we missing a beauty? I’d love to hear your picks!

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If you want a cardboard snapshot of diamond history, you’ll have a hard time finding a better representation of an era than 1961 Topps baseball cards.

Sandwiched between the colorful, horizontal 1960s and the polarizing wood grain borders of the 1962, the 1961 Topps cards look tame by comparison.

But thanks to a gold rush of subsets, Topps managed to squeeze in multiple cards of the game’s biggest names, which included monster sluggers who rewrote the record books.

The result is a “most valuable” list that looks like a 1960s Dream Team of power and leaves little room for mere mortals.

This list of the dozen most valuable 1961 Topps baseball cards is culled from PSA 7 listings in the PSA Sports Market Report Price Guide, and it’s sure to dazzle you with its starlight.

Let’s dig in!

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1961 Topps Mickey Mantle (#300)

Mickey Mantle may have considered 1956 to be his favorite summer, but there is little doubt which of The Mick’s seasons drew the most national attention …

In 1961, with teammate Roger Maris having won the American League MVP award in his first season with the New York Yankees (1960), speculation ran wild that maybe at least one of the dynamic duo could make a run at Babe Ruth‘s single-season home run record.

Somehow, the M & M Boys rose to the challenge and treated America to its first great home run race.

Though Mantle came up short in that sprint to history, his base card from their magical season sits at the top of the mountain all these years later.

Value: $1500-1600

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1961 Topps Mickey Mantle All-Star (#578)

In 1961, Topps adopted the first of their newspaper background All-Star card designs, and Mantle looks downright newsworthy breaking out of the center of his card as the American League center fielder.

It’s another beloved Mantle card that trumps everything this set has to offer except the base Mantle card.

The All-Star issue is second only to The Mick’s base issue among 1961 Topps baseball cards.

Value: $700-800

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1961 Topps Mickey Mantle MVP (#475)

Sometimes, even two cards of a legend aren’t enough splash for a baseball card set, so manufacturers have to find ways to pump in more.

In 1961, Topps addressed the situation by including an MVP subset, and one of those cards celebrated Mantle’s hardware from 1956 and 1957.

With three cards in the top three, there’s no doubt that Mantle is the king of 1961 Topps baseball cards.

Value: $550-600

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1961 Topps Hank Aaron (#415)

Although Hank Aaron wasn’t considered a slugger in the same ilk as Mantle and Maris in 1961, the young Milwaukee Braves superstar had already captured a National League dinger title and the 1957 NL MVP award.

Of course, 13 years later, it would be Aaron taking aim at Ruth’s all-time career record for homers.

This 1961 Topps issue shows a primetime Hank rearing back with a baseball in his hand and the old tomahawk jersey shining through.

Value: $500-600

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1961 Topps Roger Maris (#2)

In that long-ago, season-long home run derby that has become part of baseball lore, Maris kept pushing, no matter what.

When Mantle fell off due to injury, Roger kept going.

When Maris’s own pace fell off, he kept plugging away.

When the commissioner announced that a new record wouldn’t count if it didn’t happen within 154 games, Maris kept at it.

And when he came into the Yanks’ 163rd game still tied with Ruth, Maris kept hacking.

When all was said and done, Maris did get his 61st, and the new record, asterisk be damned.

This is the card that collectors gazed upon as their new hero plugged away at history, and it’s a hobby classic today.

Value: $475-500

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1961 Topps Willie Mays (#150)

Mays may have been overshadowed by the American League fireworks in 1961, but he was in the midst of his own 40-homer season for the San Francisco Giants.

Four years later, the Say Hey Kid would tally his second 50-dinger summer en route to 660 in his career, all while displaying maybe the most well-rounded talent in baseball history.

This hatless Mays pasteboard is nevertheless a collector favorite.

Value: $400-475

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1961 Topps Juan Marichal Rookie Card (#417)

Juan Marichal was one of the great pitchers of the 1960s, which is really saying something considering how stout moundsmen were in general that decade.

Marichal also had one of the most identifiable deliveries the game has ever seen, prompting many youngsters to immitate the Cooperstown denizen’s high leg kick.

On the backs of all this legend, Manito’s smiling, short-printed rookie card is among the top sellers in this set.

Value: $300-350

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1961 Topps Willie Mays All-Star (#579)

Here is a case where card scarcity and an immortal of the game conspire to generate a value anomaly — an All-Star card worth more than the base card of the same player.

The 1961 Topps All-Star Mays falls in line with the others in the semi-high-number subset.

Value: $300-325

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1961 Topps Roberto Clemente (#388)

Clemente looks slightly miffed on this card, maybe even disdainful.

If I had to guess why, I’d say it has to do with Topps’ insistence on calling him “Bob” on cards throughout the 1960s.

What the heck?

Anyway, it’s a mid-career card of a baseball legend, and it sells well all these years later.

Value: $275-325

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1961 Topps Carl Yastrzemski (#287)

This isn’t technically Yaz’s rookie card, even though the word “rookie” is featured prominently right there on the front of the thing.

You could make a pretty strong case that this one looks better than his actual RC, in the 1960 Topps set, anyway, and this one features a blow-up of the same image — even if both are more “painting” than “photo.”

In any case, this is an early-career card of a baseball legend, so it’s little wonder this one appears on lists like this one.

Value: $250-300

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1961 Topps Willie Mays MVP (#482)

It’s amazing that Mays could hit anything with that little toothpick he’s holding on this card, but dude was the National League MVP in 1954.

Not only that, he did it in team-anonymous fashion, sporting a “Giants” cap with no identifier at all. A couple of possible explanations?

Topps could have just used an old photo showing Mays in the NY cap the Giants used before they moved west.

Or … could Topps have picked up on some sort of under-the-breath trade rumors and decided to go franchise agnostic for this one? Sounds absurd, sure, but so does “Washington Nat’l League.”

Value: $250-300

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1961 Topps Hank Aaron All-Star (#577)

It’s tough for other guys to find breathing room when a set is stacked with multiple cards of multiple super duper stars.

So, it’s no surprise that another Aaron makes the cut here, with this hatless All-Star card.

Value: $225-275

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1961 Topps Sandy Koufax (#344)

Koufax put together his first All-Star season in 1961 before turning on the jets that would propel him to the Hall of Fame with a handful of unbelievable seasons through 1966.

As Koufax’s star was ascending, collectors were pulling this sunny 1961 Topps card from wax packs, and the spell was cast.

Value: $250-350

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1961 Topps Billy Williams Rookie Card (#141)

Even after Williams was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1987, this rookie card of his didn’t rocket to the top of the 1961 Topps hierarchy. That’s no knock on the Cubs legend, though — this is a tough era for anyone not named Mantle, Mays, Aaron, or Clemente to stand out.

Williams and his RC have maintained a strong core of loyal collectors over the years, though, and this beauty finally pushed into the upper echelon during the pandemic.

Value: $175-200

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1961 Topps Babe Ruth Hits 60th Homer (#401)

As if Maris and Mantle didn’t have to deal with the shadow of Ruth enough on the field during 1961, there he was popping out of wax packs, too.

But Topps sure looked prescient with this one, huh? Rolling out a 60-homer celebration just in time for Maris’ hair-thinning dash to the finish line was nothing less than a stroke of cardboard genius.

Value: $175-200

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1961 Topps Roger Maris All-Star (#576)

Like Mantle cards throughout his career, 1961 Maris pasteboards are the bomb no matter what form they take.

This All-Star card is another classic paper-burst affair issued at the height of Roger’s prime.

Value: $175-200

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After all …

What would you do if you banished your competition to the scrapheap of history?

Well, if you were 1956 Topps baseball cards, the answer would be … “pretty much what I did last year.”

And it’s true, because the 1956s are a lot like the 1955s — horizontal format, painted photo thingies, large head shot, small action shot.

If that was good enough to end Bowman in 1955, then it was good enough for 1956 Topps.

And so it was.

The design repeats, right down to several identical head shots, haven’t hurt card values over the years, though.

As you’ll see in this list of most valuable 1956 Topps baseball cards, as determine by the PSA Sports Market Report Price Guide for PSA 7 copies, building a ’56 collection would set you back a pretty penny.

Note that cards #1-180 exist in both white- and gray-back variations. The grays seem to be a bit more scarce for numbers 1-100, with the whites tougher to come by from #101-180. Difference in pricing between the two varieties is generally small, with the exception of Mickey Mantle, detailed below, and some commons that jump up in price for the scarcer version.

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1956 Topps Mickey Mantle (#135)

Mickey Mantle once called 1956 his favorite summer, and it’s not surprising considering he won the American League Triple Crown, an MVP, and another World Series with the New York Yankees.

Yep, the Mick was in his prime and this gorgeous card was a perfect complement for collectors lucky enough to pull one from wax packs that summer.

Aside from his 1952 Topps card and (maybe) his 1951 Bowman rookie card, this one is also maybe his most iconic cardboard.

The 1956 also benefits from the fact that The Mick had been missing from Topps issues since 1953.

For all those reasons, this card generally sells for big bucks, just like all Mantle cards.

Note that the value below is based on selling prices for the gray back version. The white back variety can run at a factor of 2-3X these levels. Either way, Mantle is the king of 1956 Topps baseball cards.

No surprise, right?

Value: $6000-7000

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1956 Topps Roberto Clemente (#33)

The head picture on this card exactly matches the one Topps used on Clemente’s 1955 rookie card, but the action shot against the outfield wall is different — and spectacular!

Just about every Clemente card is a popular item with collectors these days, and such a striking piece as this one gets some extra oomph.

Value: $2500-3000

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1956 Topps Jackie Robinson (#30)

Yeah, Topps was up to its repeating tricks again with Robinson’s head shot here, but also again, they sort of made up for it with a sliding shot of Jackie in the background.

This is another iconic baseball card of another super duper star of the 1950s and a historical figure in the game.

Value: $1800-2500

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1956 Topps Willie Mays (#130)

Like others on this list, the ’56 Mays features a holdover head shot and sliding action shot.

While Willie hadn’t quite yet touched the heights that Mantle would reach in 1956, he was already a budding legend in his own right.

Value: $1750-2000

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1956 Topps Hank Aaron (#31)

Aaron was still nearly two decades away from breaking Babe Ruth‘s all-time home run record when this card was issued, and he wasn’t quite the most feared slugger in the game.

Evidence of that exists in the form of his background action shot here, where, like Robinson above, Aaron is shown dropping into a slide.

Still, it’s a classic card that commands plenty of attention all these years later.

Value: $1500-2000

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1956 Topps Ted Williams (#5)

Another head shot repeat bolstered by a more complete action shot makes this Ted Williams beauty an able follow-on to his 1955 issue.

After appearing only in Bowman issues early in the decade, and before he became a Fleer exclusive in 1959, the Splendid Splinter had a splendid run of Topps cardboard in the middle of the decade, and this one fit right in.

Value: $1300-1500

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1956 Topps Sandy Koufax (#79)

In 1956, Sandy Koufax was still several years away from becoming Sandy Koufax.

But entering the season, he did have a couple of Major League wins under his belt, and he was just 20 years old.

Sandy’s second card, here in the 1956 set, features completely different images from his 1955 rookie card, which is more than you can say for a lot of guys on this list.

Value: $1100-1300

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1956 Topps Yankees Team (#251)

Normally, I avoid including “gimmicky” cards on lists like this. You know …

Checklists

Errors and variations.

Printing defects.

Short prints.

Team cards.

My reasoning is that this type of card is generally valuable because of some unusual circumstance — condition rarity, short printed (duh), split distribution (variations), etc.

And I want to include cards that are valuable because we — collectors — really care about who’s on the card, and what it means historically.

In the case of the 1956 Topps New York Yankees card, though, I think we have all those bases covered.

That team was loaded with superstars like Mantle, Phil Rizzuto, Whitey Ford, Yogi Berra, Don Larsen, and others.

And they were a bona fide baseball dynasty.

Value: $700-800

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1956 Topps Ernie Banks (#15)

After a strong rookie season in 1954, Banks announced his presence as a major offesnive force in 1955, cracking 44 home runs and driving in 117 RBI while playing all 154 games for the Cubs.

The best was yet to come, too, as Mr. Cub would follow a sorta down season in 1956 with 43 dingers in 1957 and back-to-back MVP awards in 1958 and 1959.

This classic card features young Banks at the head of his breakout seasons, a young Hall of Famer in the making. No wonder it remains a collector favorite today.

Value: $500-600

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1956 Topps Yogi Berra (#110)

And speaking of Berra, you better believe he’ll appear on lists like this throughout the 1940s and 1950s.

That’s what happens when you’re one of the greatest catchers ever, playing for one of the greatest teams ever.

Value: $500-600

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1956 Topps Luis Aparicio Rookie Card (#292)

Aparicio pulled off the unusual feat of landing his first Topps card the same year he made his MLB debut.

That summer of 1956, Little Louie won the Rookie of the Year award and served notice that he would be a premier shortstop for years to come, given that he was just 22 years old.

That came to pass, first as he helped the Go-Go Sox (White Sox) reach the World Series in 1959, then as he put together an 18-year career that landed Aparicio in the Hall of Fame.

Value: $400-500

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When it was time to plan the design for the 1960 Topps baseball cards, Sy Berger and the rest of the Topps braintrust must have felt a tremendous sense of autonomy.

After all, major competitor Bowman was five years in the rearview, long ago purchased and folded into the archives.

And Fleer was only nibbling around the edges, unable to issue cards of current players in their Major League Baseball uniforms and opting instead for sets of all-time greats and an exclusive run of 1959 Ted Williams cards.

So, with no real competition on the horizon, Topps tried something different — they went back to a horizontal format for the first time since 1956 but maintained the then-standard 2.5″ x 3.5″ card size.

Lots of color, two photos per card, special subsets, and bold blocky design elements dominated the cards, and it’s a look like no other.

But were the cards popular? Hard to say for sure how they landed with collectors of the day, but today’s hobbyists love the 1960s right along with other cards of the era.

We love them enough, in fact, that some can bring big money on the secondary (or tertiary or quaternary) market.

In that spirit, here are the ten most valuable 1960 Topps baseball cards, ranked by values of PSA 7 specimens as reported in the PSA Sports Market Report Price Guide.

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1960 Topps Mickey Mantle (#350)

The baseball card value game isn’t always fair, and that goes double when Mickey Mantle is involved.

I mean, no matter which set we’re talking about, there’s a decent chance the Commerce Comet is going to be on top of the heap.

Unless there’s a Hall of Fame rookie card in the set.

Sometimes, though, the Mantle Effect can’t be overcome by the mere presence of even a stellar RC … or two.

That’s the case with 1960 Topps, because even though there are two all-time RCs on the checklist (see below), Mantle rules the day.

Hard to argue with that situation, really, because this is a great looking mid-career card of the guy who still captures our imagination like few others, even 50+ years after his retirement.

There’s no doubt this is the king of 1960 Topps baseball cards.

Value: $2000-2300

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1960 Topps Hank Aaron (#300)

It took awhile for mid-career Aaron cards to gain the acclaim they deserve, but these days most fans and collectors recognize Aaron for what he is — one of the best two or three players of the 50s and 60s, and one of the top 5 ever.

That status reflects here, in the form of a classic piece that’s a $250+ card in PSA 7 condition.

Value: $1000-1100

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1960 Topps Willie Mays (#200)

Willie Mays was always right there with Mantle in the conversation about who was the best player in the game at any given time. Duke Snider was sort of lumped in there, too, by virtue of his prominence with the Brooklyn Dodgers.

But it was Willie who got top billing in all those “Willie, Mickey, and The Duke” refrains, and he ended up as the most accomplished of the three.

His 1960 Topps card is an absolute classic and can fetch close to $200 in PSA 7.

Value: $800-900

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1960 Topps Carl Yastrzemski Rookie Card (#148)

The first Carl Yastrzemski card I ever held in my hands was his 1983 Topps base issue, and I remember being struck by a) hold old he looked and b) the Bible-print wall of statistics on the card back.

Not long after that, I found out that the 1960 Topps Yaz rookie card was one of the most coveted in the hobby. I eventually saw one in a picture, or maybe at a card show in Indianapolis, and thought it looked pretty funky — but in an exotic sort of way that made it seem all the more unattainable.

While that Yaz RC doesn’t hold quite the lofty position it once did thanks to the hobby emergence of first-year cardboard from Pete Rose, Steve Carlton, Rod Carew, Tom Seaver, and Nolan Ryan, it’s still a cardboard staple.

Value: $750-800

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1960 Topps Willie McCovey Rookie Card (#316)

McCovey actually scored two cards in the 1960 Topps set — this Topps All-Star Rookie and a “regular” All-Star card.

The Big Mac rookie never quite held the same sway over collectors as its Yaz counterpart, but it’s always been one of the more valuable pieces of the 1960 Topps set.

Value: $700-800

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1960 Topps Mickey Mantle All-Star (#563)

Sometimes, the Mantle Effect doesn’t end with his base card.

But that only happens when … well, when there’s any sort of other Mantle card in a set. You know, like All-Star, or World Series, or “Mantle Hits a 565-foot Home Run” Mantle cards.

In the case of 1960 Topps, that extra Mantle card is of the All-Star variety, and the big “60” in the background looks downright prophetic given what would unfold over then next couple of seasons.

Value: $700-800

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1960 Topps Roberto Clemente (#326)

Even though he died prematurely in a plane crash nearly 50 years ago, Clemente’s popularity seems to grow year after year.

That’s reflected in his cards across the board, and especially with pasteboards that hold special significance.

Clemente’s 1960 Topps card is stunning, as the colors, figurine batter shot, and Pirates logo fit together like art. It doesn’t hurt that the Bucs won the World Series in dramatic fashion against the New York Yankees that fall, either.

Value: $400-500

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1960 Topps Sandy Koufax (#343)

In 1960, Sandy Koufax was still trundling along as a good but not spectacular starter — and sometimes reliever — for the Los Angeles Dodgers.

It would be another year before he put up anything resembling big numbers and clinching an All-Star berth, and another three until he became the lockdown beast that we all remember him as today.

This 1960 Topps card is a snapshot in time of a young man on the verge of big things.

Value: $375-425

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1960 Topps Jim Kaat Rookie Star (#136)

For decades, the Jim Kaat rookie card trundled along below the surface of hobby hot lists, commanding more than a common but definitely not superstar-level prices.

That pretty much fit with the man’s profile among baseball fans, too, with his supporters trumpeting his Hall of Fame case on the strength of 284 wins while his detractors called him an “accumulator” thanks to a 25-year career full of mostly good-not-great seasons.

Kaat’s hobby status changed in a hurry in 2022, though, when the Golden Days Era Committee lifted him into Cooperstown. Not surprisingly, this RC is the pick of the litter among all of Kitty’s cards.

Among all 1960 Topps baseball cards, this is the one that proves that you never really know what old cardboard might still have in store for us.

Value: $350-375

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1960 Topps Bob Gibson (#73)

Gibson didn’t win 300 games, finishing with “just” 251 in his 17-year career.

And his 3117 strikeouts rank just 16th all time entering the 2023 season, though he stood second behind Walter Johnson when Hoot retired in 1975.

Still, Gibson may just have been the most intimidating man to ever stalk a major league mound, combining nasty stuff with a ready willingness to plunk batters.

He was also one of the main authors of the “Season of the Pitcher” in 1968 and a legendary postseason performer.

Add it all up, and you have a Hall of Famer with baseball cards that live on in the hearts of collectors decades after he last picked up a ball.

Value: $275-350

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1960 Topps Willie Mays All-Star (#564)

As is the case with Mantle, one Willie Mays card just isn’t enough sometimes.

That’s especially true when you have a second mid-career option in a vintage set, with the iconic “60” looming in the background.

This is a classic card featuring Mays in his classic swinging follow-through, and that’s a tough combination for collectors to resist.

Value: $300-325

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1960 Topps Ernie Banks (#10)

Banks’ days as an MVP were behind him by the time this card was issued, and he would last just two more seasons at shortstop before moving to first base.

But he was already a Cubs legend and turning the corner on a Hall of Fame career, and this is arguably one of his most iconic issuesafter his 1954 Topps rookie card.

Value: $275-300

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1960 Topps Hank Aaron All-Star (#566)

Topps had their formula down pat in 1960, doling out double dip after double dip of top-tier Hall of Famers, courtesy of their big, bold All-Star cards.

This time around, it’s Hammer himself, well on his way to becoming the all-time home run king, though no one could have predicted that outcome at the time.

Value: $275-300

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1960 Topps Stan Musial (#250)

At the other end of baseball’s circle of life in 1960 stood Stan Musial, the St. Louis Cardinals’ beloved elder statesman who had built his legend over the course of two decades under the arch.

Counting 1960, Stan the Man would manage four more Big League seasons before retiring in 1963 as a Cooperstown lock.

Not surprisingly, Musial cards have always been popular across the board, and this one is no exception.

Value: $200-250

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1960 Topps Roger Maris (#377)

As 1960 dawned, Roger Maris was on the move from the Kansas City Athletics to the vaunted New York Yankees.

Could the young outfielder with the big power stroke put things together under the bright city lights, or would he wilt in the fire of expectations?

Well, Maris answered question pretty emphatically with an MVP season that helped the Yanks reach the World Series.

And the next season?

He didn’t do much for an encore … just a little home run race with teammate Mickey Mantle that ended with Maris eclipsing Babe Ruth‘s single-season dinger record by clubbing 61 of his own.

He also made “asterisk” a trending topic before we had trending topics.

For all this, Maris’s cards remain strong sellers nearly 60 years on, and this 1960 Topps piece — his first in a Yankees uniform — is among the most popular of Rajah’s pasteboards.

Value: $225-250

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—

So, does your favorite appear on this list of the most valuable 1960 Topps baseball cards? Or is your top pick a bit more affordable?

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I mean, here you have a set that is typical 1980s Topps, with all its mushy brown card stock and thick white borders and subsets and so-so card design …

… but that’s also loaded with rookie cards that still make your mouth water if you lived through their glory years.

Of course, like most sets from that era, much of the promise of the ’85s have gone by the wayside. That doesn’t mean they’re all just fodder for the commons bins, however.

In fact, several still hold a decent bit of value, especially in graded form.

Here, then, are the most valuable 1985 Topps baseball cards, as ranked by PSA 9 values from the PSA Sports Market Report Price Guide. We’ll start at the bottom of the list and work our way up.

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1985 Topps Steve Carlton (#360)

This would be the last Topps card featuring Carlton as a Phillie issued while he was actually still with Philadelphia. By the time his 1986 Topps base card — also showing him with the Phils — hit the streets, so had Lefty … he was with the San Francisco Giants in the first stop of what would become a sad and dizzying career-ending, hang-on-way-too-long tour.

Value: $10-15

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1985 Topps Ryne Sandberg (#460)

This was the first Ryno Topps card issued after he had established himself as a superstar, that on the back of a breakout 1984 season that landed him the National League MVP award and the Cubs their first-ever division title. As such, there remains an aura about this pasteboard that persists through the decades.

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Value: $10-15

1985 Topps Alan Trammell (#690)

Like Sandberg, Trammell enjoyed a great season in 1984, culminating with World Series MVP honors as his juggernaut Tigers team fulfilled the fate that had seemed theirs since Opening Day. The only difference was, Tram was already a star entering that ’84 campaign. He exited a household name and a budding hobby star.

Value: $10-20

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1985 Topps Wade Boggs (#350)

After a breakout season in 1983 that included a gaudy .361 batting average to win his first hitting crown, Boggs “slumped” to .325 and didn’t figure in the battle waged by Yankees teammates Don Mattingly and Dave Winfield for the 1984 crown. Still, Chicken Man’s rookie cards are alreay hobby burners by that point, and even his new 1985 cards were coveted items.

Still are.

Value: $15-20

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1985 Topps Rickey Henderson All-Star (#706)

After six inimitable seasons with Henderson at the top of their lineup, the A’s traded Rickey to the Yankees in December of 1984, setting the stage for some of his best seasons and the expansion of his Hot Dog Fan Club.

But Henderson graced the Oakland faithful with one more All-Star performance before he departed (for the first time), and Topps captured the moment in cardboard … as usual.

Consider this our 1985 Topps baseball cards team All-Star representative.

Value: $15-20

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1985 Topps Eddie Murray (#700)

Eddie Murray probably isn’t really angry with you, peering out there from the confines of his 1985 Topps baseball card.

I mean, he’s not looking directly at you — that glare seems to be direct off to his right. Probably just eyeing the pitcher he’s going to victimize for one of the 29 home runs and/or 110 runs batted in he delivered in 1984.

Tell yourself whatever you need to get some sleep tonight.

Value: $15-20

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1985 Topps Pete Rose Record Breaker (#6)

Pete Rose set his share of records over the course of his 123-year major league career, and he thus garnered his share of Record Breaker baseball cards.

Here in the 1985 Topps set, Charlie Hustle was celebrating his newly-christened mark as the all-time leader for singles, en route to surpassing Ty Cobb as the all-time Hit King late in the 1985 season.

Not surprisingly, just about every Rose card was a hit back in those days, including this one. Not much has changed on that front.

Value: $15-20

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1985 Topps Pete Rose Manager (#547)

Yes, Pete Rose is a pariah.

Yes, he bet on baseball.

No, it doesn’t look like he’ll get into the Hall of Fame anytime soon.

But the fact remains that Charlie Hustle was one of the most iconic — and best — players in the game from his debut in 1963 right up until the bitter end.

And in 1985, he broke Ty Cobb‘s career base hit record.

Rose has a few cards in the ’85 Topps set, but this manager issue tends to bring a bit more than the others in graded condition.

Value: $15-20

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1985 Topps Pete Rose (#600)

If there was a king of 1985 Topps baseball cards, it was probably the Hit King himself, as evidenced by this third entry in a row here on our list. Technically, this is Rose’s base card in the set, as it lists his 1B-MGR designation as a nod to his ongoing pursuit of Ty Cobb’s all-time hit record.

This was probably the plum of the Rose run once upon a time, but it’s just another part of the Charlie Hustle lineup these days.

Value: $15-20

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1985 Topps Bret Saberhagen Rookie Card (#23)

I was in the seventh grade the first time I pulled a Bret Saberhagen rookie card from a wax pack of 1985 Topps baseball cards. My first impression — likely — was that he had a strange name I’d never heard or seen before.

I’m sure I flipped the card over on that spring day and, seeing his scant major league record, surmised that this was a rookie card. Into the RC pile it went, for later perusal.

When I came back to that Sabes rookie later in the year, I was stoked to have found it because he had turned into a phenom while I slept and frittered away my balmy, carefree days.

And it also made me feel sort of uneasy because Saberhagen looked like the pack of senior boys who hung out in, yes, The Senior Hallway of our combined junior/senior high school. It was always a bad day when you inadvertently wandered into that den of iniquity while pondering an algebra problem or the exotic configuration of Mary Sue Parsons’ new braid.

The hobby at large apparently harbored no such apprehensions, though, and Saberhagen still holds a vaunted place in 1980s cardboard lore.

Value: $15-20

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1985 Topps Darryl Strawberry (#570)

After a rookie season for the ages in 1983, Strawberry sort of got lost in the glare of Dwight Gooden’s 1984 rookie season for the multiverse-eternity. But Darryl was an All-Star for the first time in ’84, enough to keep his rookie cards perking along, and to make his new issues exquisite pulls any time you were so honored.

A Mets World Series title in 1986, multiple MVP-caliber, and personal turmoil, frailties, and triumphs followed. It was all enough to take the shine of Strawberry’s Hall of Fame credentials, but also enough to keep him on the “love him forever” list for many hobbyists.

Value: $15-20

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1985 Topps Darryl Strawberry #1 Pick (#278)

Topps experimented quite a bit with their base sets in the 1980s, always looking for another angle to include MORE of super popular players and thus entice more collector dollars to fall in their direction.

In 1985, those machinations manifested most prominently in the Team USA Olympic cards (see our overall winner below), but also in a run of former number-one-overall draft picks.

Strawberry held that honor in 1980, and it netted him — and collectors — another 1985 Topps card … one that remains pretty popular today.

Value: $15-20

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1985 Topps Robin Yount (#340)

When this card was issued, Yount was a couple of years removed from his breakout 1982 campaign that yielded a pennant for the Milwaukee Brewers and an American League MVP for their shorstop. He was also four years shy of his second MVP award, which he won as a centerfielder in 1989.

In between, Yount continued to build his baseball resume, which would ultimate include 3000+ hits and a plaque in Cooperstown, not to mention two decades of hobby favorites.

Value: $15-20

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1985 Topps George Brett (#100)

Brett and Yount were in lock step for much of their careers as the darlings of the midwest piled up hit after hit and accolade after accolade. Brett’s tended to be of the more visible and dramatic variety, including a gaudy .390 batting average in 1980, the infamous Pine Tar Home Run in 1983, and a World Series title with the Royals in October of 1985.

This card is a classic for all those reasons and stands as a continued symbol of that magical summer in Kansas City.

Value: $20-25

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1985 Topps Tony Gwynn (#660)

Like Ryne Sandberg, Gwynn entered 1984 as relative unknown to most baseball fans and exited as one of the biggest names in the game. In Mr. Padre’s case, that fame came on the back of an amazing .351 batting average that captured the N.L. crown and helped San Diego capture their first division title and National League pennant.

No surprise this 1985 Topps “shades” shot was a hot pull right out of the pack, and all those hits and batting titles that followed have kept all of Gwynn’s cards nice and warm in the decades that followed.

Value: $20-25

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1985 Topps Orel Hershiser Rookie Card (#493)

The summer of 1985 was a magical time in the hobby and the game, especially if you liked breakout pitchers.

There was Gooden, of course, who we already knew about from his 1984 ROY performance but who broke out even more in ’85.

And then there was Bret Saberhagen, who looked like your friendly neighborhood farm boy and who seemed determined to win every game he pitched for the Kansas City Royals.

And then you had Orel Hershiser, who was supposedly almost 27, but who you knew was either a choir boy, a bat boy, or some Doogie Howser brainiac prodigy.

All Hershiser managed to do was go 19-3 with a 2.03 ERA as his Los Angeles Dodgers took the division flag in the old NL West. That was good enough to net Bulldog a third-place finish in the Cy Young vote and a Topps rookie card that quickly climbed into the $3 range.

Value: $20-25

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1985 Topps Mike Schmidt (#500)

Three years removed from his second consecutive MVP award in 1981, an “aging” Schmidt nonetheless managed to lead the National League with 36 home runs in 1984, his seventh (of eight) National League home crowns.

Ironically, then, Topps graced us with a shot of Schmitty on the basepaths for his 1985 base card, though, to be fair, the man did have wheels enough earlier in his career to steal 29 bases in 1975. He also legged out 11 triples in 1977.

Back to the 1980s …

By the time this card hit the wild, Schmidt’s place in Cooperstown was a foregone conclusion, but milestones like his 500th home run and third N.L. MVP award (in 1986) still lay ahead.

Value: $20-25

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1985 Topps Ozzie Smith (#605)

By the time the 1985 season dawned, Ozzie Smith had five Gold Gloves and four All-Star appearances under his belt. He was also building a reputation as perhaps the greatest fielding shortstop of all time.

That summer only built on the legend of The Wizard of Oz, and Smith and his Cardinals teammates pushed the Royals all the way to game seven of one of the most exciting and controversial World Series ever.

Subsequent seaons saw Ozzie add a bit more offensive depth to his game as his paged his own Yellow Brick Road directly to the Hall of Fame.

Value: $20-25

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1985 Topps Don Mattingly (#665)

Fresh off a breathtaking, down-to-the-wire batting race with teammate Dave Winfield in 1984, Mattingly entered the new season as the hottest player on the field and the hottest name in the hobby.

His encore?

A .324/35 HR/145 RBI/48 double season that left fan’s mouths agape and colloctor’s wallets open as we poured money into Mattingly’s rookie cards and second-year issues like they were going out of style.

For anyone who experienced the Donnie Baseball phenomenon in the moment, this card still brings the chills.

Value: $25-30

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1985 Topps Dale Murphy (#320)

Murphy failed to win the National League MVP award in 1984, marking the first time since 1981 the trophy had not borne his name. Instead, he had to settle for his first home run crown, courtesy of 36 dingers.

It was more than enough to keep Mr. Nice Guy perking along in the hobby, and all these years later, his cards still draw plenty of interest as the collecting world waits to see if he’ll ever get the call from the Hall.

Value: $25-30

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1985 Topps Tom Seaver (#670)

At first blush, seeing Tom Terrific in a White Sox uniform looked about as off-kilter as those Pete-Rose-Expos monstrosities, but Seaver made the most of his time on the south side, going 31-22 in his age-39 and -40 seasons to push to the brink of 300 wins.

He’d inch past that milestone early in 1986 before ending his career with the Red Sox.

These days, every Seaver card is a masterpiece in nostalgia, and this one is no different.

Value: $25-30

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1985 Topps Eric Davis Rookie Card (#627)

Eric Davis was one of those guys who didn’t look like he could do all the things he could do on the baseball diamond.

Built like a fawn, Davis could run, field, and hit for power like few in the game.

But like buddy Darryl Strawberry, Davis fell short of the lofty expectations that a 1986 breakout set up for him.

Unlike Straw, though, Davis didn’t really self-destruct. Instead, his body just broke down under the stresses of Major League Baseball play.

Still, he managed to hang on for parts of 17 seasons and put together a solid career.

This rookie card doesn’t have the swagger it once did, but it’s still a thrill to stumble on one in a box or at a show.

Value: $25-35

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1985 Topps Dwight Gooden Rookie Card (#620)

If you’re wondering how the card of a guy who fell off the Hall of Fame ballot after one try in 2006 can make a list like this, see the above discussion about Gooden’s Record Breaker card.

I’ll just add here that if you can gaze upon this hobby icon, with its ambiguous blue sky background — is it sunny or stormy? — and the serious young man who could have been king in the foreground, without experiencing a hitch of excitement in your chest …

Well, then, you’ll never truly understand what the hobby was like during the boom years of the 1980s.

Today’s cards owe a lot to forgotten treasures like this Gooden RC, and plenty of collectors remember.

That’s why, even today after all those years and all those stumbles, the ’85 Gooden is still a hobby legend. It’s arguably the most iconic of all 1985 Topps baseball cards.

Value: $25-35

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1985 Topps Cal Ripken (#30)

After winning the American League Rookie of the Year Award in 1982 and the MVP Award in 1983 (along with a World Series title), Cal Ripken failed to do anything truly remarkable for the first time in 1984.

You know, aside from accumulating an MLB-leading 10 WAR.

Oh well, collectors still loved him enough to make this a top-shelf card in 1985, and it’s still among the frontrunners all these years later.

Value: $30-35

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1985 Topps Rickey Henderson (#115)

Henderson’s last base Topps card from his first go-round in Oakland may not be as exciting as some of his earlier issues, where he was frequently seen sprinting, sneaking, or sliding around the bases.

But this one does offer a solid, well-cropped side profile of the game’s greatest leadoff hitter, and the Green and Gold are on full display.

Like all Henderson cards, this one only grew in popularity — and price — as Rickey continued to rack up the honors over his long, long career.

Value: $30-35

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1985 Topps Nolan Ryan Record Breaker (#7)

You can’t have a “most valuable” list of 1970s, 1980s, or 1990s baseball cards without at least one Nolan Ryan, and The Express breaks the seal here with a Record Breaker card.

This one is pretty interesting, too.

See, in 1983, Steve Carlton, Gaylord Perry, and Ryan all powered past Walter Johnson on the all-time strikeout list. Perry retired immediately after, and then Ryan pretty much swallowed Lefty to claim the K title for his own.

And, of course, he’d take that sucker to the moon, out of the reach of any mere mortal, over the next nine seasons.

Value: $30-40

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1985 Topps Dwight Gooden Record Breaker (#3)

Who was the hottest rookie card — and probably the hottest player — heading into 1985?

You could make a strong argument it was Yankees first baseman Don Mattingly, but Donnie Baseball had to share the spotlight with crosstown youngsters Darryl Strawberry and Dwight Gooden of the Mets.

And, while Strawberry drove the hobby frenzy with his Rookie of the Year campaign in 1983, Gooden became an almost mythical figure in 1984.

Part of it was that he was just a teenager, and part of it was that he was simply dominating batters, based on the statistics we saw in our Sunday newspapers.

But a lot of us struggled to get even a glimpse of the young man, and that only added to his mystique.

By the time Gooden appeared in the 1984 Topps Traded and Fleer Update sets, collectors were fairly frothing to get a hunk of his cardboard.

And that fervor only heightened over the winter and into the spring when we finally got a look at his first widely distributed baseball cards.

The 1985 Topps Gooden rookie card (below) became an immediate smash and climbed to $3, $5, and beyond as Dr. K mowed down hitters at an even more astonishing rate that summer.

This Record Breaker rode the RC’s coattails to some extent, and the two are roughly equal in value these days.

Because, while Gooden sort of flamed out in the 1990s, he still fashioned a career that was better than some Hall of Famers.

And his cards still thrill your belly if you were there to experience the Gooden phenomenon in the moment, especially ones like this — perhaps the most powerful of all 1985 Topps baseball cards.

Value: $40-45

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1985 Topps Nolan Ryan (#760)

What can you say about Nolan Ryan that hasn’t been said millions of times, including hundreds right here on this blog.

The man is a legend, and he has been for decades.

You can bet, too, that any Ryan card will be near the top of the value chain in whatever set it appears in.

This 1985 Topps issue, showing The Ryan Express with the Houston Astros, is no exception.

Value: $45-50

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1985 Topps Kirby Puckett Rookie Card (#536)

Like Clemens and McGwire, Kirby Puckett was something of a dark horse among 1985 Topps rookies, just one of dozens of youngsters who might someday be the “next” somebody.

So we set him aside and waited … until 1986, when Puck smacked 31 home runs and hit .328.

And especially in 1986, when his Minnesota Twins shocked the world with an amazing run to a World Series title.

Thanks to various ailments, Kirby only lasted 12 years in the Majors, but that was long enough to make him a legend and secure his place in the Hall of Fame.

It was also enough to keep his rookie card in good stead more than a decade after his untimely death.

Value: $55-60

(If you like your Kirby Puckett rookie cards a little more, uh, unusual … check out this beauty.)

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1985 Topps Roger Clemens Rookie Card (#181)

See that stuff I said about Mark McGwire above? Yeah, a lot of it applies to Roger Clemens, too.

Except, you know, Rocket was actually a much better player than Big Mac. Like an all-time great.

Like … top five starting pitcher great.

Right, I know, PEDs. I get it.

But from a baseball card perspective, Clemens was the second pitcher to really capture the hobby’s imagination in the 1980s, right after Dwight Gooden.

When Clemens broke out in 1986 with a 20-strikeout game en route to the American League MVP and Cy Young Awards, he sent us clamoring to pull his rookies from our “Maybe Someday” bins and into our “Road to the Hall” showcases.

This card ebbed and flowed along with Clemens’ performances into the early 1990s before rocketing through the steroid decade right along with him.

Today, even with the backlash against the muscle-y guys from those years, the Clemens rookie is plenty popular, and it always sits near the top of the pecking order among 1985 Topps baseball cards.

Value: $55-65

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1985 Topps Mark McGwire Rookie Card (#401)

Say what you will about Big Mac and his bulging biceps and whatever he took to make them bulge so, but I’ll bet once upon a time you thought he was amazing.

Like in 1987, when he set the rookie home run record with 49.

Or in 1998, when he hit 70 bombs to outpace Sammy Sosa as they both passed Roger Maris for the single-season mark (and set up Barry Bonds‘ run a few seasons later).

Or when you walked onto a card show floor in the late 1980s or the 1990s and saw that McGwire’s 1985 Topps rookie card — the one showing him as a member of the Team USA Olympic squad — was climbing in price again.

How high could it go? $50? $100? $200?

Yes, yes, yes, and more!

Until … the cardboard bust … and the PED taint … and our collective grasp of Sabermetrics, which sort of softened McGwire’s overall impact.

Then things sort of got ugly.

Still, this is a seminal card in the evolution of the hobby, and the allure of big boppers never really goes away. Among all 1985 Topps baseball cards, this is the one with the most checkered history, but also the one with heftiest price tag … depending on the time of day and which way the winds are blowing.

Value: $80-85

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—

Of course, no discussion of the most valuable 1985 Topps baseball cards would be complete without mentioning the super glossy Tiffany set from that year. Issued only as factory sets, it’s estimated that about 5000 complete parallel runs were made — pretty darn tiny numbers for the era.

Couple that stingy distribution with premium, creamy white cardstock and that super gloss, and you have the recipe for some valuable cards. Indeed, the Tiffany versions of the priciest 1985 Topps baseball cards listed above generally sell for 8-12 times the going rate for the corresponding base cards.

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I mean, just a year before, Topps had issued one of the most classic and understated designs in their history, and then in 1968 … burlap?!?

Well, yeah, burlap.

All these years later, the ’68s seem to strike collectors about the same way they must have back then — we love them or … well, not so much.

No matter how you feel about the design, though, you can’t deny the 1968 set sports some of the most coveted cardboard swatches of the decade.

And that’s the purpose of this piece, to run down the most valuable 1968 Topps baseball cards, based on current PSA 7 prices according to the PSA Sports Market Report Price Guide.

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Let’s dig in, starting with …

1968 Topps Nolan Ryan Rookie Card (#177)

This is it … the Holy Grail of post-1950s baseball cards.

Now, you can’t really say that the Ryan rookie card built the hobby as we know it, or even the rookie card craze.

This Ryan stands on the shoulders of cards like 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle, 1963 Topps Pete Rose, 1984 Donruss Don Mattingly, and a few others in that regard, after all.

But, man, as The Ryan Express rolled through record after record in the early 1990s, his RC — shared with fellow standout Jerry Koosman — shot through the roof. The card wasn’t rare, really, but whenever one appeared at a card show, an audible group gasp filled the air as everyone rushed to see it.

I’ve never witnessed so much cash changing hands on the back of one card as I did during that period.

The ascent of that card eventually slowed down, but the excitement it engendered never really dimmed, and it pulled all Ryan cards up to a price new level.

Today, the Ryan rookie in PSA 7 condition typically brings nearly $3000 or more. There’s not other specimen among 1968 Topps baseball cards that even comes close.

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For even more information, check out our article about detailing Nolan Ryan rookie card value through the years.

1968 Topps Mickey Mantle (#280)

This is one of the few sets he appears in where Mantle has to settle for anything less than the top spot when it comes to card values.

The 1968 Topps Mick features a classic late-career batting pose, but slides all the way to Number Two on this list, thanks to Mr. Ryan above.

Burlap Mick sells for $800-900 in PSA 7.

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1968 Topps Johnny Bench Rookie Card (#247)

For the first 20 years or so of its existence, the Johnny Bench rookie card ruled the roost of the 1968 Topps set. And why not?

Bench built a stellar career with the Big Red Machine teams of the 1970s, picking up two MVP awards along the way and generally establishing himself as the greatest catcher of all-time.

Today, his RC sells for $600+ in graded NM condition.

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1968 Topps Super Stars (Mantle, Mays, Killebrew) (#490)

One of the fun things all us youngin’s used to look forward to before Interleague Play came along was seeing big names from the National League and American League all lumped together under one roof (or sky) in the middle of the summer for the All-Star Game.

Never one to miss an opportunity to make us happy, Topps was pretty good about snapping pics of these meetings and pushing them out on cardboard.

In 1967, they managed to get three of the game’s most prodigious sluggers and then treated us to this Mickey Mantle–Willie Mays–Harmon Killebrew affair in 1968.

More than 50 years later, this is a $450-500 card in PSA 7.

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1968 Topps Willie Mays (#50)

And speaking of Mays, you can never go wrong with a base card of the Say Hey Kid.

This one purports to show Willie just a couple of years past his peak (though it’s really the same pic Topps used on his 1965 card), packing a big bat over his shoulder.

Expect to pay $350-450 for one in graded NM condition.

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1968 Topps Roberto Clemente (#150)

Roberto Clemente was a super duper star when he played, and he became even more of a legend with his untimely death before the 1973 season.

His quick election to the Hall of Fame and the golden light cast by the succeeding years have only served to make Clemente more popular than ever.

This classic 1968 issue sells for around $300-325 in PSA 7.

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1968 Topps Hank Aaron (#110)

When I was a kid, my dad would wear a baseball cap to work in the yard (which for him usually meant digging trenches, moving boulders, etc. — you know, lightweight stuff).

When he got tired and hot, he’d either turn his cap around backwards or wear it up high on his head to let everything breathe and cool off.

That’s what this Hank Aaron card reminds me of … a man who’s been working hard at his craft and needs to cool off.

Only, Henry just heated up over the next six years or so en route to breaking Babe Ruth‘s all-time home run record.

This burlap beauty of The King sells for $275-325 in PSA 7.

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1968 Topps Tom Seaver (#45)

After Pete Rose turned the hobby on its ear with his 1963 Topps rookie card, and before Ryan became the Kardboard King, the 1967 Topps Tom Seaver rookie card was untouchable.

But he shared that one with Bill Denehy, which makes this Seaver’s solo debut.

It features a great head shot that Topps liked so much they used it again in 1969.

The burlap version is a $250-300 item in PSA 7.

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1968 Topps Pete Rose (#230)

You know the story on Pete — Hit King, gambling scandal, banned and disgraced, perpetually outside of Cooperstown.

On the hobby side of things, Pete has regained much of the swagger that made his cardboard baubles must-haves for all us kiddies in the 1970s and 1980s, and this one checks in around $250-275 in graded NM condition.

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1968 Topps Rod Carew (#80)

Like Seaver, Carew rose to cardboard fame on a double-player 1967 card (shared with Hank Allen), then made his solo debut in 1968.

This one also features the Topps All-Star Rookie logo and a nice posed shot of the Hall of Famer with a baseball in his hand.

You can expect to pay $150-200 or more for a PSA 7 specimen.

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—

Does your favorite Burlap Beauty fall here among our list of the most valuable 1968 Topps baseball cards? I’d love to hear about the 68s that make your collector heart sing.

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Coupled with stellar photography, the Old Gum Company reasserted themselves as a force to be reckoned with as the hobby rocketed toward a new millennium.

Of course, everything back then was produced in quantities large enough to gag a Jurassic Park full of dinosaurs, so the cards have taken a hit in value over the years. As in, most aren’t worth much of anything these days, at least raw.

But if you step all the way up to graded cards in perfect PSA 10 condition? Well, then you’re talking about some hunks of cardboard that are still carry some financial heft.

With that in mind, here are the most valuable 1992 Topps baseball cards, as judged by recent PSA 10 selling prices on eBay, starting at the low end.

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1992 Topps Mike Mussina (#242)

Mussina turned in a sort of quietly excellent career — never really wowing anyone during any particular stretch, but producing top-of-the-rotation results for the Baltimore Orioles and New York Yankees for the better part of two decades.

For his trouble, Mussina was elected to the Hall of Fame in 2019, and his cards bumped up the value scale accordingly.

This early-career issue is a solid addition to any 1990s collection.

Value: $25-30

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1992 Topps Manny Ramirez Rookie Card (#156)

For most of his career, Man-Ram was one of the most feared hitters in the game, and he became an absolute legend with both the Cleveland Indians and Boston Red Sox. He even helped the latter club bust their curse and win the 2004 and 2007 World Series.

Then came PED troubles and lackadaisical play, and suddenly Manny-Being-Manny wasn’t so charming anymore. Consequently, Ramirez has had a lot of trouble with the Hall of Fame vote, especially for a guy with 555 career home runs and who looked like a Cooperstown lock once upon a time.

Still, this Draft Pick issue is Manny’s Topps rookie card, and it just may be the most colorful of all 1992 Topps baseball cards.

Value: $25-30

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1992 Topps Cal Ripken All-Star (#400)

Ripken was coming off perhaps is greatest all-around season in 1991, a shut-’em-up campaign that produced a .323 batting average, 34 home runs, 114 RBI … and Cal’s second American League MVP Award (the first came in 1983).

So, of course he was an All-Star yet again, and Topps commemorated the occasion with this classic looking card.

Value: $25-30

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1992 Topps Jim Thome Rookie Card (#768)

The first Topps card of the future 600-home-run club member fittingly features him waiting to take his cuts in the cage, wearing a batting helmet, and smiling at someone off-camera.

It’s pretty much how we all remember the jovial slugger from his days with the Cleveland Indians and Philadelphia Phillies (and Chicago White Sox and Los Angeles Dodgers and Minnesota Twins and Baltimore Orioles) …

… right?

Yeah, and it’s also a popular early-career card.

Value: $25-30

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1992 Topps Top Prospects – Shortstops – Chipper Jones (#551)

Sure, Chipper Jones crafted his Hall of Fame career as an All-Star third baseman, but he built his initial hype as a shortstop.

Heck, he even returned to the hole for the 2002 and 2003 seasons.

So it’s fitting that Larry’s first Topps Braves card (not really, but nominally) features him alongside such SS luminaries as Manny Alexander, Alex Arias, and Wil Cordero.

Value: $25-30

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1992 Topps Kirby Puckett (#785)

Everybody and his brother loved Kirby Puckett’s infectious smile, and this card gives us a huge, nostalgic dose of it.

Of course, it doesn’t hurt that the picture shows Puckett as he looked during the Minnesota Twins’ run to a second championship in 1991 or that Puck is a Hall of Famer.

Value: $30-35

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1992 Topps Barry Bonds (#380)

This card should be a treat for everyone who can’t stand to look at the beefier Barry Bonds from the second half of his career, as it shows a younger, lither legend in his prime.

And, love him or hate him, Bonds still generates enough buzz to keep all his cards on “most valuable” lists like this one.

Value: $30-40

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1992 Topps Rickey Henderson (#2)

Thanks to an MVP season in 1990 and knocking off Lou Brock’s career stolen base record in 1991, Rickey rocketed to the top of the hobby in the early years of the new decade, rubbing shoulders with Nolan Ryan on hot lists across the land.

This eye-catcher shows a prime-time Henderson muscling his way through a swing, no doubt on his way to a race around the bases.

Value: $30-40

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1992 Topps Ivan Rodriguez (#78)

Rodriguez finished fourth in the 1989 American League Rookie of the Year voting, and auspicious MLB beginning for 19-year-old who played only 88 games for the Texas Rangers that summer.

Everyone figured there were much bigger things to come, and everyone was right … including Topps for slapping the golden All-Star Rookie on his 1992 base card.

Value: $30-40

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1992 Topps Cal Ripken (#40)

Before Iron Cal’s breakout summer in 1991, there were plenty of folks calling for him to take some days off in the name of saving his body and boosting his play.

Those deriders had not a leg to stand on once Rip ripped through A.L. pitching to the tune of 11.5 WAR at 30 years of age.

From there, Ripken set his sights on a date with Lou Gehrig, and Topps was savvy enough to capture that bit of symbolism.

Value: $35-40

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1992 Topps Rickey Henderson Record Breaker (#2)

Ho hum, another year, another Rickey Henderson record breaker card.

Except, in 1992, the RB wasn’t ho-hum at all. Nope, it was the big one, the one we’d been waiting for all during the preceding decade. This was the card that celebrated the official arrival of King Rickey as the all-time stolen base leader.

Like the man himself, this one has plenty of fans.

Value: $35-40

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1992 Topps Ken Griffey Jr. (#50)

You can decry the overproduction of 1990s cards all you want, but the companies truly did start taking some artistic liberties with their products.

Some of those really paid off, like this amazing horizontal shot of Griffey coming up after a dusty slide. Is this the most beautiful of all 1992 Topps baseball cards?

It sure has a case.

At any rate, it’s great stuff that can bring a few bucks (a few times over) in PSA 10 condition today.

Value: $40-50

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1992 Topps Kenny Lofton (#69)

This isn’t technically a rookie card, seeing as how Lofton appeared on severaly issues in 1991. But it *is* his first base Topps card, and it does show him with the Astros, a marriage that happened so long ago you can almost see a Nolan Ryan sweat stain on the grass behind the speedster.

With Lofton’s status as one of the more notable Hall of Fame snubs in recent years (especially given the new “standards” set by some recent inductees), this already-getting-pricey card may have yet more room to grow.

Value: $40-50

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1992 Topps George Brett (#620)

While collectors were pulling this card from wax packs through the 1992 season, Brett was busy putting the final touches on his run to 3000 hits.

When he passed the milestone late in the season, he only further cemented his future in the Hall of Fame and his status as a hobby legend … and his cards’ status as hobby legends.

Value: $45-50

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1992 Topps Nolan Ryan Record Breaker (#4)

If there was anyone who could give Rickey Henderson a run (ha!) for his money when it came to setting records, it was Nolan Ryan.

Year after year, and sometimes start after start, the ageless wonder always seemed to be knocking down some poor defenseless mark that had stood for ages before he blew through.

On this particular card, the Ryan Express is blowing through another hitter’s hapless at-bat en route to securing his 22nd consecutive season with at least 100 strikeouts.

Value: $45-55

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1992 Topps Nolan Ryan (#1)

There have been few hotter players, ever, in the game than the molten lava that was Nolan Ryan when he appeared on the first card of the 1992 Topps set.

Seven no-hitters and setting a new record seemingly every time you take the mound will do that for a fella.

As always, Ryan cardboard sits near the top, valuewise, of every set it’s in, and he takes all the marbles here. Heck, if you’re keeping score at home, old Nolan takes the top two slots among the most valuable 1992 Topps baseball cards!

Value: $50-60

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How do you follow up funky borders and a miniature parallel set? Well, with 1976 Topps baseball cards, of course!

And, while those Centennial year cards are understated by comparison to their flashy 1975 counterparts, this is an issue that grows on you over the years.

Trust me.

For a long time, the ’76s didn’t do much for me, but then I started studying the details — color-coordinated bands on card fronts, baseball-y card backs, position-specific figurines, kick-butt action photography.

Yeah, these things are pretty special. And some of them are worth a decent penny in the right condition.

That’s what this post is all about — the most valuable 1976 Topps baseball cards, as listed in the PSA Sports Market Report Price Guide for PSA 8 copies.

Watch out as you read, though, because these little beauties sneak up on you!

(Note: The following sections contain affiliate links to eBay and Amazon listings for the cards being discussed.)

1976 Topps George Brett (#19)

After ascending to the top of the 1975 Topps value chart in the 1980s, it didn’t take George Brett long to claim the same spot in the 1976 set.

This second-year card was issued the same season Brett’s Kansas City Royals made it to the their first American League Championship Series, the same season the man himself won his first batting title.

All in all, this is a piece of hobby history, and one that will cost you plenty to own in PSA 8 condition.

Value: $450-500

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1976 Topps Hank Aaron (#550)

So, it was cool, sort of, that Hank Aaron got to go “home” to Milwaukee to finish his career. After all, that’s where he started his Big League journey in 1954.

But that humble beginning was with the Braves … that 1975-76 jaunt was with the Brewers.

Weird.

And this card looks weird for it, too, but it is Aaron’s last Topps card, so its hefty price tag seems about right.

Value: $250-300

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1976 Topps Nolan Ryan (#330)

1976 Topps Nolan Ryan isn’t really mad at you, not like Pasteboard Pete down below. But the Ryan Express sure looks disappointed.

What did you do to the flamethrower who dominates baseball card sets from here to 1968 and back, anyway?

Whatever it was, expect to pay dearly for Ryan’s PSA 8 disdain.

Value: $150-200

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1976 Topps Dennis Eckersley Rookie Card (#98)

Once upon a time, Dennis Eckersley was a stud starter, like ace level.

Then personal problems and ineffectiveness left him swirling around for several years before he found himself with the Oakland A’s in the 1980s.

With Tony La Russa and Dave Duncan in his corner, Eck became a stud again … this time in the bullpen.

Add it all together, and you have a Hall of Fame career to go alongside his late-blooming rookie card.

Value: $150-175

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1976 Topps Pete Rose (#240)

1976 Topps Pete Rose isn’t quite sure what you said to him, but he’s pretty sure he doesn’t like it.

Sure enough that he’s flipped up his shades.

And if you say it again? He’ll come up out of that dugout and make you sorry you ever paid big bucks for his cardboard in PSA 8 condition.

Value: $150-175

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1976 Topps Johnny Bench (#300)

Johnny Bench is, by most measures and most estimations, the greatest catcher of all time.

His 1976 Topps issue is undeniably one of the grittiest, most dramatic baseball cards ever.

What’s the combo worth?

Plenty.

Value: $140-150

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1976 Topps Ted Simmons (#290)

When the Veterans Committee dropped a surprise Hall of Fame election in Ted Simmons’ Christmas stocking at the end of 2019, the hobby gasped … and then went scrambling to pull all of Simba’s cards from whatever oblivion they’d slipped into.

A few months later, as the pandemic-fueled cardboard explosion raged, all of Simmons’ cards surged.

The result here is a steep price tag for a caveman-coifed pasteboard that hardly ever saw the light of day even five years ago.

Value: $125-150

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1976 Topps Reggie Jackson (#500)

Reggie Jackson spent one oddball — but still great — season with the Baltimore Orioles in 1976.

For fans who found the whole specter of Reggie teamed up with Brooks Robinson too strange to even ponder, they could fall back on the familiar sight of Mr. October in his Oakland A’s green and gold here on his 1976 Topps card.

This hot dog with mustard sells for decent prices in NM-MT condition.

Value: $85-90

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1976 Topps Babe Ruth All-Time All-Stars (#345)

The Babe may have lost a couple of big records to Hammerin’ Hank, but he still scored this really sweet card in the 1976 Topps set.

Imagine how cool it would have been to pull this thing from a wax pack as the 1980s beckoned!

Value: $50-100

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1976 Topps Hank Aaron Record Breaker (#1)

Remember that time Hank Aaron broke Babe Ruth‘s record? You know, in 1975?

What do you mean you thought it was 1974? No, dude, Aaron broke the all-time RBI record in 1975.

If you don’t believe me, check out this ’75 Record Breaker card.

Value: $75-80

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1976 Topps Mike Schmidt (#480)

By 1976, Schmidt already had two home run titles and two strikeout titles under his belt, and he was generally one of the most feared sluggers in all of baseball.

So it’s kind of funny that Topps chose a picture for his Bicentennial card that makes you do a double-take — is Schmitty bunting??

Probably not.

He’s probably just getting ready to drop his bat and circle the bases after ripping some horsehide.

But then … Schmidt, like, never bunted over the last ten years of his career, so very few fans would know what that spectacle actually looked like.

And also, the Phils’ legend bunted a career-high six times in 1976.

So, I guess, I’m sayin’ there’s a chance.

Value: $75-80

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1976 Topps Jim Rice (#340)

Rice looks contemplative on his 1976 Topps second-year card. Maybe even a bit melancholy.

That wouldn’t be so surprising considering that he had burst onto the scene in 1975 with a .309 batting average, 22 home runs, and 102 RBI to help the Red Sox to an American League East title, only to lose out on Rookie of the Year (and MVP) honors to teammate Fred Lynn.

And that’s to say nothing of the wrist injury that kept Jim Ed out of October play as Boston lost one of the most epic World Series ever (go Reds!).

Of course, Rice would develop into one of baseball’s fiercest sluggers, win the 1978 American League MVP award, and eventually land in Cooperstown.

No wonder his baseball cards remain hobby favorites, which goes double for this one, his first solo Topps issue.

Value: $70-75

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1976 Topps Thurman Munson (#650)

Munson was a grizzled veteran of 29 when he led the 1976 New York Yankees to the World Series, putting together a fifth All-Star season that netted him the A.L. MVP award.

This card became synonymous with The Tugboat when Topps featured it in their 1982 Kmart set celebrating former MVP winners, issued three years after Munson’s untimely death in an airplane crash.

Value: $60-80

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1976 Topps Ron Guidry Rookie Card (#599)

What were the qualifications to appear alongside Ron Guidry on his 1976 Topps rookie card?

Did you have to be a league MVP or Cy Young winner in the making, like Guidry himself?

Or did you have to have a Guidry-esque nickname like Louisiana Lightning or Gator?

Nah, you just had to have three letters in your first name — Rob Dressler, Bob McClure, and Pat Zachry fit the bill.

The four guys together will set you back mid-double digits in PSA 8 condition.

Value: $50-75

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—

There you have them — the most valuable 1976 Topps baseball cards. Did your favorite make the cut?

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