What’s the first thing that comes to mind when I say, “1962 Topps baseball cards“?
If it’s anything other than those iconic, beloved, hated, celebrated, decried woodgrain borders … well, you just haven’t been paying attention to the hobby over the last 60 years or so.
Or, maybe you have been more focused on the many Mickey Mantle cards or Babe Ruth cards the set has to offer, or the classic cards of youngish players just emerging into the spotlight — Roberto Clemente, Sandy Koufax, Carl Yastrzemski, Lou Brock, and others.
Or, maybe, you have been distracted by the green glare (more on that below).
Whatever the case, there’s no doubt that the 1962 Topps baseball cards featured a creative design that really evoked the atmosphere of (circa) mid-century baseball, with player pictures posted to wooden backgrounds, and the corners rolling up, just like a flyer tacked to the outfield fence down at the old ballyard.
Now, 1962 Topps is not universally loved, but it was enough of a classic for Topps to basically resurrect the design for their 1987 set, complete with the divisiveness grainy borders always seem to engender among collectors.
Whatever your opinion of the ’62s (or the ’87s), though, you can’t deny their impact on the hobby, or that they carry plenty of value all these years later.
For proof of that, keep reading — below, we have detailed the 25 most valuable 1962 Topps baseball cards as determined by actual selling prices for specimens in PSA 7 condition (the most common grade handed out by PSA for the set).
Play ball … and watch out for splinters!
(Note: The following sections contain affiliate links to eBay and Amazon listings for the cards being discussed.)
1962 Topps Minnie Minoso (#28)
All of Minnie Minoso’s cards took a turn northward in terms of popularity and prices when he finally got the call to the Hall of Fame in 2022.
The delivery on this one is a bit unfortunate, though, as Topps used the news that the White Sox had traded Minoso to the Cardinals in November of 1961 to fire up the old airbrush.
So we’re left with a sort of concerned shot of the soon-to-be-38-year-old (presuming a 1961 picture) with a pitch black and logoless cap perched on his head.
Topps got Minoso in a real Cards uniform in their 1963 set – too bad he spent that season with the Washington Senators.
Washington released Minoso in November of ‘63, and he re-signed with the White Sox … but not until April 8, 1964. Topps squeezed him into their later series, at card #538, and in a ChiSox uniform.
All in all, then, Minoso’s mid-1960s cards accomplished this: an epic black airbrush job, a full season of the wrong uniform, and NO card commemorating his 109 games with the 1963 Senators.
Pretty nifty hat trick, huh?
Value: $125-200
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1962 Topps Babe Ruth – Babe Hits 60 (#139)
Babe Ruth made a big comeback in the summer of 1961, more than a quarter century after he hit his last big bomb and 13 years after he died.
Why? The home run chase, of course!
And, even though Roger Maris grabbed the single-season record, with Mickey Mantle hot on his heels most of the season, Ruth’s big “60” was still a vaunted number.
That’s what this card is all about – celebrating Ruth’s standard-setting 1927 performance, and it’s a sentiment that still resonates with collectors today.
Value: $150-200
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1962 Topps AL Home Run Leaders (#53)
This card represented a chance for Topps to get Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris together on the same hunk of real estate, though you have to wonder why they didn’t just make a special Maris-Mantle card to commemorate the duo’s historic home run chase the year before.
They did it with Mantle and Willie Mays, after all.
Oh well … Maris’ and Mantle’s heads make the cut here, and this card also serves to remind us that Harmon Killebrew and Jim Gentile put together pretty amazing seasons in 1961, even if the M & M Boys rendered everyone else an afterthought.
Value: $150-200
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1962 Topps Lou Gehrig and Babe Ruth (#140)
The summer of 1961 had been all about the exploits of two Yankees teammates chasing down the ghost of another.
Topps used that hype to good effect the next year, lathering their 1962 set with multiple cards featuring Mickey Mantle, Roger Maris, and Babe Ruth.
On this one, they extend the metaphor and make it more explicit by picturing an earlier pair of world-beating Bronx teammates – Ruth and Lou Gehrig.
While cards featuring players from the long-ago lagged among collectors for many decades, the hobby as a whole has grown to appreciate the historical significance of these looks back, and prices have risen accordingly in recent years.
This one will never challenge Mantle or even price supremacy in this set, but it’s a great, fun, and popular card, nonetheless.
Value: $175-215
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1962 Topps Willie Mays All-Star (#395)
By 1962, Topps had figured out that the key to a successful baseball card set (besides, you know, holding a monopoly on the market) was cramming as many cards of the top stars as possible onto the checklist.