If you’re looking for scads of big-name rookies, 1964 Topps baseball cards may not be your favorite landing spot.
But if you’re content with tons of Hall of Fame cardboard with a clean, crisp design at prices that won’t completely break the bank … well, then the 1964 offering may be just what the card doctor ordered.
Featuring big blocky team names at the top of the card and not much else other than solid photography, the 1964s are a team collector’s/sorter’s dream, and you can usually find them at affordable prices.
Still, the 13 cards listed here — the most valuable from this classic set — can sell for pretty big numbers. Prices cited here are culled from PSA 7 listings in the PSA Sports Market Price Guide.
Let’s dig in!
1964 Topps Mickey Mantle (#50)
Another 1960s Topps set …
Another Mickey Mantle card …
Another 1960s Topps Mickey Mantle card that is the most valuable in its set.
This classic shot of the Mick is helped by a lack of big-name rookie cards in the 1964 Topps set, though it did have to out-punch a pretty strong second-year offering of the dude below.
Mantle was up to the task, though, and this one checks in at $400+ in PSA 7 condition.
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1964 Topps Pete Rose (#125)
If this photo of a young Charlie Hustle looks familiar, that’s because it’s a blowup of the tiny head shot from the 1963 Topps Pete Rose rookie card.
I have a personal love for this card because it’s the first expensive single I ever bought (OK, my dad bought it for me when I was 12).
Even wrote about it here.
But I’m not alone, as the second-year Pete Rose card is among the most popular non-rookies of the 1960s, and it brings in around $350 in PSA 7 today.
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1964 Topps Roberto Clemente (#440)
Does any card make you think “1960s baseball” more than this one?
Maybe, but the 1964 Topps Clemente immediately throws you into a 60s, Hall of Fame, long-sleeve Pirates kind of mood. At least, it does that for me.
I mean, what’s Clemente up to in this pic? I’d say getting ready for either a) a chilly Spring Training game or b) a chilly World Series game.
Either would have been possible for the Hall of Famer at various points during the decade.
No matter which way your fantasies swing on this issue, swinging “Bob” usually sells for around $175 in graded NM condition.
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1964 Topps A.L. Bombers (#331)
Who would be the big boppers in the American League in 1964? That’s the question Topps seemed to be tackling with this power-packed card, and they placed their bets on …
Roger Maris, Norm Cash, Mickey Mantle, and Al Kaline (non-Yankees and non-Tigers needed not apply, apparently).
Well, one out of four is … like, average-ish.
The actual leader board consisted of Harmon Killebrew, Boog Powell, Mantle, and Rocky Colavito.
Oh well! Still a great card, and one that commands about $125 in PSA 7.
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1964 Topps Willie Mays (#150)
Willie Mays turned 33 in the spring of 1964, an age when you might expect guys to start slowing down.
Only Willie ticked things up a notch, smacking 47 home runs in ’64 and 52 in 1965. Won the National League MVP award that second year, too.
Not that anyone really expected any less of The Say Hey Kid, who was a legend on both coasts and a Hall of Fame lock by that point.
This 1965 Mays Topps card, where the superstar seems to be watching something scurry along the ground, sells for $100+ in PSA 7.
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