1965 Topps Baseball Cards – 12 Most Valuable

What do you think of when you see a stack of 1965 Topps baseball cards?

If you’re a baseball fan — and why would you be looking at such a stack otherwise — it’s gotta be the feeling of heading to the ballpark to see your favorite team, right?

This set is rah-rah all the way, with waving team pennants, big bold photos, lots of color, and plenty of powerful swings and pitchers on display.

Heck, if all that doesn’t want to make you head to the local stadium, you may need to find a new sport!

And if you’re interested in cards that are worth something, the ’65s have you covered, too.

In that spirit, here are the 12 most valuable 1965 Topps baseball cards, as listed in the PSA Sports Market Report Price Guide for copies in PSA 7 (NM) condition.

1965 Topps Mickey Mantle (#350)

As is the case with the 1964 Topps set, Mantle beats out an early-career Pete Rose card for the title of “Most Valuable” in the 1965 set.

And, though this is a totally subjective assertion … this is what a baseball card should look like!

Legendary slugger following through on a powerful swing, watching the flight of a (probably imaginary) baseball as it clears the outfield fence …

Yankees pennant “waving” in the forefront of the card design …

Fielding and/or batting practice underway in the background, on a lush green field and under a blue sky.

Yowser! It’s awesome all around.

And it’s an $850 card in PSA 7.

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1965 Topps Pete Rose (#207)

From a baseball *feels* perspective, this third-year Rose card is not far behind Mantle.

And it’s also the first time collectors got to see a photo that was different than the one on his 1963 Topps rookie card (recycled for the 1964 issue).

All in all, a great card of a guy who may or may not ever make the Hall of Fame cut, but who will always be a baseball legend.

In PSA 7, this is a $175 buy.

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1965 Topps Steve Carlton Rookie Card (#477)

When Steve Carlton won another strikeout title in 1983 and ended the season as the all-time leader in Ks, this card caught fire in the hobby.

At the time, even though Nolan Ryan took down Walter Johnson‘s strikeout record first, and even though Ryan was a couple of years younger than Lefty, many (most?) fans figured the record would end up on Carlton’s Hall of Fame plaque.

So the RC he shares with Fritz Ackley climbed to $20, $30, $50, and more.

Of course, it turned out that Carlton was on the verge of a steep decline, and both Tom Seaver and Ryan soon eclipsed the Cardinals and Phillies great in terms of hobby swagger.

Still, though, this is a key vintage rookie card that today sells for around $175 in graded NM condition.

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1965 Topps Roberto Clemente (#160)

This Clemente card could be an advertisement for a studio portrait shop, so perfect is the framing, and so sharp is the image.

The black and gold of the Pittsburgh hero’s Pirates cap is nifty and complemented perfectly by the banner at the bottom with the buccaneer logo.

Even the pink inner border and “Bob” moniker do little to diminish this $150 card (in PSA 7) of the Cooperstown denizen.

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1965 Topps Sandy Koufax (#300)

It’s little wonder that Sandy Koufax is bent over his knees on this 1965 Topps card, considering that he’d tossed 61 complete games and accumulated 1014 strikeouts over the previous four seasons.

Dude must have been gassed!

In truth, his games started fell from 40 in 1963 to 28 in 1964, the year shown on this classic card.

And that was a sign of things to come … even though Sandy “rebounded” with two seasons of 41 starts, he was done after 1966 thanks to a toasted left elbow.

His story was pretty much written by that point, though, and he’s an absolute legend who commands $150 on his 1965 Topps card in PSA 7.

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1965 Topps Willie Mays (#250)

In case you forgot, 1965 was the year Mays set a personal record with 52 home runs and won the National League MVP award.

That summer, collectors were greeted to this wise and powerful looking veteran version of The Say Hey Kid, and the card itself was immortalized as part of the inimitable 1982 Kmart 25th Anniversary set.

This MVP cardboard is a $150 (or so) buy in PSA 7.

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1965 Topps Hank Aaron (#170)

While Mays was busy tearing up NL pitching, Hank Aaron was busy doing what Hank Aaron always did — smacking 30-40 home runs (32), hitting above .300 (.318), making another All-Star team, and generally being sort of quietly great.

Henry would get his share of the limelight a decade later, of course, when he broke Babe Ruth‘s all-time home run record, but in 1965 Hammer had to settle for an underrated Braves card that sells for about $125 in PSA 7 today.

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1965 Topps Joe Morgan Rookie Card (#16)

Greatest second baseman of all-time? Little Joe Morgan ranks big in that conversation.

Greatest/worst trade ever? The deal that sent Morgan from the Astros to the Cincinnati Reds ranks high on that chart, too.

Most valuable baseball card from 1965? For several years there, the Morgan rookie card made a push for that title, as well.

Today, this RC — which Morgan shares with Houston Colt .45s teammate Sonny Jackson — checks in north of $100 in PSA 7.

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1965 Topps Tony Perez Rookie Card (#581)

This card looks for all the world like one of those “leaders” cards until you realize the bottom row features Kevin Collins and Dave Ricketts.

I mean, what did those guys lead the league in?

Simple — they paced the world in appearing on Tony Perez rookie cards.

Doggie is the main attraction here, both visually and historically, and his RC carries a $90 price tag in graded NM condition.

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1965 Topps Ernie Banks (#510)

By 1965, that sinking feeling was starting to settle into the Windy City.

You know the one …

That feeling that an all-time great player may never get a chance to play for a title.

Because, suddenly age 34, Mr. Cub Ernie Banks had spent his entire career playing for Cubs teams that rarely touched contention and never tasted October baseball.

Things wouldn’t get any better in that regard, either, but at least Banks was still smiling — in coin-profile style — on his 1965 Topps issue.

It’s about an $80 card in PSA 7 condition.

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1965 Topps Catfish Hunter Rookie Card (#526)

In 1965, Jim Hunter was just Jim Hunter, one of four “1965 ROOKIE STARS” who may or may not become a real star for the old Kansas City A’s.

The other candidates on the pasteboard were Rene Lachemann, Johnny Odom, and Skip Lockwood, all of whom found Major League success in one form or another.

But after a decade as the ace of the Oakland A’s dynasty squads in the 1970s and then a key part of the Yankees World Series teams of the late 1970s, Jim was Catfish.

Not too awful long after all that, he was a Hall of Famer.

And that rookie card today is an $80 buy in PSA 7 condition.

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1965 Topps Roger Maris (#155)

Think fame and the turmoil of his controversial assault on Babe Ruth’s single-season home run mark in 1961 didn’t take a toll on Roger Maris?

Then take a look at the grimacing, aged, stressed visage on Rajah’s 1965 Topps card.

Assuming that photo was snapped in 1964, Maris was a mere 30 years old at the time.

From the point this card was issued until Maris hung up his spikes in 1968, he never again managed more than 13 home runs in a single season.

But his place in history, strained as it may have been, was already cemented, and this card fetches $70 or more in slabbed NM condition.

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