The Best Topps Baseball Card Sets of All Time

The ’52 Topps set is a thing of beauty, an iconic design which started what would become the standard format for the modern baseball card.  The design included a player’s autograph (taken from their Topps contract), team name and logo on the front.

While many view the '52 Topps Mantle and Mays cards as rookie cards, they are actually not their true rookie cards, since Bowman issued cards for both in the 1951 Bowman set.  Still, with Jackie Robinson, Mays, Mantle, Campanella, Berra and more, the set is loaded with star power.

1952 Topps cards remain in high demand with collectors, especially the high profile hall of famers, such as Mantle, Mays, Robinson and Berra.  We would expect these star cards to remain popular and solid longer term investments for vintage collectors.

Another beautiful set, the 1953 Topps cards were created from original artwork, some of which have come up for sale at auctions in recent years. 

The 1953 Topps set is full of all of the hall of famers from the day, including Mantle, Mays and Satchel Paige. There is a lack of rookie card power however, thus leading to a slightly lower grade for our overall ranking here.

The Paige, Mantle, Mays and Jackie Robinson cards from the '53 Topps set remain in high demand and should continue remain extremely popular issues into the future.  We would consider these star cards to be excellent investments for vintage collectors. 

While not the same sort of artistic feel of the 1952 and 1953 sets, the 54 issue is a big change in design, and while not perfect, it's bright colors and usage of colorful logs makes is a top design in the history of Topps sets.

While Mantle is notoriously missing from the 1954 set, there is a ton of rookie and star power including rookie cards of Aaron and Banks along with key cards of Ted Williams (who has two cards in the set), Jackie Robinson and Willie Mays. 

One of the more popular sets with vintage baseball collectors, due to the rookie and star power in the set, the 1954 cards of Banks, Aaron and other stars will likely remain solid vintage investments over the coming years.

The first horizontal design for Topps, the cards feature a similar sort of look as the 1954 Topps set, although a color action pose replaces the black and white one from the previous year.

Add Clemente, Killebrew and Koufax rookie cards to the star cards of Ted Williams, Hank Aaron, Jackie Robinson and Willie Mays and you have a star filled set. There is of course the notable absence of Mickey Mantle who had a contract dispute with Topps.

The key rookie cards of Clemente and Koufax continue to do well at auction and higher grade cards of Ted Williams, Hank Aaron, Jackie Robinson and Willie Mays are likely to continue to set sales record.  This equates to solid investment potential.

The full color photograph front is a first for Topps, and the simple design is a collector favorite.  The white and yellow lettering also adds an additional level of color, making the design a winner. 

The Frank Robinson rookie card is the key rookie in the set, but also features rookie cards of Hall of Famers Don Drysdale, Bill Mazerowski, Whitey Herzog and Brooks Robinson.  The Mickey Mantle card in the set is also highly coveted by vintage collectors. 

Rookie cards of both Robinsons (Brooks and Frank) continue to sell well in all grades, albeit maybe slightly underappreciated versus popular rookies in previous year.  Higher grade Mantles from the set also remain quite popular and should increase in value over time.

Bright colors on the 1963 Topps set and a similar design to the 1953 Topps set (absent the colored portraits) make this set one of the more attractive Topps designs of the 1960's. 

Rookie cards of Pete Rose, Willie Stargell are supported by a star studded lineup of stars such as Mickey Mantle, Sandy Koufax, Carl Yastrzemski, Willie Mays and Hank Aaron among others. 

The Pete Rose rookie card remains in high demand and for higher grade versions should continue to increase in value.  We view the Rose rookie card as one of the better investments in the hobby.

Some don't like it, but I find the 1968 Topps sets among one of the best designs of all the Topps issues.  The brown speckled background gives it a sort of vintage look.  

Doesn't get much better than this--rookie cards of Nolan Ryan, Johnny Bench along with star cards of Mantle, Mays, Seaver and Aaron. 

Nolan Ryan rookie cards should continue to show solid appreciation. Johnny Bench, maybe to a lesser extent but still a high demand card.

A bold design for Topps that embodied the colorful feelings of the worlds at the time of issue.  The colors are not loved by everyone, but I find it to be one of the more ambitious designs for Topps 

Rookie cards of Yount, Brett, Jim Rice, Keith Hernandez, Gary Carter and Fred Lynn make this one of the best rookie sets in the history of all Topps issues.  

There's no ignoring the availability of the cards, so we would advise anyone to buy the cards to try and find the highest grades as possible.  We don't think lower grade copies of rookies such as Brett and Yount will do well over time. 

Topps change the front of their cards from the 1954 set to feature a full color action background behind the player portrait.  While not one of the best designs, certainly not one of the worst either. 

A poor rookie card selection is helped out by a ton of star cards, including a return of Mickey Mantle to the set.  Cards of Ted Williams, Jackie Robinson, Willie Mays, and Roberto Clemente are all highly desired cards. 

Nothing much to speak of for rookie card investments but the higher graded copies of the top tier hall of famers from the set will likely continue to be good investments over time. 

A great black border design for the 1971 set is a big change from a Topps design perspective, although the black borders make the '71 cards much harder to find in mint condition.  Thus, there are many fewer PSA 10's from the '71 set as compared to any of the other Topps sets from the 70's. 

The rookie card of Reggie Jackson is the big draw here, although HOF rookie cards such as Ted Simmons, Bert Blyleven along with star rookies of Steve Garvey and Don Baylor are also sought after cards.  Key stars include Tom Seaver, Rod Carew, Johnny Bench, Nolan Ryan and Hank Aaron make this a great overall set. 

High graded cards from the '71 set are much tougher to come by because of the black borders which chip easily.  Thus we think that higher graded copies of Reggie Jackson along with the big stars in the set will continue to be worthy investments over time.