BY MARK A. LARSON
Editor & Publisher
Mickey Mantle collectors will find an abundance of cards to choose from in the 1961 and 1962 Topps sets.
The Hall-of-Famer and all-time great appeared on 11 cards in Topps’ regular sets in those two years … 13, if you count the Yankees’ team cards.
Mantle was still in peak form in the early ’60s and if a collector wanted to concentrate on just one two-year period to collect his cards, they would be hard-pressed to find a better choice than 1961-62.
⚾︎ 1961 • Topps ⚾︎
▲▲ REGULAR CARD – 4th SERIES, #300 ▲▲
Mantle is shown in a classic bat-on-shoulder pose for his regular 1961 card. (Note: Mickey’s
card number of 300. Topps usually reserved the big double-zero numbers for the best of the best.)
▲▲ ALL-STAR SUBSET CARD – 7th SERIES, #578 ▲▲
Topps continued with an “All-Star” subset (#566-589) in 1961 as it had each year
since 1958. Top players from both leagues were featured including, of course, The Mick.
▲▲ MVP SUBSET CARD – 6th SERIES, #475 ▲▲
Topps had an MVP subset (#471-486) for the first time in 1961. It included players who earned MVP honors between 1950-60. (Players who earned multiple Awards — like Mantle — had just one card.)
▲▲ WORLD SERIES SUBSET CARD – 4th SERIES, #307 ▲▲
World Series cards recapping the previous year’s Fall Classic made their second appearance
in the ’61 set (#306-313). Fortunately for collectors, Mantle’s heroics in Game 2 are highlighted.
▲▲ BASEBALL THRILLS SUBSET CARD – 5th SERIES, #406 ▲▲
This was the second time “Baseball Thrills” was used as a subset — the first being
in 1959. Mantle appeared in the ’59 version and makes a return visit here (#401-410).
▲▲ LEAGUE LEADERS SUBSET CARD – 1st SERIES, #44 ▲▲
Mantle has the distinction of being one of the players who appeared in Topps’ first League Leaders
subset (#41-50) in 1961 — as he led the American League with 40 homers the previous season.
⚾︎ 1962 • Topps ⚾︎
▲▲ REGULAR CARD – 3rd SERIES, #200 ▲▲
Fresh off his 54-homer season — a personal best — and another World Series
victory, Mantle was still at his peak of popularity when this 1962 Topps card was issued.
▲▲ ALL-STAR SUBSET CARD – 6th SERIES, #471 ▲▲
For the fifth straight year, Mantle was included in the All-Star subset (#390-399 & #466-475). It was
the last All-Star card for Mantle as the subset was absent for five years — returning in 1968 without him.
▲▲ IN-ACTION SUBSET CARD – 4th SERIES, #318 ▲▲
The “In-Action” subset (#311-319) was a Topps innovation in 1962. Cards showed sequenced photos of
a player — like Mantle — in motion. (Backs had full year-by-year stats … regular cards only had one year.)
▲▲ MULTI-PLAYER STAR CARD – 1st SERIES, #18 ▲▲
Multi-player cards were common in Topps sets of the era. In addition to Mantle and Willie Mays, Elston Howard (Yankees), John Roseboro (Dodgers) and Hank Aaron (Braves) can be seen in the background.
▲▲ LEAGUE LEADERS SUBSET – 1st SERIES, #53 ▲▲
Of course, Mantle was part of the League Leaders subset in 1962 (#51-60) — as he trailed only
fellow Yankee Roger Maris in 1961’s historic pursuit of Babe Ruth’s single-season home run record.
⚾︎ 1961-62 • Topps ⚾︎
⚾︎ Team Cards ⚾︎
When Topps issued team cards of the Yankees in 1961 and 1962, they took the easy way out the second time around and just repeated the ’61 photo in ’62. … But that’s not all. Topps also used the same team photo in 1960 and 1963 — four years in a row. (Never mind that manager Casey Stengell, who is included on the team card, hadn’t been their manager since 1960.)
This wasn’t an uncommon practice for Topps. Apparently, they figured — probably correctly — that young collectors of the era wouldn’t notice. In any case, if hobbyists want a really complete set of Mantle cards from the regular 1961-62 sets, the Yankees team cards are readily available.
▲▲ 1961 TOPPS YANKEES TEAM CARD — 3rd SERIES, #228 ▲▲
Mickey Mantle appears to be in the top row, fifth from the right.
▲▲ 1962 TOPPS YANKEES TEAM CARD — 3rd SERIES, #251 ▲▲
This is the same photo as the ’61 card, with Mantle in the top row, fifth from the right.
PLEASE NOTE: Award-winning hobby researcher Roy Carlson has written
extensive — and fascinating — articles on Topps’ repeat team photos …
• SEE: Sports Collectors Daily website (Aug. 10, 2023) — Link
• SEE: Sports Collectors Daily website (Nov. 28, 2023) — Link
• SEE: Beckett Vintage Collector magazine (Aug/Sep 2024)
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See related articles on BaseballCardFun.com entitled:
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“BASEBALL HOBBY NEWS — To Card Collectors Mantle is King” Link
“BASEBALL HOBBY NEWS — Mantle on Topps Inserts, Test Issues” Link
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