1962 Topps

FEATURES

Less focused on the attraction of the card, Topps employed a wood-grain design on this collection of cards, making them quite easy to recognize. While most of these cards are seen in a vertical orientation, some were printed horizontally. Resembling a matte image, the 1962 Topps collection also has what seems to be a “curling corner” that displays player information, such as player information, team name, and position. The remainder of the card, however, is filled with a colored photograph, making this collection appear rather simple. Team logos are not included on these cards, but popular rookies can be found with a yellow star at the top of their card. The backs of these cards follow an orange, black, and cream color scheme and include player year and life statistics with a cartoon.

SET SERIES

Series One: cards 1-109
Series Two: cards 110-196
Series Three: cards 197-283
Series Four: cards 284-370
Series Five: cards 371-446
Series Six: cards 447-522
Series Seven: cards 523-598

SPECIAL CARDS

Each of the seven series in the 1962 set contains a significant subset. Cards 51-60 include league Leaders, which presents the best players of the previous year. Cards 135-144 contain the Babe Ruth Special that provides an account of George Herman Ruth’s baseball career, while the World Series Highlights (232-237) display all games of the title series which was played between the Cincinnati Reds and New York Yankees. This set also includes “In Action” cards (311-319) and The Sporting News All-Stars (390-399) which presents the best players in every league during the 1961 season.

RARITIES AND SET ODDITIES

Included in the high-number series, the “Rookie Parade” cards are the most difficult for collectors to find; these cards display five player heads with the same position, making them extremely valuable. Because of its large size, 1962 Topps also has been known for its variations and errors. Many of the checklist cards provide a multitude of small alterations and eight card numbers display players in different positions. For example, card number 129 of Lee Walls can be found with him facing left or right; Bill Kunkel (147) can be found in a portrait or pitching. Alongside this, there are four separate versions of card number 139: two separate pictures exist for Hal Reniff and two separate displays of the Babe Ruth Special subgroup card can be found. The Babe Ruth Special variations (“Babe Hits 60”) can be seen as one shows Ruth on dirt, and the other, grass. Additionally, card numbers 458 and 462 can be located either with or without a logo. Because of these variations, the 1962 Topps set can be considered to contain well over 690 cards, making it hard to complete.

BACKGROUND

The 1962 Topps cards were initially sold in packs for one-cent, five-cent, or in cello packs. Apart from base cards, stamp panels could also be found in wax packs; with two stamps on each panel, there are 201 stamps in all, consisting of 181 players and 20 logos. These could be located on either a yellow or red backdrop. Pertaining to the cards themselves, they are rather difficult to locate in a higher-grade state because of their tendency to chip along the edges.