Mint 1952 Topps Mantle mint cards sold on the PWCC Marketplace last November for a record $5.2 million, breaking Mike Trout's previous record for trading cards. The 1952 Topps Baseball Card Set was the largest post-war card set.
The 1952 Topps baseball card set is regarded by many hobbyists as one of the most important volumes in baseball history and is the pinnacle of postwar collectibles. With 407 cards in the set, it is considered to be the first modern set of cards featuring some of the greatest stars of baseball of all time. Note that the Topps Baseball Card Set from 1953 is a hell of a set compared to the 1952 set.
As great as it is to open a five-cent six-card set in 1952 and find a hero glancing at you, it was the Topps line of rookie cards that catapulted Topps full set into the realm of hobby legend. After launching with a few 52-card collectibles in 1951, Topps decided to give it all in a year later. Below is a full checklist of reviews for the 1952 Topps Baseball Card Set. We've listed the top three 1952 Cards together with lots of additional information about why this set became legendary.
Early full maps include Pete Runnels, Billy Loe, Billy Martin, Bob Friend, Joe Nuxhall, Dick Groat and Eddie Mathews. The Topps Mickey Mantle Rookie of 1952 is probably the most important and valuable trading card issue of the last century. The cards on the back were a boon for math nerds, which were updating and lifelong player statistics in eleven different categories as well as biographical information.
Mickey Mantle cards included in the 1952 Topps Baseball publications are considered his rookie cards, but they are included in this set, not his rookie card. The Topps 1952 set key cards are the most valuable and immediately identifiable in practice, and these cards appear on the 311 checklist. The T206 Honus Wagner 1952 Topps Mickey Mascot Rookie is the most sought after and is classified as in poor condition.
Packages such as the 1952 Topps Pack are full of yummy cardboard boards and chewing gums. When the hobby was revived in the 1980s, it was the set and Mickey Mantle card, which appears on the checklist as number 311, which helped to kick off this era of production. Yes, Mickey was a rookie, but so were the cards of Honus Wagner of the time.
Thanks to the baseball card gods, the son of a pastry chef not only pulled out all the stars under the direction of his father but also put the rest in wax sacks, and the remaining unopened cards remained in a literal hibernation for half a century. The Topps 52-407 cards, issued in 2, 5, 8, 3, 3 and 4 boxes, destroyed the norms of baseball card issuance. The card layout was perfect, with the team logo on the edge of the marquee, gold stars around the players name and a fictitious of signature on a stunning colored player portrait.
The cards of the Topps 1st series from 1952 (1-80) are printed with red and black backed and can be found here. Two double-coloured 6 "cards are Mickey Mantle # 311 and Jackie Robinson # 312, respectively. The best card in this edition is number 5 of the Topps set from 1952, the first Topps card from legend Willie Mays of the San Francisco Giants # 261.
Like the Honus Wagner T206, the Topps Mickey Mantle 1952 was a popular baseball card at the time. The Mantle T206 is the first Topps card not considered his rookie card because it was a Bowman problem. The Topps T206 was not Willie May's true rookie card, but was coveted by collectors for the same reasons that drove up the value of Mantle cards.
Add to that the fact that Mathew's rookie card was the last card in the legendary 1952 Topps set, and the state and scarcity show up, and you're looking at about $20,000 to buy a PSA 7. Pafko is another feature card from set # 1 that is closely associated with the conditions and rarities associated with vintage sets. At lower grades, it sells no differently than any other Dodger player in the set, but at higher grades it is a substantial premium attached.
Mays only real rookie card comes from the collectors cabinet of the 1951 Bowman set. Mantel doesn't matter in the real world of garish high-roller baseball cards. The legendary Topps set from 1952 in this world is Mays RC and it's a $10,000 Buy-in (PSA 7).
The Topps sets of 1952 contain some of the most important cards ever made, including the Mickey Mantle card and continues to be celebrated by baseball fans and card collectors alike. Produced by Topps Gum in 1952, Topps Baseballs are considered the most important post-war baseball card set by many collectors and baseball historians. It's one of the best sets ever made, not just for baseball cards.
In the fall of 1951, a young Sy Berger was assigned to design the 1952 Topps baseball cards to make the boys forget the issue that came before and the issue that the following spring rival gum merchant Bowman published. For Topps, the 1952 baseball represented a complete turnaround from the poorly-conceived product design concept of the previous year and laid the foundation for what would later become the modern trading card. While the last series did not sell as well as it should have, the flood of the Topps set of 407 cards in 1952 made it the largest gum edition of the series and helped collectors adapt to future expectations of their favorite cards appearing on annual cardboard.
It was the combined appearance of Bowman in the 1952 Topps edition and the hobby scene that marked the beginning of the end for Bowman. There is today a strong market for Topps cards from 1952 due to the presence of legendary rookie cards such as "Tough, Tough, Tough" and the high numbers that have driven up the price of the Pasteboard series. With that in mind, here are 12 of baseball's most valuable Tops from 1952 listed in seven copies of PSA’s Sports Market Report Price Guide.
Return to Vintage Baseball Cards homepage.
Sources
[0]: http://www.sportscardradio.com/1952-topps-baseball-card-set-vintage-review
[1]: https://www.amerlegends.com/baseball-items-we-are-looking-to-buy/1952-topps-baseball-cards/
[2]: https://waxpackgods.com/1952-topps-baseball-cards/
[3]: https://www.deanscards.com/c/17/1952-Topps
[4]: https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/mlb/2021/01/14/1952-mickey-mantle-baseball-card-sells-record-price/6653563002/
[5]: https://herohabit.com/1952-topps-baseball/
[6]: https://www.sportscollectorsdaily.com/vintage-set-of-the-week-theres-always-room-for-1952-topps-baseball/
[7]: http://baseballcardpedia.com/index.php/1952_Topps
[8]: https://lelands.com/bids/bidplace?itemid=19275
[9]: https://goldcardauctions.com/1952toppsbaseballcards/
[10]: https://www.oldsportscards.com/1952-topps-baseball-cards/
[11]: https://sportscardsrock.com/1952-topps-baseball-cards/
[12]: https://www.justcollect.com/baseball/sets/1952-topps/
[13]: https://www.cardboardconnection.com/1952-topps-baseball-cards-2