1967 Topps Baseball Cards
Utilizing a simple, yet classy design, Topps hit it out of the park in 1967. The 1967 Topps Baseball Card Set is one of the company’s finest achievements.
The card fronts feature some of the company’s sharpest photography to date. The player’s name sits alongside his position in a very understated black sans serif at the top of the card. A facsimile signature appears just above the team name which is featured in a bright color. This great yet simplistic design almost gives the appearance of a window to the soul of the baseball field.
The backs are in a pleasant shaded green with comprehensive career statistics and two cartoons at the top featuring the players’ career highlights.
The 609-card set was issued in series with the semi-high numbers (#458-533) slightly tougher and the high numbers series (#534-609) significantly more difficult to obtain than their lower numbered counterparts.
Making the completion of the set even more problematic is that of the 76 high numbers, 54 cards are short printed.
Among the toughest and easily the most sought-after is card #581 the 1967 Mets Rookie Stars featuring Hall of Famer Tom Seaver.
Some of the other tough high number short prints include #600 Brooks Robinson, #580 Rocky Colavito, #609 Tommy John, #560 Jim Bunning, #604 Boston Red Sox Team Card and #570 Maury Wills. Any serious Mets collector can vouch for the difficultly in securing #561 Sandy Alomar and #593 Wes Westrum.
Even though it’s double-printed, #569 American League Rookie Stars featuring hitting legend Rod Carew remains the second most wanted in the set behind the Seaver.
Coincidentally, besides being linked as rookies in the ’67 high numbers, Seaver and Carew achieved their biggest career milestones on the same date. On August 4, 1985, Seaver won his 300th game and Carew registered his 3,000th hit.
Along with its other merits, the 1967 Topps is right in the sweet spot years of baseball greatest stars. Still safely ensconced in the Mickey Mantle era, the set features a plethora of Golden Age favorites; Willie Mays, Hank Aaron, Roberto Clemente, Frank Robinson, Willie McCovey, Pete Rose, Whitey Ford, Al Kaline and 1967 Triple Crown winner Carl Yastrzemski.
These legends’ 67 cards are some of the most attractive ones produced in their entire baseball card careers.
The sets’ League Leader cards also produce a great bounty for collectors. Despite retiring shortly after the 1966 World Series, Sandy Koufax is pictured on three different leader cards (Strikeout, ERA and Pitching).
My vote for the most underrated card in the entire set is National League Batting Leaders card #215. This gem contains the only existing baseball card combination of Roberto Clemente, Hank Aaron and Willie Mays.
Produced as a proof card and never issued in packs, card #45 of the St. Louis Cardinals’ Roger Maris has a rare variation as a Yankee. Over the years, some of these blank-backed “Maris Yankee” cards have made there way into the hobby. The 1967 Maris Yankee card has been popular for years and has fetched over $1,000 since the 1980s.
If you have any 1967 Topps baseball cards (either sets, singles or an accumulation) to sell or any items on our baseball buy list, PLEASE CONTACT Mark Rubin at 914-725-2225 or via email at mark@amerlegends.com. A quick phone call is all it takes to get started, or fill out the form in the sidebar.
