1957 Topps Mickey Mantle Card
In 1957 Mickey appears on this classic card with just rows of empty seats in Yankee Stadium. Also this card goes back to the vertical style a departure from the horizontal cards of previous years. This year saw another change. It was the first year that Micky appeared on two different cards. He appears in a casual stance in the dugout with Yogi Berra on a separate card. That year Mickey again was named MVP of the AL. That year he led the league in runs and walks. That year his batting average was .365.This card boasts a respectable book value of about $1,200 and it is card #95 of a 407 card series for Topps in 1957. The multiplayer card Mickey shared with Yogi Berra was #407 of the series. Some lesser graded copies of the #95 card can be had for as little as $500-$700, making them fairly accessible to the midrange collector.
The Topps 1957 series featured some innovations and unique aspects as a whole. It was the first year that the backs of the cards were numbered. It was the series that featured the rookie card of Brooks Robinson, the last regular issue card for Roy Campanella, and a card that showed Hank Aaron trying out a southpaw batting stance. It was also the first Topps set to feature color photos instead of hand colored black and white photos.
Some say the clean design combined with the color photos make it one of Topps most gorgeous card series ever. The lifetime stats on the back of each card was expanded for this series as well. Also the now-standard card size of 2 ½” by 3 ½” was first introduced in the 1957 series. The afore mentioned Mantle/Berra card was one of a set from this series to feature 2 stars on one card, which was also a first for any baseball card series.
There are some aspects of the series that detract from its quality however. The card centering was fairly poor, and well-centered ’57 Topps cards are difficult to find. Also, a major printing defect led to serious color loss on many of the cards and the appearance of what is known as “print snow”. It is very difficult to find Mantle cards from this year without at least some amount of print snow.