The 1964 Topps baseball card set was the 13th different design of regular MLB branded trading cards produced by the Topps Chewing Gum Company. The checklist featured 660 total cards including career highlights, league leaders, and rookies. It was the second year Topps used photo cutouts instead of drawings on the majority of its player cards.
Some key stats and details about the 1964 Topps set:
Roster size: The set included cards for all current major and minor league players totaling 660 cards. This was the second largest checklist at the time behind 1963 which had 662 cards.
Design: For the second straight year, Topps used actual team photos instead of illustrations on most cards. Similar to 1963, there was a white border around each image. Fun fact: The 1964 set was the first where each team’s cards had a uniform color-coded border.
Rookies: Notable rookie cards included Sandy Koufax (#258), Carl Yastrzemski (#280), and Joe Morgan (#561). Other rookie gems included Tony Perez (#344), Dennis McLain (#422), and Bill Freehan (#474).
Short Prints: Cards #651-660 were printed in significantly lower numbers and are considered short prints. #660 Nate Oliver is one of the rarest and most valuable in the set.
Career Highlights and Leaders: Similar to 1963, the set included “Career Highlights” cards featuring star players from the 1920s/30s as well as cards recognizing the leaders in various statistical categories from 1963.
Team Checklists: The first 38 cards of the set featured checklists of each of the 20 MLB teams from 1963 along with their league and division affiliations.
In Action Shots: Topps started including some action shot cards which broke from the traditional static posed team photo style used in previous years.
Design Changes: Subtle changes included removing the team name under each photo and adding an extra thin white border between the image and the gray border. Gum packaging was also changed to the familiar yellow-backed cards.
Rarity: High-numbers like #649-660 are scarce today. Other tough pulls include the rookies of Koufax, Yastrzemski, McLain, and the leaders/highlights cards. An SGC/PSA 8+ Koufax or Yaz can fetch $5,000+.
Total Production: Despite being one of the larger checklists of the 1960s, the 1964 set has decent supply today. Populations remain below the 1957, 1958, and 1959 issues.
Notable Ex-Cards: Mickey Mantle (#1), Willie Mays (#5), Hank Aaron (#25), Sandy Koufax (#258).
The 1964 season was an exciting one in MLB. The St. Louis Cardinals beat the New York Yankees in a dramatic 7-game World Series. The National League saw the Phillies and Reds add excitement. Topps produced cards that captured the MLB stars and memorable moments from that season. While not quite as valuable as some earlier 1960s sets today due to larger production numbers, the 1964 Topps set remains a highly collectible and iconic part of baseball card history from the early 1960s/golden era of the hobby.
