The 1957 Topps baseball card set was issued by the Topps Chewing Gum Company during the summer of 1957. It was the sixth complete set produced by Topps since they began printing baseball cards in 1951. At the time, it was the largest and most comprehensive set yet issued. Each card in the 1957 Topps set featured a color photo of a baseball player on the front and stats/career highlights on the back.
The massive 552 card checklist included every player on a Major League roster in 1957, as well as managers, coaches and even some umpires. Topps aimed to have as full of a representation of the sport as possible that season. Some notable rookies who debuted in 1957 and had their first baseball cards in this set included Hank Aaron, Roberto Clemente and Willie McCovey. Veteran stars like Mickey Mantle, Willie Mays and Ted Williams also had cards in the set of course.
In addition to team cards for all 16 MLB clubs at the time, Topps also included special subset cards paying tribute to the 1956 All-Star teams, league leaders, and rookie all-star selections. There was even a rare bonus card offered which featured a color team logo instead of a player photo. Distribution of the cards was mainly in wax wrappers but you could also find them loose in packs sold by retailers.
The card design featured a light blue border around each photo with team names and logos prominently displayed. Statistics flipped on the back provided a snapshot of each player’s career achievements up to that point. The checklist ran sequentially from 1 through the full 552 count. The 1957 Topps set helped grow the popularity of baseball card collecting significantly during a exciting era for the sport.
While production methods and materials have changed vastly since then, the 1957 Topps issue remains one of the most historically significant in the hobby. It truly encompassed baseball in that single season perhaps better than any other release before or after. Original mint condition examples from the set today can sell for thousands of dollars. The massive undertaking it took to assemble full roster representation showed Topps’ commitment to their new baseball card product line and helped solidify it as an annual tradition.
The 1957 Topps baseball card set holds the distinction of being the largest and most complete checklist from the early formative years of the modern era of baseball cards. With its mammoth roster of 552 different cards covering everyone in the majors that season and more, it set the standard for what a true “complete” or “comprehensive” set should encompass. Six and a half decades later, it remains one of the most iconic and desirable vintage issues for collectors and historians of the hobby.
