10 Best Baseball Cards From 1957 Topps Baseball

It’s important to know the history behind the 1957 Topps Baseball set before judging whether you appreciate the cards or not, and this set is one people should appreciate more.

At first glance, it’s not really an attractive design, with a relatively faded, soft photo of a player, and text printed over top the photo in a pretty basic font.

But, once you realize, this was the first Topps set that used color photography for their baseball cards, then you look at this set with a little more respect.

Two years after Topps bought Bowman in 1955, Topps chose to reduce the size of their cards to

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What Happened in 1957?

“The Bridge on the River Kwai” battled “12 Angry Men” for the best movie of 1957, and “The Ed Sullivan Show,” “Lassie,” and “Gunsmoke” ruled television. From a sports perspective, the 1956 MLB season ended with the Yankees beating the Dodgers, after the Dodgers won in 1955.

Mantle just won the batting Triple Crown (and the American League MVP Award) in 1956, and he would follow up that amazing season with a second AL MVP in 1957.

Sadly, this was the last season of an era, as it was the last time New York would hold three Major League Baseball teams. Before the 1958 season, the Dodgers would move from Brooklyn to Los Angeles, and the Giants left Upper Manhattan’s Polo Grounds for San Francisco. It would be another six years before New York had a National League representative, as the Mets became an expansion team in 1963.

Stick around to the end for some great Frank Robinson trivia!

What Makes The 1957 Topps Baseball Set Different?

This was also the first year that Topps used color photographs (Bowman’s 1953 set was the first to do this.)

Topps changed the standard size of their cards to 2.5” x 3.5”, which is still the standard sized card nearly 75 years later, in all sports and trading card games. That means it’s the first set that fits in your standard penny sleeves and toploaders!

This set was also historic because for the first time, Topps put full year-by-year statistics for the player’s entire career on the back of the card.

Since Topps purchased Bowman more than a year before, this is the second year into Topps’ monopoly era, as they were the only show in town for the next 23 years until Donruss and Fleer came around in 1981.

It’s also reported that Ed Fitzgerald was pictured on Jerry Snyder’s card (No. 22), and when Topps sent him a re-issued copy to autograph, he signed them and added an inscription on the back that read, “That’s not me.”

With 25 cards having Hall-of-Fame players on it, the 1957 Topps set ranks as one of the largest star-studded sets of all-time!

10 Best Baseball Cards From 1957 Topps Baseball

For our card value rankings, we’re only talking about PSA 5 slabs of these cards, and we used the values from 130point.com. The card images are provided by BuySportsCards.com. We’re not going to share weird, random cards that are expensive because of a variation.

1. Mickey Mantle, N.Y. Yankees #95 (HOF) – $1,600

The only $1,000-card on this list, Mantle once again leads the pack, with an awesome pose on a beautiful card. Mantle’s three previous Topps cards (from the iconic 1952 and 1953 oil paintings to the 1956 landscape cards) were all gorgeous. So, it’s tough to imagine the company improving on a Mantle card. Yet, you look at his first color photo card on Topps, and you just marvel.

The darkness of the photo beneath his knees really helps the yellow and white letters in his name pop on the card!

View 1957 Topps Mickey Mantle cards on eBay!

2. Brooks Robinson, Baltimore Orioles RC #328 (HOF) – $560

The best rookie card in the set is the first rookie card of a player many consider to be the best third baseman in MLB history. It’s a beautiful portrait card of Robinson, one of his  best-looking ever, and one that really shows some personality in a player that went through his three-decade career seemingly quiet. I love that the Orioles logo on his hat shows, and that  great smile – awesome photo on an awesome card.

With 16 Gold Gloves and 18 All-Star appearances, Robinson ranks in a class on his own, yet his cards, much like his rookie Robinson counterpart Frank, are not too expensive, outside of their ’57 rookie cards.

View 1957 Topps Brooks Robinson cards on eBay!

3. Hank Aaron, Milwaukee Braves RC #20 (HOF) – $435

Speaking of great looking cards, try to convince me this isn’t the best looking card in the 1957 Topps Baseball set, including Mickey Mantle’s card. Hammerin’ Hank’s card looks awesome – but it’s a lie! Look at the No. 4 on his jersey, and you’ll see that they got the negative reversed and this is an uncorrected error card! Hank Aaron wasn’t a left-handed slugger!

Pretty cool, huh?

View 1957 Topps Hank Aaron cards on eBay.

4. Sandy Koufax, Brooklyn Dodgers #302 (HOF) – $425

This legend was still just 20 years old when this photograph was taken in 1956, and he had just four total wins. But in 1957, Koufax would be playing his last season in Brooklyn, and it would still be a couple years before he broke out as a superstar in Los Angeles.

This card also stands out because it’s Koufax’s first vertical-formatted card, which jumps out greatly next to his two horizontal cards from 1955 and ’56.

View 1957 Topps Sandy Koufax cards on eBay!

5. Willie Mays, N.Y. Giants #10 (HOF) – $350

Mays was also playing his final season in New York – well, in a Giants uniform – and he was well into his Hall-of-Fame career in 1957. He led the majors in steals in both 1956 and 1957, along with a career-high 20 triples in ‘57.

The card itself is beautiful, as its Mays’ first color photograph on a Topps card.

View 1957 Topps Willie Mays cards on eBay!

6. Frank Robinson, Cincinnati Reds RC #35 (HOF) – $300

I consider Frank Robinson one of the all-time most underrated players in the hobby. The fact his rookie card is available for under $500, and it lands SIXTH on this list, with another rookie card ahead of him, just blows my mind.

Remember how insanely good Mike Trout was in the first five years of his career? That’s what Frank Robinson was early in his tenure with the Reds. He had more homers than Mickey Mantle, more hits than Babe Ruth, and he was the first player to win the MVP Award in both leagues. (No one else had done it again until Shohei Ohtani in 2024.)

Robinson broke the then-rookie HR record of 38 home runs in 1956, besting the record set by Wally Berger in 1930 with the Boston Braves.

Enjoy the Frank Robinson trivia below!

View 1957 Topps Frank Robinson cards on eBay!

7. Yankees Power Hitters (Mantle, Berra) #407 – $300

This was just the second of three times Mantle and Berra would appear on the same card, which includes the 1953 Bowman Mantle/Berra/Hank Bauer.

View 1957 Topps Yankees Power Hitters cards on eBay!

8. Roberto Clemente, Pittsburgh Pirates #76 (HOF) – $275

With just 11 home runs in 1956 and ’57 combined, it would still be a few more years before Clemente started to flash his power. He’d eventually eclipse 20 home runs in three different seasons in his career. With the pronounced “P” on his cap in this card, in his first color photograph on any baseball card ever, with a close-up headshot of a smiling “Bob” – this card is a must for any Pirates fan.

View 1957 Topps Roberto Clemente cards on eBay!

9. Don Drysdale, Brooklyn Dodgers RC #18 (HOF) – $185

Along with the two Robinson rookies, Drysdale is the third awesome first-year card in this 1957 Topps Baseball set – and the fact he pitched for Brooklyn gives him some extra appeal. In spite of being an awesome Hall-of-Fame pitcher on a high-profile team, this might still be the last time you see him in a top-10 list of most valuable cards going forward.

However, a decade later, in 1968, Drysdale would throw 58 consecutive scoreless innings for the Dodgers, beating Walter Johnson’s 55-year-old MLB record! It would be another 20 years before fellow Dodgers pitcher Orel Hershiser would break that record in 1988 (with Drysdale in the broadcast booth!). During Drysdale’s streak, he’d also throw an MLB record six consecutive shutouts!

View 1957 Topps Don Drysdale cards on eBay!

10. Ernie Banks, Chicago Cubs #55 (HOF) – $145

While Banks’ face is only partially seen here, this actually ends up being his first photo in a batting stance, which is pretty awesome. Most of his cards going forward, however, fall into the “Other Great Cards” category, which is shocking for such an important player.

View 1957 Topps Ernie Banks cards on eBay!

Other Great Cards From 1957 Topps Baseball to Consider: 

• Jim Bunning, Detroit Tigers RC #338 – $120
• Bill Mazeroski, Pittsburgh Pirates RC #24 (HOF) – $95
• Dodgers Sluggers (Roy Campanella, Duke Snider) #400 – $80
• Pee Wee Reese, Brooklyn Dodgers (HOF) #30 – $75
• Eddie Mathews, Milwaukee Braves (HOF) #250 – $70
• Roy Campanella, Brooklyn Dodgers (HOF) #210 – $65 (This was the last card of Campanella from his active career!)
• Rocky Colavito, Cleveland Indians RC #212 – $50
• Duke Snider, Brooklyn Dodgers (HOF) #170 – $50
• Whitey Ford, N.Y. Yankees (HOF) #25 – $50

Frank Robinson Trivia!

“The Judge” was the first to do a lot of things, including the first to be an MVP in both the AL and the NL, and he was the first black manager in baseball! But did you know he is also the first – and only – Manager of the Year to also have been a Rookie of the Year and a league MVP!?! We’ll even toss in this nugget – his 26 walk-off hits are an MLB record, too!

More Top-1o Card Rankings in Topps Flagship Sets

This is a series we’ve created where we look at the most valuable baseball cards from different years in Topps Baseball history! Here are the years we’ve already covered:

• 10 Best Baseball Cards From 1952 Topps Baseball
• 10 Best Baseball Cards From 1953 Topps Baseball
• 10 Best Baseball Cards From 1954 Topps Baseball
• 10 Best Baseball Cards From 1955 Topps Baseball
• 10 Best Baseball Cards From 1956 Topps Baseball
• 10 Best Baseball Cards From 1957 Topps Baseball
• 10 Best Baseball Cards From 1960 Topps Baseball
• 10 Best Baseball Cards From 1972 Topps Baseball
• 10 Best Baseball Cards From 1978 Topps Baseball
• 10 Best Baseball Cards From 1984 Topps Baseball
• 10 Best Baseball Cards From 2001 Topps Baseball

Have you picked up any of the best baseball cards from 1957 Topps Baseball, or are you still hoping to pick some up, like me?