Essential Cards from 1953 Topps Baseball

The Topps 1953 baseball card set, for many, has the most beautiful cards in the hobby. "Beautiful" probably isn't a word you see attached to sports cards that often, but it absolutely applies here. The individual cards were based on portraits hand-painted by Gerry Dvorak. The artwork acted as the inspiration and model for the current Topps Living sets. Topps was in the middle of a battle with Bowman over who would gain the upper hand in the hobby - Topps certainly went all out with this product. There are tons of hall of famers and a Negro League legend's last card included.

TOPPS 1953 JACKIE ROBINSON

The honorary first card in the set (and therefore easily damaged), high grades are very tough to find. The 1948 Leaf is probably his most sought after card, but this one has it all. A great portrait of an American Icon, smiling with blue sky as the backdrop. It doesn't get much better than this.

TOPPS 1953 WILLIE MAYS

Here we have the "Say Hey Kid", Willie Mays, captured as he fields a ball. This card is a little bittersweet - Mays missed most of the 1952 season and all of the 1953 season, as he was drafted into the army to fight in the Korean War. He finished his career with 660 home runs - what could he have achieved had he been able to play those two seasons?

TOPPS 1953 MICKEY MANTLE

Most collectors know that the 1952 Topps rookie card is one of the holy grails of the hobby, with high grade copies going for tens of millions. His 1953 card is nothing to sneeze at, however - a young Mantle looking over his shoulder is an iconic image. This particular card, along with the one of Wille Mays, was a limited print run and would be Mantle's last Topps card until 1956 due to contractual issues.

TOPPS 1953 SATCHEL PAIGE

A great portrait of a legend - Satchel Paige came out of the Negro Leagues and made his first start in 1948 with the Cleveland Indians at the age of 42, making him the oldest player to make his official start in Major League Baseball. This is his only Topps card and one of only three licensed baseball cards of Paige, the others being the 1948 and 1949 Leaf cards. Observant collectors might also notice that his name is mis-spelled - his first name is speclled "Satchel", not "Satchell".