1961 Topps Baseball Cards
The 1961 Topps baseball set consists of 587 cards, each measuring the standard 2 1/2" by 3 1/2". The set was issued in seven series', with the last series (#523-589) being the scarcer high numbers. Although the last card in the set is #589 Warren Spahn, there is actually only 587 cards in the set because #587 and #588 were never issued.
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The fronts of the cards featured a vertical format, and the card backs were designed with black and green colors. The 1961 Topps baseball cards were issued in " penny packs" containing 1 card (120 packs to a box), "nickel packs" containing 5 cards, cello packs for 10 cents (36 packs to a box) and "rack packs" containing 36 cards for 29 cents. The most sought after rookie cards in the 1961 Topps baseball set are Juan Marichal, Ron Santo and Billy Williams.
"League Leader" cards (#41-50) were introduced for the first time in 1961, and so were individual numbered checklists (#17, 98, 189, 273, 361, 437, 516). There are several variations on some of the checklists, so I've included a list below:
Checklist Variations
- #98a - "Checklist" in red; "98" in black on white
- #98b - "Checklist" in yellow; "98" in black on white
- #98c - "Checklist" in yellow; "98" in white on black; no copyright
- #437a - card 440 is spelled Louis Aparicio
- #437b - card 440 is spelled Luis Aparicio
There are two different cards numbered 463. One is Jack Fisher, and the other is a Braves team card that was meant to be #426 but somehow was printed with as #463 and never corrected. So, when you're putting together a set, just remember you won't find a #426, but you need to have two different #463 cards.
There are two sequences of of managers cards (#'s 131-139 and #'s 219-226).
Other subsets include World Series cards #'d 306-313, Baseball Thrills #'d 401-410, MVP's of the 1950's #'d 471-486 and Sporting News All-Stars #'d 566-589.