1960 Topps Baseball Card # 15 Pete Runnels - Boston Red Sox (EX)

1960-1969 Baseball Cards

Few time periods in the history of the hobby garner as much interest as 1960s baseball cards. Packed with Hall of Fame players and valuable rookie cards, these products are a set collector’s dream. Ungraded commons are still very reasonable and can be readily found at card shows and online, while high graded stars command prices that push deep into the thousands. This decade was mostly dominated by Topps but a few popular Fleer products were released early in the 1960s that include a roster of retired players, including Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig and Ty Cobb.

Part of what makes 1960s baseball cards so special is the impressive lineup of players that filled the checklists. Established stars are joined by the new rookie class, which includes top players like Pete Rose, Nolan Ryan, Reggie Jackson, Tom Seaver, Johnny Bench, Rod Carew, Carl Yastrzemski, and Lou Brock.

1960 Topps Baseball Cards

1960 Topps Baseball is led by Hall of Fame rookie cards for Carl Yastrzemski and Willie McCovey. The colorful design and horizontal layout make it an easy vintage set to recognize.

Product Details

Reverting back to the horizontal design common during the mid-1950s, 1960 Topps Baseball is headlined by rookie cards for Carl Yastrzemski and Willie McCovey. The colorful cards include dual images and a design that is anything but subtle.

1960 Topps Baseball Set Details

The 1960 Topps Baseball set features an impressive 572 cards. If that amount sounds familiar, it's because 1959 Topps Baseball also consists of the same total. The 2-1/2" by 3-1/2" cards are horizontally oriented just as they were in 1956 Topps Baseball, and feature two photographs of each player. It would be the last full set from Topps to use a horizontal orientation.

The 1960 Topps Baseball design is a classic and instantly recognizable. Featuring a very bright scheme, eight different colors were used in printing the front of the cards, including combos with orange, red, yellow, pink, blue, light blue, green or light green. The base fronts are divided into three main areas, with a larger color photograph on the right and a smaller black-and-white photo on the left. Hard to miss, the player's name is listed on the bottom in alternating colors.

1960 Topps Baseball card backs contain biographical information, statistics and a cartoon about the player. The "Season's Highlights" section lists notable dates and events from the player's previous year. Printed and released in seven different series, the card backs can be found in a variety of colors. Most series were printed entirely in one color, while one has multiple backs. A full breakdown is listed below. The white backs in Series 5 are more limited than the other backs.

Series 1 (#1-110) - Cream Backs

Series 2 (#111-198) - Gray Backs

Series 3 (#199-286) - Cream Backs

Series 4 (#287-374) - Gray Backs

Series 5 (#375-440) - Cream / Gray / White Backs

Series 6 (#441-506) - Gray Backs

Series 7 (#507-572) - Gray Backs

In addition to the traditional base cards, the 1960 Topps Baseball checklist is made up of several themed subsets sprinkled throughout the set. Combo cards, generally with a specific tagline, return along with the team checklists. Sport Magazine 1960 Rookie Star cards # 117-148 include the Yastrzemski rookie. Cards # 212-227 feature the manager for each MLB team. Topps All-Star Rookies # 316-325 cover the top first-year players from the previous season. However, this subset also includes the rookie card for Willie McCovey.

Several more options are available, including World Series Highlights # 385-391, which document the championship series won by the Los Angeles Dodgers over the Chicago White Sox. Also, coaching staffs are included for each team on cards # 455-470. Finally, part of the more scarce high series, Sport Magazine '60 All-Star Selection cards # 553-572 offer additional cards for some of the top names in the set.

Outside of the obvious Hall of Fame names and the rookie cards for McCovey and Yastrzemski, 1960 Topps Baseball also includes the rookie card for Jim Kaat.

Ranging from single-card penny packs, nickel wax packs, dime cello packs, and 29-cent rack packs, kids had a wide array of choices for spending their allowance money on 1960 Topps Baseball. As they did the previous year, Topps printed a partial parallel set for exclusive distribution in Venezuela. The checklist covers the first 196 cards in the base set.

How We Grade:

Gem Mint (GMT): (10.0) A flawless card. To be in Gem Mint condition, a card’s borders must have a ratio of 50/50 side to side and top to bottom. 

Mint (MT): (9.0-9.5) A perfect card. Well-centered with parallel borders which appear equal to the naked eye. Four sharp, square corners. No creases, edge dents, surface scratches, paper flaws, loss of luster, yellowing or fading, regardless of age. No imperfectly printed cards – out of register, badly cut or ink flawed – or card stained by contact with gum, wax or other substances can be considered truly Mint, even if new out of the pack. Generally, to be considered in Mint condition, a card’s borders must exist in a ratio of 60/40 side to side and top to bottom. 

Near Mint/Mint (NM/MT): (8.0-8.5) A super high-end card that appears Mint 9 at first glance, but upon closer inspection, may exhibit a very slight wax stain on reverse, slight fraying at one or two corners, or a minor printing imperfection. Centering must be app. 65/35 to 70/30 or better on the front and 90/10 or better on the reverse. 

Near Mint (NM): (7.0-7.5) A nearly perfect card at first glance, but upon closer inspection, may have slight surface wear, slight fraying on some corners, slightly out-of-register picture focus, a minor printing blemish or slight wax stain on reverse. Centering must be 70/30 to 75/25 or better on the front and 90/10 or better on the reverse.

Excellent/Near Mint (EX/NM): (6.0-6.5) Card may have visible surface wear or a printing defect. A very light scratch. Corners may have slightly graduated fraying. Picture focus may be slightly out-of-register. Card may have minor wax stain on reverse, may have very slight nothing on edges. Centering must be 80/20 or better on the front and 90/10 or better on the reverse.

Excellent (EX): (5.0-5.5) Corners are still fairly sharp with only moderate wear. Card borders may be off center as much as 85/15. No creases. May have very minor gum, wax or product stains, front or back. Surfaces may show slight loss of luster from rubbing across other cards. Dark bordered cards may have one or two small nicks.

Very Good/Excellent (VG/EX): (4.0-4.5) Shows obvious handling, but still looks nice. Corners may be rounded or have minor creases. No major creases, tape marks or extraneous markings or writing. Surfaces does exhibit loss of luster, but the printing is intact. May have paper wrinkles. May show major gum, wax or other packaging stains. All four borders visible, though the ratio may be as poor as 95/5. Exhibits honest wear. 

Very Good (VG): (3.0-3.5) A well-worn card, but exhibits no intentional damage or abuse. May be “Mis-cut or Off-Center” with no border visible. May have major or multiple creases, however, creases are not so deep as to show the underlying paper. This card is completely readable, has not been written on, and has no tape marks or holes. Corner rounding may extend well beyond the border. 

Good (GD) (2.0-2.5) Shows excessive wear, along with damage or abuse. Will show all the wear characteristics of a Very Good card, along with such damage as thumb tack holes in or near margins, evidence of having been taped or pasted, perhaps small tears around the edges or creases so heavily as to break the cardboard. Backs may show minor added pen or pencil writing or be missing small bits of paper. Still basically a complete card. 

Poor (P): (1.0-1.5) A card that has been tortured to death. Corners or other areas may be torn off. Card may have been trimmed, show holes from a paper punch or have been used for BB gun practice. Front may have extraneous pen or pencil writing, or other defacement. Major portions of front or back design may be missing. Not a pretty sight. 

We believe that all our listings are 100% Original and Authentic unless otherwise noted. They are all covered by a 30 Day Money Back Guarantee, if for whatever reason you are not happy with your purchase we will exchange it, replace it, discount it or you can return it for a full refund.

Standard/Combined 1st Class Shipping via USPS is $3.95 for the first card and $0.15 for each additional card, with a max. of (40) items per invoice. Subject to change as postal rates continue to increase. Estimated delivery is 3-5 days. Subject to change as postal delivery schedules continue to increase. Please see shipping tab for current postage rates. All cards will ship in penny sleeves, top loaders, team bag & bubble wrap envelopes.

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