The Best Sports Trading Cards in Our Oct. 14 Charity Auction

Whether you’re interested in trading cards or just a sports memorabilia fanatic, the Charitybuzz Premiere Trading Card Auction has something for you. The auction will feature some of the rarest cards out there, including historic baseball, basketball, football, and hockey trading cards. To make sure you have all the information you need to bid, we’ve pulled together a guide of the top cards from the auction.

1952 Topps #311 Mickey Mantle Rookie Card — PSA Graded 8 OC

This is perhaps the most sought-after trading card ever produced. Mickey Mantle was a rookie in the 1951 season when Topps was just a start-up company. Topps’s first major trading card release came in the 1952 season, and they produced cards in series. The series was released at the end of the season and many of the “High Series” card #’s 311–407 became very scarce. Mickey Mantle’s Topps rookie card was #311 and produced in very limited production. Finding a card graded 7 or over is very rare.

No athlete in the history of the hobby has had a more individually significant career than Mantle, so the most important Mantle card is, arguably, the most important baseball card in the entire industry. If you were to select one card to act as the poster child or the symbol of baseball card collecting, it would be the 1952 Topps Mantle #311. No, it is not Mantle’s rookie card. That would be his 1951 Bowman, but the 1952 Topps card has taken on a life of its own. The card is more pop-culture art than a mere baseball card at this point. There is no doubt that it is the anchor of the most important postwar baseball card set ever made, but the power of its image is greater than the sum of the card’s parts. If there were a Mount Rushmore of cards and it was limited to one spot, this card would get it every time.

1951 Bowman Baseball Card Set — Fully Graded PSA GPA 7+, #8 on Registry

This 1951 Baseball Card Set is the largest in the Bowman run from 1948–1955 and features an impressive total of 324 cards — each measuring approximately 2–1/16" by 3–1/8". In 1951, Bowman increased the card size compared to previous releases.

The 1951 Bowman Set features dozens of stars and Hall of Famers in the early part of the set, but the “High Number Series” is where it really shines. The final 72 cards in the set, numbered from #253 to #324 are much tougher to find. They also happen to feature the rookie cards of two of the greatest center fielders to ever lace up a pair of spikes. The Mickey Mantle (#253) and Willie Mays (#305) are the undisputed keys to the issue and are two of the mainstay cards within the hobby. However, Mantle and Mays aren’t the only Hall of Fame rookie cards in the set.

Other famous rookie and Hall of Fame cards include:

• Edward “Whitey” Ford, the #1 card in the set
• Monte Irvin is featured on card #198
• Nellie Fox graces card #232.

A set featuring Mantle and Mays could probably stand on its own, but when you add in the rest of the star power that permeates this set, you can see why it’s one of the most popular issues of all time.

1952 Topps Baseball Set — Fully Graded PSA GPA 7+, #15 on Registry

The dream set of every baseball card collector: The complete — 407 cards — 1952 Topps Baseball card set! Every card is graded either PSA Ex-Mt 6, or PSA NM 7, or PSA NM-MT 8, or PSA Mint 9. 1952 Topps is the second most collected set in the hobby, with an impressive 184 sets currently being attempted on the PSA Set Registry. As a result of the popularity of set registries, collectors have engaged in fierce competition for higher grade examples causing their value to continually rise. Given the fact that the set is now almost 70 years old, finding cards that have survived in mint condition can be difficult — as many in 1952 viewed them as ‘toys’ and an emphasis was not placed on condition. All of these factors explain why of the 185,502,1952 Topps cards submitted to PSA, only a small percentage of these cards are of high grade.

The key card to the 1952 set is card #311, which features the youthful image of New York Yankees center fielder Mickey Mantle. With Joe DiMaggio’s retirement following the 1951 World Series, the Yankees became Mantle’s team and the spotlight of the nation’s largest city fell upon him. Card #261 features the card of the player who would challenge Mantle for the title of the game’s greatest star in the 1950s and 60s: Willie Mays. With this set, you’re getting the rare Mantle rookie card graded at a PSA 7.

In 1951, Willie Mays won the National League Rookie of the Year and led his Giants to the World Series. Although they failed to win, he had established himself as one of the game’s bright young stars. Fun Fact: Willie Mays’ catchphrase was ‘Say Hey’, and he became famous for playing stickball in the streets of New York.

This is the set that the baby boomers turned to during the card boom of the 1980s, cementing its popularity and value with collectors over the decades that followed. The simple, yet memorable design, combined with legendary star power and iconic cards such as Mantle, Mathews, and Mays have made 1952 Topps the most popular set of the post-war era.

1953 Topps Baseball Card Set — Fully Graded PSA GPA 8+, #5 on Registry

The Topps 1953 baseball set does not disappoint. It is laden with beautiful paintings drawn by many of the leading artists of the day and also features many of the game’s best players of the time — along with those whose stars would shine much brighter in the future. The player information is in a colored border (either red or black) which bleeds into the corner making high-conditioned cards very difficult to obtain.

Top Cards in the Set:

• Jackie Robinson holds the #1 card in the set
• Mickey Mantle is featured on card #82
• Satchel Paige graces card #220
• Willie Mays is depicted on card #244

Some other quirks in this set involve some short and double-printed early series cards. Some of the better players who were short-printed include Joe Black, Smoky Burgess and Early Wynn. Those short prints are much tougher than the rest of the low series cards to acquire. With the colored borders, difficult-to-find cards, and the great player selection, there is little wonder why 1953 Topps has always been a favorite among collectors.

1986/87 Fleer Basketball Set with 2 Jordan Rookies — Fully Graded PSA 8

Collect this 1986/87 Fleer Basketball Set including two Jordan rookie cards, and all cards are fully graded PSA 8 or better.

This is a Pack Fresh, 1986 Fleer Basketball Set which is one of the most popular sets ever issued due to the fact that it includes Rookie cards of some of the most iconic Hall of Fame Players ever, like Charles Barkley, Karl Malone, Hakeem Olajuwon, Patrick Ewing, Dominique Wilkins, Isiah Thomas, and of course the legendary Michael Jordan.

Fun Fact: This set also includes the complete eleven-card sticker set — with a Michael Jordan Rookie sticker.

The 1986 Fleer Basketball set consists of 143 cards (which included one checklist card), each a standard 2–1/2" by 3–1/2". Every pack also held a “Photo Sticker” insert. The hardcourt set is anchored by depictions of Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, joined by most of their greatest contemporaries including Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Julius Erving, Moses Malone and Isiah Thomas. Rookie cards include those of Michael Jordan (#57), plus future Hall of Famers Charles Barkley, Clyde Drexler, Patrick Ewing, Karl Malone, Hakeem Olajuwon and Dominique Wilkins. Star cards, such as the Wilkins rookie, and commons, like Johnny Moore (#76), became hot commodities…the result of the focus on condition.

All 143 cards are PSA Graded 8 or better. The #88 Karl Malone Rookie card and the #9 Larry Bird cards are both graded PSA 9. A true piece of sports card history in high-grade condition.

1957 Topps Complete High-Grade Set-Fully Graded PSA GPA 8+, #23 on Registry

For Topps, 1957 was the beginning of a new era as this would be the first set issued in what is now considered the standard size of 2 1/2" by 3 1/2". In addition, many collectors believe the simple design made the 1957 set the most attractive, out of a great group of 1950’s sets. The white-bordered cards are mostly covered by the player photo with their name, team and position on the bottom. The backs have biographical information, a brief informational blurb, and year-by-year career statistics.

Fun Fact: The 1957 Topps Set came in five different series:

• The 1957 Topps set was issued in a series of 88 cards for the first four series, and then the final series covers cards numbered 353–407.
• The first 3 series are absolutely loaded with stars and superstars of the day.
• The fourth series, which is considered the toughest series in this set, contains many of the most popular rookie cards.

The 1957 Topps set has an excellent rookie card class including several future Hall of Famers including Jim Bunning, Don Drysdale, Brooks Robinson, and Frank Robinson. In addition, there are also rookie cards of players who gained popularity as both players and for their post-playing career, including Rocky Colavito, Tony Kubek, and Bobby Richardson. Joining these rookies are the usual superstars including Ted Williams as card #1 through the final card (#407) which featured Mickey Mantle and Yogi Berra. This would be the second and final time they would appear together on a card with the first being the 1953 Bowman Mantle, Berra and Hank Bauer card.

View the full Trading Card charity auction here — place your bids as soon as something catches your eye to make sure you get that once-in-a-lifetime card.

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