A lot of collectors focus on rookie cards and superstar cards from key sets like 1952 Topps. One thing collectors tend to overlook is the last card of a player’s career. What’s cool about the last cards is that they usually present a player’s full career statistics and summarize their entire career.
Using the final card included in the basic set registry, I’ve ranked the last card of 13 post-war baseball legends, taking into account price, population, look, the card’s impact to a set, the prestige of the set it’s in, and of course the player’s value to the hobby. I’m also sharing the PSA population numbers, and prices for a card graded 8.
#13 1978 Topps #4 Brooks Robinson Record Breaker
PSA 8 = $10, Total Population = 509
#12 1975 Topps #640 Harmon Killebrew
PSA 8 = $40, Total Population = 1114
#11 1963 Topps #250 Stan Musial
PSA 8 = $375, Total Population = 1765
#10 1974 Topps #215 Al Kaline
PSA 8 = $45, Total Population = 957
#9 1976 Topps #550 Hank Aaron
PSA 8 = $180, Total Population = 2320
#8 1973 Topps #305 Willie Mays
PSA 8 = $145, Total Population = 2505
#7 1965 Topps #470 Yogi Berra
PSA 8 = $100, Total Population = 1187
#6 1960 Fleer #72 Ted Williams
PSA 8 = $200, Total Population = 1300
#5 1971 Topps #525 Ernie Banks
PSA 8 =$400, Total Population = 1419
#4 1966 Topps #100 Sandy Koufax
PSA 8 = $425, Total Population = 3329
#3 1969 Topps #500 Mickey Mantle
PSA 8 = $1800, Total Population = 7943 between both variants
#2 1973 Topps #50 Roberto Clemente
PSA 8 = $175, Total Population = 4716
#1 1956 Topps #30 Jackie Robinson
PSA 8 = >$2000 for gray back, Total Population = 5381 (gray + white back)
Do you agree or disagree with the order? Let me know in the comments or over on Twitter.