I’ve written about being a checklist collector a few times and why I enjoy this hobby niche so much. In this article, I’ll run through some of my favorite checklists, a bucket list of sorts. These aren’t just low-population, ultra-expensive cards (though some are pretty pricey), but rather the cards I’m hoping to acquire over the coming years.
1956 Topps Baseball Checklist 1/3 and 2/4
The two unnumbered 1956 Topps baseball checklists are highly desirable as they are the first two checklists Topps produced. And while high-grade examples command big bucks, with PSA graded populations exceeding 1000 for each card, they’re pretty available.
1956 Topps Football Checklist 1-120
Topps also included a checklist with its 1956 Topps football set. And it makes my bucket list for being another “first.” I prefer the look of the 1956 Topps football checklist to the 1956 Topps baseball checklist. There is only one checklist for the football set since the set only had 120 cards. And around 20% of the PSA graded 1956 Topps football checklists have a qualifier.
1957 Topps Baseball Checklists
There are eight checklists in the 1957 Topps set featuring either Bazooka or Bloody Gum backs. Checklist 3/4 Bazooka is the card most responsible for my interest in checklists.
1957 Topps Football Checklists
There are, again, versions of the 1957 Topps football checklist with either a Bazooka ad or Twin Blony back. I find the color scheme particularly attractive. While the Twin Blony version is slightly tougher to find, either unmarked checklist is a terrific addition to a checklist collection.
1963 Fleer Baseball Checklist
The 1963 Fleer baseball checklist is rare (it’s a short print) and sells for quite a bit in nice conditions. You have to take the population report for this card, with almost 1k graded examples, with a grain of salt, there is a significant inducement to get them graded since they sell for so much compared to some of the commons in the set.
1963 Fleer Football Checklist
The 1963 Fleer football checklist has a similar look to its baseball counterpart but is much harder to find because of smaller print runs for football cards than baseball.
1964 Topps Hockey Checklists
All the tallboy checklists that Topps made are incredible; I’m a huge fan. In the 1964 Topps hockey set, the 1st Series checklist is more common than the 2nd Series checklist, but I want both for my personal collection since they look so awesome.
1965 Topps Football Checklists
There are also two 1965 Topps football checklists; card #87 is checklist 1-88, and card #176 is checklist 89-176. The tall boy format makes them a pair of the most attractive football cards ever made.
1966 Topps Football #132 Checklist 62-132
I’m specifically calling out the second checklist in the 1966 Topps football set because it’s notoriously difficult to find well-centered; most examples are noticeably off top-to-bottom.
1967 Topps Baseball #103 2nd Series Checklist
If you’re going to have a checklist bucket list, you have to include one featuring Mickey Mantle. There are two variations of this card: one where #170 is listed as “D McAuliffe” and another where it’s listed as “D. McAuliffe.” The missing-dot variation is the scarcer of the two.
1969 Topps Basketball #99 Checklist 1-99
I’ve already included the football and hockey tall-boy checklists, so naturally the 1969 Topps basketball checklist belongs here as well. Card #99, Checklist 1-99, is a very tough card in high grade, and even lower-grade examples (PSA 3–4) can often sell for more than $100.
1986 Fleer Basketball #132 Checklist 1-132
The most modern card on my list, the 1986 Fleer basketball checklist, rounds out my bucket list. I really like the alphabetical order of the set shown on the checklist for this classic basketball set.
There are a few more cards I think highly of but don’t quite consider bucket list needs; they include the following six cards:
1961 Topps Hockey #66 Checklist 1-66
1965 Topps Hockey #121 Checklist
1969 O-Pee-Chee Hockey #31 2nd Series Checklist
1970 Topps Basketball #24 Checklist 1-110
1971 O-Pee-Chee Hockey #1111 Checklist 1-132
1976 Topps Basketball #48 Checklist 1-144
It may take me quite a while to track down strong examples of all these cards, but that’s my checklist “checklist,” if you will. Are there any other cards you think belong on this list? Let me know in the comments.
Happy collecting!
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