This is the 50th anniversary year for the 1964 Topps Giant Size All-Stars set which is the one of the most interesting sets of the modern era. Topps always 
tried to experiment with products of different types, some of which are now considered very rare “test sets’ such as 1961 Topps Dice Game and some of which ended up being produced in enough quantity so they gained permanent acceptance into the hobby. The Giants set turned out to be one of the latter.
The 60-card set, with cards slightly taller and skinner than a postcard, featured most of the leading stars of the day and are still available in reasonably large quantities to this day.
The 1964 Topps Giants measure 3 1/8” by 5 ¼” and have beautiful full color poses on the front. The backs feature a newspaper-style write-up, complete with black and white photo, highlighting a moment from that player’s career. They are numbered on the back. Of the 60 cards, 18 players were eventually elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame.
They were originally sold in three card packs with a stick of gum for a nickel per pack. There were 24 packs inside the display box, which featured Whitey Ford on the cover. What few packs survive today are highly sought after. Baseball Card Exchange has one for $400.
Considering the quality of the cards, the quality of the checklist and their age, you would think the set would be very expensive. However, about 40 years ago, Merv Williams, a noted West Coast dealer discovered a large hoard of ’64 Giants and ever since there has always been enough of these cards to satisfy the hobby. One of my old dealer friends recently showed me a huge box of cards, all of which were Mickey Mantle. They weren’t perfectly centered but the stack was astonishing. He had sent in the better condition cards for grading but still had a huge stack available. That is actually fairly typical of many dealers whose inventories go back to the 1970’s. It’s believed the cards were found without packaging since so few wrappers and packs have survived to this day.
Another interesting aspect is the seven shorter printed cards. For whatever reason (and I’d love to see an uncut sheet), these seven cards are significantly more difficult and the key cards in that realm are the Sandy Koufax and Willie Mays cards. There seems to be no rhyme or reason for why those seven are more difficult. The other five short prints are Bob Friend, Dick Stuart, Wayne Causey, Galen Cisco and Moose Skowron.
The other part to remember is because of the size of the ’64 Giants, keeping them in good condition can be a little bit more difficult. Thankfully there are plenty of top loaders and sleeves to help in that regard now and, of course, you can have your high end examples graded.
Many have survived in great shape in large part because of the huge find decades ago but centering can be an issue. On the PSA Set Registry, eight collectors have sets listed which have a GPA of 9 (mint) or better. One collector is fewer than ten cards from having a set that is graded entirely PSA 10. While even most high grade stars aren’t as expensive as the regular issue Topps cards from 1964, a PSA 9 Koufax recently sold for over $1,400.
Complete, ungraded sets of good quality can usually be purchased for under $300.
On eBay, there are presently several hundred singles, both graded and ungraded, lots and sets available. See them by clicking here. A full checklist is below.
Do any of our readers remember opening these packs at any time or dealing with other ways of getting the 1964 Topps Giants? We’d love to hear your stories.
1 – Gary Peters
2 – Ken Johnson
3 – Sandy Koufax SP
4 – Bob Bailey
5 – Milt Pappas
6 – Ron Hunt
7 – Whitey Ford
8 – Roy McMillan
9 – Rocky Colavito
10 – Jim Bunning
11 – Roberto Clemente
12 – Al Kaline
13 – Nellie Fox
14 – Tony Gonzalez
15 – Jim Gentile
16 – Dean Chance
17 – Dick Ellsworth
18 – Jim Fregosi
19 – Dick Groat
20 – Chuck Hinton
21 – Elston Howard
22 – Dick Farrell
23 – Albie Pearson
24 – Frank Howard
25 – Mickey Mantle
26 – Joe Torre
27 –Ed Brinkman
28 – Bob Friend SP
29 – Frank Robinson
30 – Bill Freehan
31 – Warren Spahn
32 – Camilo Pascual
33 – Pete Ward
34 – Jim Maloney
35 – Dave Wickersham
36 – Johnny Callison
37 – Juan Marichal
38 – Harmon Killebrew
39 – Luis Aparicio
40 – Dick Radatz
41 – Bob Gibson
42 – Dick Stuart SP
43 – Tommy Davis
44 – Tony Oliva
45 – Wayne Causey SP
46 – Max Alvis
47 – Galen Cisco SP
48 – Carl Yastrzemski
49 – Hank Aaron
50 – Brooks Robinson
51 – Willie Mays SP
52 – Billy Williams
53 – Juan Pizarro
54 – Leon Wagner
55 – Orlando Cepeda
56 – Vada Pinson
57 – Ken Boyer
58 – Ron Santo
59 – John Romano
60 – Bill Skowron SP
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