1957-58 Topps Basketball Cards
Product Details
Professional basketball was a much different spectacle during the 1950s. While baseball and football stars had been regularly featured in nationally-issued card sets since 1948, there hadn't been any major basketball issues since 1948 Bowman Basketball. 1957-58 Topps Basketball finally gave collectors their first NBA set.
Judging from the fact that this was a single-series product that wasn't revisited by Topps for more than a decade, it's likely the company didn't see a lot of potential in the sport at the time.
1957-58 Topps Basketball Set Details
The 1957-58 Topps Basketball card fronts feature a picture of a player—sometimes posed, sometimes during game action—with a nameplate below him. Inside the yellow shape is his name, with the last name in larger letters. The blue or red block to the right contains a team name and a white border surrounds the entire card.
The backs are well-designed for basketball cards. The hoop in the corner contains the card number, with the player's name and team to its right. Below them are a few vital statistics, a short career write-up and the player's year/lifetime stats. There is also a diagram showing the player's height.
Overall, 1957-58 Topps Basketball is considered to be fairly scarce. In order to fit an 80-card series onto a printing sheet, the pattern resulted in 30 single prints, 49 double-prints and even one quadruple-print (#24 Bob Pettit). The cards are notorious for being off-center and having snowy print-dots, making them frustrating for high-grade collectors.
Since this was the first major basketball set in nearly 10 years, almost every player's card is viewed as a rookie. The biggest of these is the Bill Russell rookie card, but other significant players include Bob Cousy, Bob Heinsohn, Bob Pettit, Dolph Scahyes and Bill Sharman. These players are all NBA legends from the early days of the sport.
Key 1957-58 Topps Basketball Cards:
Set Checklist
1957-58 Topps Basketball Checklist
Base Set Checklist
2 George Yardley - Detroit Pistons RC DP
3 Neil Johnston - Philadelphia Warriors RC DP
4 Carl Braun - New York Knicks DP
5 Bill Sharman - Boston Celtics RC DP
6 George King - Cincinnati Royals RC DP
7 Kenny Sears - New York Knicks RC DP
8 Dick Ricketts - Cincinnati Royals RC DP
9 Jack Nichols - Boston Celtics DP
10 Paul Arizin - Philadelphia Warriors RC DP
11 Chuck Noble - Detroit Pistons DP
12 Slater Martin - St. Louis Hawks RC DP
13 Dolph Schayes - Syracuse Nationals RC DP
14 Dick Atha - Detroit Pistons DP
15 Frank Ramsey - Boston Celtics RC DP
16 Dick McGuire - Detroit Pistons RC DP
17 Bob Cousy - Boston Celtics RC DP
18 Larry Foust - Minneapolis Lakers RC DP
19 Tom Heinsohn - Boston Celtics RC
20 Bill Thieben - Detroit Pistons
21 Don Meineke - Cincinnati Royals RC DP
22 Tom Marshall - Cincinnati Royals
23 Dick Garmaker - Minneapolis Lakers
24 Bob Pettit - St. Louis Hawks RC QP
25 Jim Krebs - Minneapolis Lakers RC DP
26 Gene Shue - Detroit Pistons RC DP
27 Ed Macauley - St. Louis Hawks RC DP
28 Vern Mikkelsen - Minneapolis Lakers RC
29 Willie Naulls - New York Knicks RC
30 Walter Dukes - Detroit Pistons RC DP
31 Dave Piontek - Cincinnati Royals DP
32 John Kerr - Syracuse Nationals RC
33 Larry Costello - Syracuse Nationals RC DP
34 Woody Sauldsberry - Philadelphia Warriors RC DP
35 Ray Felix - New York Knicks RC
36 Ernie Beck - Philadelphia Warriors
37 Cliff Hagan - St. Louis Hawks RC
38 Guy Sparrow - New York Knicks DP
39 Jim Loscutoff - Boston Celtics RC
40 Arnie Risen - Boston Celtics DP
42 Maurice Stokes - Cincinnati Royals RC DP
43 Rod Hundley - Minneapolis Lakers RC DP
44 Tom Gola - Philadelphia Warriors RC DP
45 Med Park - St. Louis Hawks RC
46 Mel Hutchins - New York Knicks DP
47 Larry Friend - New York Knicks DP
48 Lennie Rosenbluth - Philadelphia Warriors RC DP
49 Walt Davis - Philadelphia Warriors
50 Richie Regan - Cincinnati Royals RC
51 Frank Selvy - St. Louis Hawks RC DP
52 Art Spoelstra - Minneapolis Lakers DP
53 Bob Hopkins - Syracuse Nationals RC
54 Earl Lloyd - Syracuse Nationals RC
55 Phil Jordon - New York Knicks DP
56 Bob Houbregs - Detroit Pistons RC DP
57 Lou Tsioropoulos - Boston Celtics DP
58 Ed Conlin - Syracuse Nationals RC
59 Al Bianchi - Syracuse Nationals RC
60 George Dempsey - Philadelphia Warriors RC
61 Chuck Share - St. Louis Hawks
62 Harry Gallatin - Detroit Pistons RC DP
63 Bob Harrison - Syracuse Nationals
64 Bob Burrow - Minneapolis Lakers DP
65 Win Wilfong - St. Louis Hawks DP
66 Jack McMahon - St. Louis Hawks RC DP
67 Jack George - Philadelphia Warriors
68 Charlie Tyra - New York Knicks DP
69 Ron Sobie - New York Knicks
70 Jack Coleman - St. Louis Hawks
71 Jack Twyman - Cincinnati Royals RC DP
72 Paul Seymour - Syracuse Nationals RC
73 Jim Paxson - Cincinnati Royals RC
74 Bob Leonard - Minneapolis Lakers RC
75 Andy Phillip - Boston Celtics
76 Joe Holup - Syracuse Nationals
77 Bill Russell - Boston Celtics RC
78 Clyde Lovellette - Cincinnati Royals RC DP
79 Ed Fleming - Minneapolis Lakers DP
80 Dick Schnittker - Minneapolis Lakers RC
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Hottest 1957-58 Topps Basketball Cards
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Billy Kingsley
This set also includes the only card issued of Earl Lloyd in his playing career, and I believe the only card ever of the NBA’s first Rookie of the Year, Don Meineke.