Topps 1996
1996 Topps hobby boxes
1996 Topps comes in two series. There are 36 packs per box, 12 cards per pack (packs with a Power Booster card contain 11 cards).
SERIES 1
Mickey Mantle Commemorative Edition
Randomly inserted Mickey Mantle reprint cards 1951-1969. Also randomly inserted Star Power Power Boosters, Mystery Finest, Finest Refractors, and Profiles.
Tony Gwynn and Kirby Puckett on the box top in batting stance. The packs come with Tony Gwynn or Kirby Puckett reflective plastic wrappers.
Mantle Commemorative 1:6; Profiles 1:12; Mystery Finest 1:36; Power Booster 1:36; Finest Refractor 1:216
1996 Topps packs
SERIES 2
Win an original Mickey Mantle card. Mickey Mantle Sweepstakes entry card.
Randomly inserted Mickey Mantle Finest, Finest Refractors, Profiles, and hobby exclusive Wrecking Crew cards.
Tony Gwynn and Kirby Puckett on box top in batting swing follow-through. The packs come with Tony Gwynn or Kirby Puckett reflective plastic wrappers.
Profiles 1:12; Mickey Mantle Finest 1:18; Wrecking Crew 1:72; Finest Refractor 1:144
KEY CARDS
1996 Topps cards, front and back
Key rookies include Mark Bellhorn, Sean Casey, Matt Morris, D.Ward/R.Sexon, and R.Ibanez/P.Konerko.
Other key cards include Mickey Mantle, Todd Helton, Cal Ripken, Mark McGwire, Don Mattingly, Roger Clemens, Cal Ripken, Derek Jeter, Barry Bonds, V.Guerrero/A.Jones
26
PM
IHAVE 1996 TOPPS Frank Thomas Star power and the front has Team Topps on it but I could not find anything about it can you tell me and what it might be worth? thanks Chris
27
AM
Short answer: $1-$5Long answer: Beckett lists Star Power cards as “1996 Topps Power Boosters”. Frank Thomas is classified by Beckett as an “unlisted star”. Star Power semistars have a book value of $1.25-$3.00. For some reason they don’t list values for unlisted stars, but if they did the high value would be no more than $5.Oops, I goofed… Star Power cards are not the same as Power Boosters. The 1996 Topps Frank Thomas Star Power card is worth between $0.20 and $0.50.
14
PM
inlaws just found a 1996 Mantle card # 59. I am sure it is a commemorative card but can’t find it. It talks about him switch hitting and actually shows two pictures of him swinging. Any help woudl be appreciated.
14
PM
Clyde, you probably have a 1996 Topps Mantle Commemorative card. Most of them are valued at between $3 and $8.
There are 19 cards in the set, with cards 1-2 being the most desirable (valued at $10-$25), cards 3-14 being the most common (valued at $3-$8), and cards 15-19 being 20% rarer than the others (valued at $4-$10).
But it gets more complicated… Beckett lists 4 different variations of the cards. The variations are CASE, FINEST, REF (Refractors), and RDMP (Redemption). If the card has “Topps Factory Seal 1996″ stamped on the back, then it is a very rare CASE card worth $9-$150. If the card has a plastic “Finest Protector” stuck on the front, it is a FINEST card worth about the same as the regular cards. If the card reflects rainbow colors in the light, it is a REF worth $7.50-$125. Then finally, if there is no gold stamp on the front, it is a RDMP worth $3-$50.
One caveat with the prices I listed – at times when there is no hype surrounding a card, they tend to sell at the lowest price or lower on the open market (i.e. eBay) because there is little or no demand.