1961 Topps #482 Willie Mays
The Most Valuable Player subset card looks back at 1954, so Topps pictures Mays with the New York Giants rather than San Francisco; his current-team card in this set is #150.
About this card
Cards #471-486 are the Most Valuable Players subset - sixteen tributes to past MVP winners, American League #471-478 and National League #479-486, each printed with the franchise of the MVP season.
About Willie Mays
Mays's 1961 cards carry his 1960 line: a .319 average, 29 home runs, 103 RBI and a fourth straight Gold Glove. Card #41 places him third on the National League batting leaders board, behind Dick Groat and Norm Larker and ahead of Roberto Clemente. His solo issue is #150, a second-series San Francisco card. Card #482 belongs to the retrospective Most Valuable Player subset and honors his 1954 award, so Topps pictures him with the New York Giants he won it for rather than with San Francisco; it falls in the sixth series. Card #579 is his Sporting News All-Star, a high number out of a seventh series long believed to be the scarcest high-number run Topps ever released. His rookie card is the 1951 Bowman.
Willie Howard Mays Jr. (1931-2024), the Say Hey Kid, played 23 major league seasons (1951-1952, 1954-1973), almost all of them in center field for the New York and San Francisco Giants. New York writers hung the nickname on him during his rookie year for the greeting he used in place of hello, though which writer coined it has been argued over ever since. Mays reached the Giants in 1951 out of the Negro American League's Birmingham Black Barons and won Rookie of the Year, then lost most of two seasons to the Army. He returned in 1954 to take the batting title at .345, the National League Most Valuable Player award and a World Series title, a year remembered for his over-the-shoulder catch of Vic Wertz's drive in Game One. He moved west with the club in 1958 and stayed a star for another decade and a half: a second MVP in 1965, four home run crowns, twelve consecutive Gold Gloves from 1957 through 1968 and 24 All-Star selections. He finished with 660 home runs, third in history when he retired, and 3,293 hits, and was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1979 on the first ballot with 94.7 percent of the vote.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference · Baseball Almanac · BaseballCardPedia · CBS Sports
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 2,873 | 1 | 43 | 293 | 555 | 588 | 518 | 874 | 1 |
| SGC | 1,131 | 0 | 3 | 22 | 99 | 203 | 305 | 483 | 16 |
Graded population — a scarcity guide, not a price. Data as of 2026-09-04. PSA counts are straight grades only; PSA half grades (PSA 1.5 among them) and qualified slabs are not included. SGC half grades fold down (8.5→8). Slabs of the two cards printed #463 are joined by description, never by number alone.
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Related cards
More Willie Mays in this set: #41 League Leaders, #150, #579 Sporting News All-Stars
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1961 Topps #482 card?
It is card #482 of the 587-card 1961 Topps Baseball set, picturing Willie Mays of the New York Giants. Cards #471-486 are the Most Valuable Players subset - sixteen tributes to past MVP winners, American League #471-478 and National League #479-486, each printed with the franchise of the MVP season.
What are the key cards in the 1961 Topps set?
The #300 Mickey Mantle is the grail of the set. The other major keys are #2 Roger Maris, #150 Willie Mays, #415 Hank Aaron, #344 Sandy Koufax, #388 Bob Clemente (printed "Bob" on the front), #287 Carl Yastrzemski (his second-year card), the #35 Ron Santo, #141 Billy Williams and #417 Juan Marichal rookie cards - all three Hall of Famers - and three more Mantle and Mays cards: #475 Mickey Mantle and #482 Willie Mays from the MVP subset and #578 Mickey Mantle from the Sporting News All-Stars. The 22 Sporting News All-Stars (#566-586 and #589) belong to the scarce seventh and last series (#523-589).
Why is #482 harder to find?
It is from the sixth print series (cards 447-522) - noticeably tougher than the first five, easier than the true highs.
How many cards are in the 1961 Topps Baseball set?
587 cards, tracked as 596 collectible states. Numbers run from 1 to 589, but #426, #587 and #588 were never issued and two different cards were printed #463 - Jack Fisher and the Milwaukee Braves Team card, catalogued 463b - and eight cards carry catalogued print variations that the master set counts separately.
Sources: Trading Card Database, PSA CardFacts, Cardboard Connection, The Topps Archives, Baseball-Reference, the SABR BioProject and the National Baseball Hall of Fame, PSA & SGC population reports. Card data compiled and maintained by T206Cards.com. Page last updated 2026-10-05.