1962 Topps #523 Russ Nixon
About Russ Nixon
The seventh and final 1962 Topps series carried #523, and like the rest of that run it was short printed, which makes this a genuine high number and the scarcest of his 1960s Topps cards. The Red Sox catcher pictured here lost better than five weeks of the season to a right hand fractured by a foul tip, finishing with 65 games, a .278 average and 19 RBIs. By then, Topps had been putting him in packs since the 1950s.
Russ Nixon was a left-handed-hitting catcher who spent twelve major-league seasons, from 1957 to 1968, with the Cleveland Indians, Boston Red Sox, and Minnesota Twins. Born in Cleves, Ohio, on February 19, 1935, he signed with Cleveland in 1953 out of Cincinnati's Western Hills High School alongside his twin brother Roy, and reached the Indians in 1957. His best year came in 1958, when he batted .301 in 113 games. Cleveland dealt him to Boston in March 1960 for catcher Sammy White and first baseman Jim Marshall, but White retired rather than report and the commissioner voided the deal; on June 13 the Indians sent Nixon and Carroll Hardy to the Red Sox for Ted Bowsfield and Marty Keough. He platooned behind the plate in Boston through 1965, went to Minnesota in an April 1966 trade, and came back to the Red Sox for his last big-league games in 1968. Over 906 games he batted .268 with 670 hits and 27 home runs, and he holds the major-league record for most games played without a stolen base. He later coached the 1976 world-champion Reds and managed both Cincinnati and Atlanta.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 268 | 0 | 7 | 107 | 99 | 29 | 16 | 10 | 0 |
| SGC | 32 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 11 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
Graded population — a scarcity guide, not a price. Snapshot 2026-09-24. Half-grades fold down (8.5→8), and PSA's qualified grades are counted separately from the straight-grade rows shown here. Slabs of the three cards printed #139 are joined by description, never by number alone. PSA registers the green tints as a separate set; a tint's population is listed under that state of the card it belongs to.
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Frequently asked questions
What is the 1962 Topps #523 card?
It is card #523 of the 600-card 1962 Topps Baseball set, picturing Russ Nixon of the Boston Red Sox.
Why is #523 harder to find?
It is a high number card (cards 523-598) from the seventh print series, distributed last and in the smallest quantity - the toughest cards in the set and home to all 42 short prints and the Rookie Parade. It is also a short print card (42 cards, all in 523-598). Printed in smaller quantity than the rest of the seventh series.
How many cards are in the 1962 Topps Baseball set?
600 cards, tracked as 708 collectible states. The numbers run from 1 to 598 with no gaps, but three different cards were printed #139 - two Hal Reniff poses, catalogued 139a and 139b, and the Babe Hits 60 Babe Ruth Special, 139c - so 598 numbers make 600 cards; 93 cards carry catalogued print variations, the series-2 green tints among them, that the master set counts separately.
Sources: Baseball Almanac, Trading Card Database, PSA CardFacts, Cardboard Connection, BaseballCardPedia, 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 2026-10-03.