1963 Topps #473 New York Mets
Hall of Famers on the 1962 New York Mets roster: Richie Ashburn, Gil Hodges and Casey Stengel.
About this card
The twenty team cards, one for every 1963 club, are the only horizontal fronts in the set. Every franchise has one, including the Houston Colt .45's, the Los Angeles Angels and the expansion Washington Senators.
The story on this card
This team card reports the Mets' inaugural 1962 season, an expansion year at the Polo Grounds that produced a 40-120 record, last place in the National League, and the most losses by any modern-era team to that point. The club dropped its first nine games, then endured a 17-game and a 13-game losing streak before finishing 60 and a half games behind the pennant-winning Giants. Manager Casey Stengel, coming off a Yankees dynasty, presided over the futility with a mix of humor and exasperation. Richie Ashburn, the club's lone All-Star, batted .306 in his final big-league season, and Gil Hodges anchored first base as one of the original Mets. Despite the record, attendance topped 922,000, sixth-best in the league. This card is #473 in Topps' sixth 1963 series, a semi-high number.
Sources: Wikipedia
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 748 | 0 | 22 | 212 | 240 | 151 | 57 | 65 | 1 |
| SGC | 144 | 0 | 3 | 20 | 29 | 25 | 30 | 33 | 4 |
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.
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Frequently asked questions
What is the 1963 Topps #473 card?
It is card #473 of the 576-card 1963 Topps Baseball set, picturing the New York Mets. The twenty team cards, one for every 1963 club, are the only horizontal fronts in the set. Every franchise has one, including the Houston Colt .45's, the Los Angeles Angels and the expansion Washington Senators.
Why is #473 harder to find?
It is a semi-high card from the sixth print series, #447-511 - the run where the set's short prints sit. Scarcer than series 1-5, easier than series 7.
How many cards are in the 1963 Topps Baseball set?
576 cards, tracked as 583 collectible states. The numbers run from 1 to 576 with no gaps and no number used twice, and seven cards carry a catalogued print variation - three checklists, the two Rookie Stars cards also printed with a "1962" heading, and the #341 Jack Baldschun and #454 Art Fowler print states - that the master set counts separately.
Sources: 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.