1956 Topps Willie Mays #130

Willie Mays (1931–2024) played for the New York and San Francisco Giants in 1951–52 and 1954–72, then finished with the New York Mets in 1972–73. He hit 660 home runs, won National League MVP awards in 1954 and 1965, collected twelve consecutive Gold Gloves from 1957 to 1968, and was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1979 with 94.7% of the vote. PSA's CardFacts biography calls him “arguably the greatest centerfielder that Major League Baseball has ever seen.” His 1956 Topps card shows him in his New York years, two seasons before the franchise moved to San Francisco.

Set and design

The 1956 Topps set has 340 cards of 2-5/8" by 3-3/4", each pairing a portrait with a full-color “In Action” scene, with the player's name and team at top left. PSA lists Mays at #130 among the set's key cards, alongside Mantle (#135), Aaron (#31), Clemente (#33), Koufax (#79) and Ted Williams (#5). The 1954 World Series is part of Mays' legend — his running over-the-shoulder catch off Vic Wertz in Game 1 is known simply as “The Catch”.

There is a Mays connection elsewhere in the set too: the sliding player in the background of Hank Aaron's #31 is, according to T206Cards.com and Robert Edward Auctions, Mays with a Milwaukee cap airbrushed in.

White back and gray back

Cards #1–180 in the 1956 set exist on both white and gray card stock, so #130 comes in two back versions. PSA notes that collectors tend to prefer white backs in the #101–180 range — the reverse of the preference for #1–100. PSA's own population table for #130, and REA's 2021 PSA 8, are both gray-back examples; when comparing prices, check which back a sale involved.

PSA population snapshot

PSA's condition census lists 33 at MINT 9 against 32 in the population table — a small example of why census and population figures should be treated as approximate.

Public sales records

In the results above, PSA 8 prices sit in a narrow band of roughly $4,000–$4,500 between 2021 and 2025. The only PSA 9 results on PSA's page are thin: one carries an OC (off-center) qualifier, and another, at $37, is far out of line with every other sale and is best treated as an error or an unusual transaction. PSA's page therefore shows no unqualified PSA 9 sale at a normal market price — something to keep in mind if you see one offered.