1969 Topps Reggie Jackson #260 RC

A big set in a big year

The 1969 Topps set has 664 cards, released in seven series and sold in wax packs, rack packs and cellos, including a special 10-card blue cello pack. The fronts carry a photo with the player's name and position in a circle and the team name in block letters along the bottom. The backs are pink, with biographical information, statistics and cartoons in a horizontal layout.

The set is loaded with Hall of Famers, more than 40 by one collector's count. It holds the rookie cards of Reggie Jackson and Rollie Fingers, the second-year cards of Johnny Bench and Nolan Ryan, and what one hobby writer called a cardboard farewell to Mickey Mantle. Its best-known oddities include 23 'white letter' variations in the fifth series, Mantle's among them, and an uncorrected error: card #653, labeled Aurelio Rodriguez, actually pictures the Angels batboy.

In an era when many top prospects shared their first card with other rookies, Jackson got card #260 to himself: a portrait set against a blue background. Topps also put him in its 1969 Topps Super set as card #28, a glossy, round-cornered card about 2 1/4 by 3 1/4 inches that is far less plentiful than a regular Topps issue. The grading service counts both as key Jackson rookies.

From Wyncote to Oakland

Reginald Martinez Jackson was born May 18, 1946, in the Wyncote neighborhood of Cheltenham Township, Pennsylvania, just north of Philadelphia. His father, Martinez Jackson, was a tailor and a former second baseman for the Newark Eagles of the Negro leagues. At Cheltenham High School Jackson starred in football, basketball, baseball and track, and he came back from a football injury that fractured five vertebrae in his neck.

He went to Arizona State University on a football scholarship and broke the school record for home runs in a season as a sophomore, earning first-team All-American honors. In the June 7, 1966, draft the Kansas City Athletics took him second overall, after the New York Mets chose catcher Steve Chilcott.

Jackson debuted on June 9, 1967. The franchise moved to Oakland before the 1968 season, and that year he hit 29 home runs while leading the American League with 171 strikeouts.

1969: chasing Ruth and Maris

Jackson's rookie card came out in the season he broke through. In 1969 he hit 47 home runs, a career high, and for a time ran ahead of the pace Roger Maris set in hitting 61 in 1961 and Babe Ruth's 60 in 1927. He later joked that sportswriters claimed he was 'dating a lady named Ruth Maris.'

He led the American League in runs (123), slugging percentage (.608) and OPS (1.018), drew 114 walks, made the All-Star team and finished fifth in the MVP voting. He also led the league with 142 strikeouts, a sign of the all-or-nothing swing that would define his career.

It was a year of upheaval off the field. Baseball itself had a labor fight: about 400 players boycotted spring training over pension contributions until a February settlement largely on their terms. In July Apollo 11 landed on the Moon, and in August the Woodstock festival drew a generation to upstate New York.

Easy to find, hard to find nice

The #260 is not scarce, but it is hard in top grade. The 1969 Topps set is plagued by tilted images, which hurt technical centering and eye appeal. Dark print defects often show in the card's light background and along the borders, and left-to-right centering is a frequent problem.

The pink of the back extends to all four edges, so the slightest edge wear shows. Many copies also look dull on the front, because the strength of the color varies considerably from card to card.

The graded population has grown fast. A 2007 count put the number of Jackson rookies graded by PSA at 2,670, with one PSA 10 and 27 PSA 9s; by 2009 it was 2,960. In early 2021 the PSA 10 was described as the only gem among nearly 8,000 graded, and a 2025 listing cited 12,120. The grading service's current figures account for more than 13,800 graded copies, with 588 PSA 8s, 41 PSA 9s and still only one PSA 10.

From $5,415 to $1 million

In August 2005 a PSA 9 sold at auction for $5,415.35. By early 2021, one hobby report said, PSA 9 values had risen to $30,000 and then $50,000.

Then came the PSA 10. The only copy at that grade, carrying the pedigree of the Dmitri Young Collection, sold at auction on February 27, 2021, for $1,005,600. The next day a PSA 9 sold for $99,000, showing the gap between a 9 and a 10.

PSA 9 copies have stayed in a high band since. One sold for $67,500 in a 2025 sale, and another for $79,300 in April 2026. Lower grades remain within reach of ordinary collectors: a PSA 7 brought $901 in April 2026 and a PSA 6 $637 in July 2026.

Mr. October

Jackson won three straight World Series with Oakland from 1972 to 1974, though a torn hamstring kept him out of the 1972 Series, and he was the 1973 American League MVP. He joined the Yankees in 1977. During that fall's World Series against the Dodgers, Thurman Munson told reporters to 'go ask Mister October,' and the name stuck.

On October 18, 1977, in the clinching Game 6 at Yankee Stadium, Jackson hit three home runs, each on the first pitch, off three different pitchers: Burt Hooton, Elias Sosa and Charlie Hough. In 27 World Series games he hit 10 home runs with 24 RBI and a .357 average, and he was Series MVP in 1973 and 1977.

Before the 1978 home opener he got the candy bar he had predicted: the 'Reggie!' bar, handed out to fans at Yankee Stadium. He homered, and fans threw the bars onto the field. He retired after 1987 with 563 home runs and the career record for strikeouts, 2,597. He entered the Hall of Fame in 1993 on his first ballot with 93.6 percent of the vote; the Yankees retired his No. 44 that year, and the Athletics retired his No. 9 in 2004.

The numbers

1969 season

152 G, 549 AB, 123 R, 151 H, 36 2B, 3 3B, 47 HR, 118 RBI, 13 SB, 114 BB, 142 SO, .275 BA, .410 OBP, .608 SLG. Led AL in runs, SLG and OPS; All-Star; fifth in MVP voting.

1968 season

154 G, 553 AB, 138 H, 29 HR, 74 RBI, 14 SB, .250 BA; led AL with 171 strikeouts

1967 season (debut)

35 G, 118 AB, 21 H, 1 HR, 6 RBI, .178 BA

Career (1967-1987)

2,820 G, 9,864 AB, 1,551 R, 2,584 H, 563 HR, 1,702 RBI, 228 SB, 2,597 SO, .262 BA, .490 SLG

World Series

27 G, 10 HR, 24 RBI, .357 BA; Series MVP 1973 and 1977

Honors

AL MVP 1973; 14-time All-Star; Hall of Fame 1993 (93.6%)

Timeline

1. May 18, 1946

   Reginald Martinez Jackson is born in Wyncote, Pennsylvania.

2. 1964

   Jackson graduates from Cheltenham High School and heads to Arizona State on a football scholarship.

3. Jun 7, 1966

   The Kansas City Athletics draft Jackson second overall.

4. Jun 9, 1967

   Jackson makes his major league debut.

5. 1968

   The Athletics move to Oakland; Jackson hits 29 home runs.

6. 1969

   Topps issues card #260, Jackson's solo rookie card; he hits 47 home runs.

7. 1973

   Jackson is American League MVP and World Series MVP.

8. Oct 18, 1977

   Jackson hits three home runs in Game 6 of the World Series; 'Mr. October' sticks.

9. Apr 13, 1978

   The 'Reggie!' bar debuts at the Yankees' home opener.

10. Oct 4, 1987

    Jackson plays his last game, with 563 career home runs.

11. 1993

    Jackson enters the Hall of Fame with 93.6 percent of the vote.

12. Aug 14, 1993

    The Yankees retire Jackson's No. 44.

13. May 22, 2004

    The Athletics retire Jackson's No. 9.

14. Aug 2005

    A PSA 9 copy of the card sells at auction for $5,415.35.

15. Dec 2007

    PSA has graded 2,670 copies, with one PSA 10.

16. Feb 27, 2021

    The lone PSA 10, from the Dmitri Young Collection, sells for $1,005,600.

17. Feb 2021

    A PSA 9 sells for $99,000 the day after the PSA 10 sale.

18. Apr 2026

    A PSA 9 sells for $79,300.

The world in 1969

• Jan 12, 1969

  The New York Jets upset the Baltimore Colts in Super Bowl III.

• Jan 20, 1969

  Richard Nixon is sworn in as the 37th president.

• Feb 9, 1969

  The Boeing 747 makes its first flight.

• Feb 26, 1969

  Baseball players settle their spring training boycott, largely on their terms.

• Jun 28, 1969

  The Stonewall riots begin in New York City.

• Jul 20, 1969

  Apollo 11 lands on the Moon.

• Aug 15, 1969

  The Woodstock festival opens in upstate New York.

• Sep 2, 1969

  The first automatic teller machine in the U.S. is installed in Rockville Centre, New York.

Price record

A realized auction price is what a buyer actually paid on the date shown, including the buyer's premium where the sale reported it. It is the strongest kind of reference price, and it is a record of one sale of one object on one day, not a promise of what the next example will bring.

By reference price, 1969 Topps Reggie Jackson #260 RC is number 24 of 100 in the trading cards entries of the FLOAT 100. 97 of those 100 rest on a realized sale; the rest carry an asking price or a guide value, and each page says which. Rank within the FLOAT 100 itself (22 here) is editorial: how much an object defines its field, not price alone.

Did you know

• Jackson's father played second base for the Newark Eagles of the Negro leagues.
• The Mets had the first pick in the 1966 draft and took catcher Steve Chilcott, leaving Jackson to the Athletics.
• In 1969 Jackson ran ahead of the home run pace of Babe Ruth and Roger Maris for part of the season.
• Jackson's three home runs in Game 6 of the 1977 World Series each came on the first pitch, off three different pitchers.
• Thurman Munson gave him the nickname 'Mister October' during the 1977 World Series.
• Fans threw 'Reggie!' candy bars onto the field after he homered at the 1978 home opener.
• Jackson holds the career record for strikeouts by a batter, 2,597.
• The lone PSA 10 of his rookie card sold for $1,005,600; a PSA 9 sold the next day for $99,000.