1968 Topps Johnny Bench Rookie Card: The GOAT Of Catchers Should Be On Your Want List

In this hobby, it’s not easy to acquire the rookie cards of the all-time best players at each position.

Cards of players like Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Ty Cobb, and Walter Johnson require investments somewhere along the lines of a decent car (or more). Even newer greats like Mike Trout’s best rookie cards are quite expensive.

But there is one position where you can pick up a copy of the rookie card of the undisputed GOAT at the position in collectible grade for less than the cost of many new hobby boxes. The catching GOAT is Johnny Bench, and his rookie card is the iconic 1968 Topps Reds Rookie Stars #247.

But who is Johnny Bench? What should you know about his rookie card? And is there a Johnny Bench rookie card that’s right for your collecting budget?

Shop for Johnny Bench rookie cards on eBay

Who is Johnny Bench?

Johnny Bench is nearly universally considered the greatest catcher in Major League history. From his 1968 Rookie of the Year award to his election to the Hall of Fame in 1989 with 96.4% of the vote, he has long held the GOAT title.

The distinction is well earned. In a career that spanned 17 seasons, Bench was an All-Star 14 times. His defense helped revolutionize catching, and he has 10 Gold Glove awards to show for his prowess behind the dish.

He won NL MVP Awards in 1970 and 1972, and led the Reds to back-to-back World Championships in 1975 and 1976, picking up the World Series MVP award in 1976. He led the league in home runs twice and in RBI three times, an impressive feat for a catcher.

The life-long Cincinnati Red put up a career line of .267/.342/.476, with an OPS of .817 and OPS+ of 126. He hit 389 home runs and drove in 1,376 runs, with 2,048 hits. For his career, Bench was worth 75.1 WAR, the most ever for a catcher.

For reference, the average WAR among the 17 Hall of Fame catchers is 53.7, a number that will go DOWN when deserving players like Buster Posey and Yadier Molina gets elected.

With credentials like this, it’s obvious that ANY Johnny Bench card should be and is collectible, but his rookie card is iconic.

Shop for Johnny Bench rookie cards on eBay

The Johnny Bench Rookie Card: 1968 Topps Reds Rookie Stars #247

Johnny Bench has his rookie card in the classic 1968 Topps set, on the “Reds Rookie Stars” card number 247 that he shares with Ron Tompkins (although it is not Tompkins RC, oddly enough).

PSA has graded the card 12,941 times. Of those, only 17 exist in PSA 10 slabs. The last sale of a PSA 10 was in December 2023 for a whopping $75,000.

In a PSA 9, the card is a bit more plentiful, with 216 copies. In that grade, it still sells for a strong $4,500-5,500. In a PSA 8, the total PSA population rises to 1,111 and the price drops to $1,300-1,800. In a PSA 7 slab, of which there are still only 1,525 copies, sells for between $500-600.

Going down the grading scale, something interesting happens. While the population numbers stay low (at 2,201 copies, the PSA 6 is the high water mark for any grade), prices get very reasonable very quickly.

In one of those PSA 6 slabs, you’re looking at “decent modern hobby box” prices ($250-350). In a PSA 4, you’re looking at only $135-175. Lower grades can be had for prices heading south of there, with lower grade and some raw copies being available for not a whole lot more than a modern retail blaster.

That’s for the 56-year-old rookie card of the GOAT catcher and an inner circle Hall of Famer. Unbelievable.

Shop for Johnny Bench rookie cards on eBay

My copy? I recently picked up a solid PSA 6 with nice corners and edges and a nice color. It’s slightly off-center, but looks great.

While PSA no longer denotes it, there is technically an error version of the Bench rookie card. On the card back, the first line of the bio has the word “the” misspelled as “tne” (or the top of the H is missing). There is no significant price difference between the two versions.

Canadian fans missed out as the Bench rookie, as the card did not appear in the 1968 O-Pee-Chee set. There is a rare version from another country, though. 1968 was one of the years that Topps produced and distributed a limited set in Venezuela.

The 1968 Topps Venezuelan version of the card is very rare, especially in high grade. PSA has graded only 31 copies. The highest graded copy is only a PSA 6. The last sale was in the early days of 2022, when a PSA 5 sold for $5,633.

When looking at any vintage card, but lower grade examples in particular, remember that eye appeal is very important and can play a key role in card value.

Eye Appeal & Vintage Cards – What Is It And How Does It Affect Value?

Final thoughts on the 1968 Topps Johnny Bench Rookie Card

The rookie card of Johnny Bench, the 1968 Topps Reds Rookie Stars #247, offers up the first card of the GOAT catcher and an all-time great.

The iconic card also offers something for all collectors, from a high-end museum piece for the whale collector to the mid-grade cards for the regular guy, to the lower-budget collector who wants a vintage gem (be it one that’s a bit rough around the edges) for around the cost of a blaster.

What’s your take on the 1968 Topps Johnny Bench rookie card? Own a copy? Covet it? Tell us what’s on your mind at CardLines on X.

Shop for Johnny Bench rookie cards on eBay

Other Cardlines Rookie Card Guides

• 1965 Topps Joe Morgan Rookie Card
• 1965 Topps Steve Carlton Rookie Card Guide
• Vintage Baseball Card Spotlight: A Tribute To The 1956 Topps Yogi Berra Baseball Card
• Vintage Baseball Card Spotlight: A Tribute To The 1959 Topps Destruction Crew Card