Few modern baseball cards have blended politics and workplace pranks quite like the Derek Jeter #40 card from the 2007 Topps release. What began as a typical Topps card of the New York Yankees great turned into one of the most talked-about hobby oddities of the early 2000s — a gag that slipped past everyone until after it was printed.
At first glance, the black-bordered card shows a classic action shot of Jeter at bat. However, if you look in the background, you can spot a former president and a baseball legend: Yankees slugger Mickey Mantle gripping a bat in the dugout and President George W. Bush smiling and waving from the stands, both photoshopped into the image.
“Someone was having a little fun between the final proofing and the printing process,” said Topps’ Clay Luraschi, who spoke with Sports Collectors Daily about its creation following the card’s release. “We first saw the card only after it was printed and honestly, could not do anything but laugh.”
When baseball fans first pulled the card from 2007 Topps packs, it caused quite a stir in the hobby, with early buyers paying a premium before the word got out and demand surged. At the height of its popularity, collectors spent up to $100 to get their hands on it. However, as the market became flooded and the community recognized the card wasn’t all that rare, prices eventually dropped to more affordable levels.
Collectors also discovered there were two variations of the card based on a subtle detail on the back. The print color of the card number, name and Topps logo was white on one version and red on the other. According to industry-leading card grader PSA’s (Professional Sports Authenticator) population report as of this writing, the red back variation is the rarer of the two, with just 160 graded examples. There were also more distinct parallels: Gold (numbered to 2,007), Copper (numbered to 56), Platinum (numbered to 1) and a printing plate (numbered to 1). The Copper parallel sold for as much as $10,100 in March 2007, according to trading card sales database Card Ladder.
Although Topps technically didn’t reissue a corrected version of the card, they did remove both Bush and Mantle from Jeter’s card in factory sets that were later released.
The back of Jeter’s 2007 Topps #40 card. (Photo: eBay)
PSA graded population and current market value
Around 2,250 examples of Jeter’s 2007 Topps Bush/Mantle card have been graded by PSA, with the most common grade being a PSA 9 (Mint). Gem-Mint 10s are rather scarce in comparison (which tends to be the case for cards with black borders, which show any imperfections more clearly), with nearly 170 earning PSA’s top grade and commanding prices around $800. Mint graded examples come in at a much more affordable $40 price tag, while the card sells on eBay for as low as $5 ungraded.
Since 2022, there have been two recorded PSA 9 sales on the Copper parallel, with prices ranging from $1,500 to $1,900, well below the heights it reached in early 2007.
The Platinum 1-of-1 hasn’t publicly surfaced in the nearly 20 years since the set’s release. It makes you wonder — has it already been pulled by a collector who’s keeping quiet, or is it still hiding in an unopened pack of 2007 Topps somewhere?
The Athletic maintains full editorial independence in all our coverage. When you click or make purchases through our links, we may earn a commission.