What is your favorite mantle card ?

[g_vezina_c55]

Wich mantle card do you prefer for the design the eye appeal ?

For me it is the 1953 bowman color card .

[Robextend]

Probably 1957 Topps...just looks iconic to me.

Just picked up a PSA 4, but one day would love to have a nice centered NM example in my collection.

[nebboy]

56!

[g_vezina_c55]

Probably 1957 Topps...just looks iconic to me.

Just picked up a PSA 4, but one day would love to have a nice centered NM example in my collection.

i agree with you Rob the 57 is beautifull.. look like the 53 bowman color for me... same design card... full picture of the player.. i love it.

[brob28]

I'm with John, it's the '56 for me.

[pawpawdiv9]

the 52 Rc has to be mentioned here. its the true iconic piece.
But my favs are not cards, its more in the photos/exhibits
I let my bud (Bestdj777) have the 66 Mantle/portrait i had and i like the 60 post cereal i have (which i have for sale) The salmon/pink color is really unique.
Then theres the Dan-Dee potato chips, Berk Ross and the 54 Red-Heart and the Stahl-Meyer cards.

[Samsdaddy]

My favorite is the 1960 Topps card. I just love the color design.

[7nohitter]

'68....You know it's over, but the Mick on the card looks like he could play another 5 years.

[bnorth]

For me it is the 1966 Mantle and I still have it. It was my first Mantle I got it as a little kid along with about 300 other cards. My older cousin that lived with us gave them to me not long before he died from a brain tumor.

The cards just sat in my top dresser drawer from the early 70's till my little brother got me into collecting in the mid/late 80's.

[con40]

The 1962 and 1965 Mantle cards have always captivated me.

[JollyElm]

I love his 1967 card. Great smile!

Someone already mentioned the '65. His WS card from that year is pretty cool, too...although it shows him missing a heater from Gibson.

And his 1959 All Star card is pretty sweet as well. Just a basic pose, but the way it's captured in a great design makes it very appealing.

[campyfan39]

1. 56
2. 53 topps
3. 59

[39special]

I always liked the Mantle Exhibits.
I also like the '65 Topps.

[CW]

On eye appeal alone, I'd go with '52 Bowman, although the '53 Topps is a close 2nd in my book.

http://www.collectorfocus.com/images/show/cw2112/cool-cardboard/3889/1952-bowman-mickey-mantle

[Volod]

I'm with you, Chuck, on the '52 Bowman. Sure, it's not the most "iconic" Mantle card, and probably not any more aesthetically pleasing than others, but, as an eight-year-old in the summer of 1952, it was a card i wanted so much, i could barely stand it. Saw it in the pocket collection of a kid who had all the money he wanted to spend on gumcards, and was amazed because i had not come across it in the many third-series packs i had ripped open. Found dozens of Peanuts Lowery and Bobbie Brown cards, but no Mantle that year. Stores in my small town didn't even stock the '52 Topps cards, so had no chance at that Mantle. Wasn't until 1983 that i took up the hobby again and one of my first acquisitions was a NM '52 Bowman Mantle for the "extravagant" price of $90.

[Bestdj777]

I don't have one favorite, but my top eight at the moment are:
1. 1951 Wheaties
2. Exhibit Portrait--thanks Chris!
3. 1961 Topps All Star
4. Topps Push/Pull
5. 1953 Bowman Mantle, Bauer, Berra
6. 1960 Topps Mantle/Boyer
7. Red Heart Dog Food
8. 1959 Bazooka

[g_vezina_c55]

I'm with you, Chuck, on the '52 Bowman. Sure, it's not the most "iconic" Mantle card, and probably not any more aesthetically pleasing than others, but, as an eight-year-old in the summer of 1952, it was a card i wanted so much, i could barely stand it. Saw it in the pocket collection of a kid who had all the money he wanted to spend on gumcards, and was amazed because i had not come across it in the many third-series packs i had ripped open. Found dozens of Peanuts Lowery and Bobbie Brown cards, but no Mantle that year. Stores in my small town didn't even stock the '52 Topps cards, so had no chance at that Mantle. Wasn't until 1983 that i took up the hobby again and one of my first acquisitions was a NM '52 Bowman Mantle for the "extravagant" price of $90.

Nice story thanks for sharing it

[CW]

Great story, Steve, and nice to hear you finally got your Mantle!

[SPMIDD]

I like the '53 and the '56.

[nolemmings]

I've shared this story before, so please indulge me if you've heard it. My daughter was very young and was watching me sitting among dozens of cards spread out on the floor, with probably a few hundred more in stacks. Most were graded and pre-war, but all sports and eras were represented, and I was quasi-sorting or inventorying them but was mostly just basking in the moment of being surrounded by cardboard. Anyway, I asked her which was her favorite and she reached over to some cards somewhat off to the side and unnoticed by me and picked out this one:

http://photos.imageevent.com/imoverhere/miscellaneous/large/mymickey.jpg

Now I pulled this card from a pack when I was 7, and as you might guess, it was proudly carried and shown to both first graders and neighborhood pals. Anyway, I was calculating the dollars my cardboard might bring and frowning at previously undiscovered flaws in some of my cards when she picked out that Mantle and asked me what was my favorite. It hit me like a ton of bricks. I of course had no choice but to agree with her selection, and you have no idea how many memories came gushing back at that moment.

Sorry for being maudlin.

[Paul S]

Too many for me to mention, but here's some scans:

52B right hand? Is it balled up in a fist or are his fingers tucked under the armpit?

60 All Star with the exaggerated drop shadow

62 Exhibit statback with a very dated full body pose

65T totally sublime. I always go back to this as my favorite 60s set

(Don't even get me started on the 50s, some of which I no longer own sigh)

[brian1961]

To choose one when you love so many of them is a very tough question.

Be that as it may, if I absolutely had to pick just one, it would be the 1953 Stahl-Meyer Franks. I love it. The official Yankees' portrait done of the rookie Mickey Mantle, and he's looking right at you with this beautiful smile. It makes me a kid again.:)

Cheers. ---Brian Powell

[Samsdaddy]

I've shared this story before, so please indulge me if you've heard it. My daughter was very young and was watching me sitting among dozens of cards spread out on the floor, with probably a few hundred more in stacks. Most were graded and pre-war, but all sports and eras were represented, and I was quasi-sorting or inventorying them but was mostly just basking in the moment of being surrounded by cardboard. Anyway, I asked her which was her favorite and she reached over to some cards somewhat off to the side and unnoticed by me and picked out this one:

http://photos.imageevent.com/imoverhere/miscellaneous/large/mymickey.jpg

Now I pulled this card from a pack when I was 7, and as you might guess, it was proudly carried and shown to both first graders and neighborhood pals. Anyway, I was calculating the dollars my cardboard might bring and frowning at previously undiscovered flaws in some of my cards when she picked out that Mantle and asked me what was my favorite. It hit me like a ton of bricks. I of course had no choice but to agree with her selection, and you have no idea how many memories came gushing back at that moment.

Sorry for being maudlin.

No need to apologize. Great story!

[canjond]

I've always been a fan of the '51 Bowman.

http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j263/jon_canfield/1951BowmanMantle.jpg (http://s82.photobucket.com/user/jon_canfield/media/1951BowmanMantle.jpg.html)

[Stonepony]

For me the shy/boyish grin of the 54 Dan Dee. Easily my favorite.

[GoldenAge50s]

I'm w/ Keith---I think ANY Mantle card is my favorite! Almost every one has it's own iconic look! Kinda' partial to my '52 Bowman--pulled from a pack back in the day.

[g_vezina_c55]

I'm w/ Keith---I think ANY Mantle card is my favorite!

I must agree with that.

[smrtn240]

my favorite

[HRBAKER]

the '59 Bazooka

[HOF Yankees]

My first ever mantle was the 1962 post cereal box version I would say that is my favorite but also like them all cause as mentioned all have something special about them