I is a underbidder on the Yoo-hoo...I gotta say, I had no idea this would fetch this much. CRAZY!!!!!!!
No way it grabs more than the 53 Yamakastu card tha B&Luckey sold last yr for 8k. This is CRAZY!!!!
http://brockelmanauctions.com/1953_Y...S-LOT6647.aspx
Well, Chris, while I did not specifically write about the 1959 Yoo-Hoo Chocolate Drink Mickey Mantle, I wrote lovingly about these kinds of pieces in my book, NEVER CHEAPER BY THE DOZEN. The Yoo-Hoo falls into the category of a sleeper that sharp and elite Mantle collectors quietly crave and would be on the watch for, should one surface. This kind of Mantle does not get talked about very much, if at all. Those who ravenously want it do not wish to call attention to it, or create more rivals for this ultra rare card.
I for one wish I knew the heritage of it, but again, in my years and years and years of gleaning Sports Collectors Digest issues, and what I had of The Trader Speaks---nothing. Nothing, that is, except for a FULL-PAGE ad in SCD offering a similar 1959 YOO-HOO Mickey Mantle. Somewhere I have the ad, for I tended to retain those kinds of sweet ads. I do not recall if that specimen had the white tab or not, but I do remember the asking price.
$25,000.
Being the mid-1990s, it was ungraded, of course. The asking price speaks volumes, though, doesn't it?
Ridiculously high, most would say. Visionary dealer, perhaps. I called the chap, and he certainly seemed in his right mind. HE KNEW WHAT HE HAD, AND HE KNEW HOW RARE IT WAS, AND HE CERTAINLY WAS ASTUTE ENOUGH NOT TO BE TALKED DOWN ON A MICKEY MANTLE CARD THIS ELEGANT, OR OF THIS CALIBER (DISTINCTION, MERIT), AND OH SO RARE.
As an aside, there was a nice hard-cover picture book about collecting New York Yankee items (by David Mendel ?) 15-20 years ago, with a montage style cover. One prominent item captured my eye---a beautiful shot of the Yoo-Hoo advertising placard showing a colorized photo of Yogi Berra and Mickey Mantle at a Yoo-Hoo cooler. Mick's got this comical look on his face as he has the Yoo-Hoo bottle in his mouth, appearing as if he's ready to spit it out laughing! I bought the book SOLELY for that cover photo. Former ESPN columnist Bill Simmons made many crass comments of this image of Mantle and Berra. It always cracked him up.
The distinctive feature with the Yoo-Hoo Mickey Mantle which Robert Edward Auctions is currently offering is it still retains the little half-inch to 5/8" white "tab" at the bottom of the card. I maintain the cards were printed as a promotion for a 1959 public appearance by Mr. Mantle at the Yoo-Hoo main production plant in New Jersey. My best guess is that Mick did not show up, and the kiddies were sorely disappointed. No one, but a very few youngsters, bothered to accept or keep the card given for the intended autograph request. What other explanation could there possibly be for that white "tab" area, other than an autograph?
Since Yogi Berra is sadly now deceased, he could not be asked what he remembered about the Yoo-Hoo Mickey Mantle cards. That was so long ago, he probably would not have any knowledge of them, if he ever had any. His connection to the Yoo-Hoo company was important, but probably not on a day-to-day basis, except perhaps after the baseball season.
Checking any local or major area New Jersey newspapers just occurred to me, but you would probably need to track down where the Yoo-Hoo plant was located at this time (find a Yoo-Hoo bottle from back then, as the address is printed on the back of the bottle), then go to a good area library. You won't be able to do an inter-library loan on microfilm, guys. Too many jerks stole reels of the microfilm, and libraries now will not let them out of their doors, period.
My point is that by researching microfilm from local or major newspapers in the vicinity of the Yoo-Hoo facility, one could look for any details of an announced appearance of Mickey at the Yoo-Hoo bottling plant in 1959. Check any mention of details of any kind.
Long shot, I know. Sometimes those long shots pay off.
In the mean time, that 1959 Yoo-Hoo Mickey Mantle is one swell dream card. Man, I'd love to own it.
This prime piece will probably sit at $25,000 for a while, but I imagine there will be fireworks over the course of the last day and into the wee hours of the morn.
---Brian Powell