TOP 6 MAINSTREAM MICKEY MANTLE CARDS (FOR BEAUTY, DESIRABILITY TO ME, AND MOST VALUABLE)
1. 1952 TOPPS
2. 1951 BOWMAN
3. 1953 TOPPS
4. 1956 TOPPS
5. 1953 BOWMAN
6. 1960 TOPPS (I know the '57 is much more valuable, but I honestly like the looks of the '60 more)
TOP 6 REGIONAL / FOOD MICKEY MANTLE ITEMS (FOR BEAUTY, DESIRABILITY TO ME, AND MOST VALUABLE)
1. ANY OF THE 3 STAHL-MEYER FRANKS
2. 1960 POST CEREAL
3. 1959 BAZOOKA
4. 1960 HOME RUN DERBY
4 1/2. 1959 Yoo-Hoo Chocolate Drink (So wish we knew the story behind this mysterious Mantle card - a decent beauty)
5. 1966 - 1967 COCA-COLA premium, as produced by Dexter Press (TODAY, 3/16/17, I SAW KEITH OLBERMANN'S NICE WRITE-UP ON THESE CARDS IN THE SABR BASEBALL CARD COMMITTEE SITE. KEITH STATES THAT HE REMEMBERS SEEING THE 1966 DEXTER PRESS YANKEE CARDS SOLD INDIVIDUALLY AT THE YANKEE STADIUM SOUVENIR STANDS THAT YEAR. THUS, THESE CARDS, SOMEWHAT SMALLER THAN THE COCA-COLA PREMIUMS OF 1967, ARE A REGIONAL ONLY SOLD AT YANKEE STADIUM. FOR MANY YEARS I WONDERED HOW THEY WERE DISTRIBUTED, AND KEITH'S FIRST-HAND KNOWLEDGE PRESENTS VALUABLE INFORMATION TO US. SINCE THEY WERE ONLY SOLD AT THE BALLPARK, THE CARDS ARE MUCH MORE SIGNIFICANT IN MY ESTIMATION. AS BEAUTIFUL AS THEY ARE, I'M SURE THE CARDS DIDN'T SELL THAT WELL, BEING THE YANKS WERE FALLING TO LAST PLACE FOR THE FIRST TIME SINCE BEFORE THE BABE CAME. REGARDLESS, TODAY THEY ARE UNQUESTIONABLY SOME OF THE MOST EYE-APPEALING CARDS TO BE HAD.)
6. 1962 JELL-O
(Why no Briggs? Why no Dan-Dee? These are both very, very special. Truly. The rarity of the Briggs far exceeds the Stahl-Meyer, but its claustrophobic cropping destroys its attractiveness. It is what it is. Furthermore, no one, young or old, seemed to know just how to cut the Briggs cards off their product package. Generations later, PSA and SGC both give the grade of "AUTHENTIC" to submitted specimens. A shame.
The Dan-Dee is gorgeous, with enough cropping of the great Mantle portrait to suffice. I well remember when I first saw the Dan-Dee in the mid-70s. I was extremely taken with it. Several years later I saw the Stahl-Meyer, with by-far the best use of the perfect Mickey Mantle portrait, taken by official Yankee photographer Bob Olen when Mick was a rookie. With just one glimpse of the Stahl-Meyer Franks Mantle, my feelings for the Dan-Dee were blown out of the water. The 1953 Stahl-Meyer is the most plentiful of the three years, but I think kids preferred the 1953's bone china white borders over the nice, stain-subduing neon yellow borders. I too prefer the bone china white background shade. Most 1953 PSA graded specimens (as of 3/14/2017, 32 of 46 submitted to PSA) came out PSA 1 POOR, which underscores how precious those cards were to the kids back then who saved their Mantles, creases, stains, and stamp marks notwithstanding. The very, very few that have graded PSA EX-MT or better trace to a find which I covered in my book.
Must get ready for work. Bye.
A LIST OF 6 VERY UNDERRATED MICKEY MANTLE ITEMS, IN NO PARTICULAR ORDER
1. 1969 TOPPS SUPER BASEBALL
2. EXHIBIT (STANDING BATTING IN HOME UNIFORM AS A ROOKIE)
3. DORMAND PC (STANDING BATTING) I really like the subdued background of the sky in the rarer "bat on shoulder" version. The pose is not bad, either. For me, it took me years to figure out what bugged me about the card. It's the expression on Mickey's face, in particular his eyes. The photo traces to 1952, with the Yanks' 50th Anniversary patch on the shoulder. Mr. Louis Dormand began to market his cards in about August of '52, so the first player photos were probably taken in early to late spring of that year. Something extremely significant happened in Mickey's life during the time when the first photo was snapped, and I sense some genuine pain in his eyes. Maybe I'm barmy, and I wish one of you would convince me otherwise. It's not that big a deal, and if you don't know what I'm referring to, please just go on with this lengthy thread response.
4. SALADA COIN (1962 / 1963)
5. 1964 TOPPS STAND-UP
6. ALL OF MICK'S BAZOOKAS''
Though it really is a "pipe dream" and never actually issued, I want to make special mention of his 1961 Topps Dice Game card. Let's call it a "prototype".
When the U. S. Mint was accepting prototypes to replace its $20 gold piece, one of those it rejected was a beautiful coin with lady Liberty wearing a Native American head dress. While they chose the more beautiful design by Augustus St. Gaudens, the rejected design was used for the face of the $10 Gold piece the Mint was also upgrading. When the aforementioned prototype Lady Liberty $20 gold piece was last auctioned it went for over $1 million dollars. The exact figure escapes me.
My point, just because the beautiful 1961 Topps Dice Game Mantle was never actually issued does not mean genuine examples of this prototype should languish in price. I don't own one, but it is worth boo coo, I believe; particularly so if one would grade out at least a PSA Near Mint 7, as have a very few specimens that were numerically grade-worthy. At this point, I am beginning to doubt if there are any. Most were stapled to a paper with Woody Gelman's figurative question, "What do you think of this idea for a dice game, with picture game cards of players and dice number actions on the backside? Think it would sell?"
A LIST OF 6 MODERN POST-CAREER MICKEY MANTLE CARDS THAT I FEEL ARE WORTH OWNING AND ENJOYING IF YOU CANNOT AFFORD ORIGINALS, OR WISH TO COMPLEMENT YOUR OWN PERIOD CARD COLLECTION, AND THAT MAY APPRECIATE A BIT BECAUSE OF THEIR ATTRACTIVENESS. THESE CONSTITUTE MORE THAN 6, BUT WHO REALLY CARES ANYWAY?
1. 1987 PEREZ-STEELE GREAT MOMENTS
2. 1988 PACIFIC LEGENDS
3. 2010 TOPPS HERITAGE #56B super short print
4. ALL TOPPS ALLEN & GINTER
5. 2012 TOPPS ARCHIVES 3-D (PRODUCED AND STYLED PRECISELY AS THE RARE 1968 TOPPS 3-D TEST ISSUE, THIS CARD LOOKS EXACTLY AS A '68 TOPPS 3-D SHOULD HAVE LOOKED. WEARING A BATTING HELMET, MICKEY HAS JUST BLASTED A SPACE SHOT HOME RUN. WATCHING THE BALL'S FLIGHT, HE BEGINS TO DROP THE BAT, AND BEGIN HIS BY-NOW HOBBLE AROUND THE BASES. PERFECT FOR IMAGINING A '68 TOPPS 3-D MICK!)
6. MOST OF THE TOPPS GYPSY QUEENS. THESE JUST LOOK SO COOL--VERY AVANT GARDE!
Well, that's a lot of lists, requiring some time to think through. Given enough time, I'm sure I'd change my mind a tiny bit, or lengthen the lists to "Top 10 Mantles"! No doubt my list will differ from yours, but I am sure we all have some cards and items we'd all agree on. Nice topic for a question. I feel an interesting category would be for fantasy Mantles. I'd list the two Bob Lemke creations I am very fortunate to own, as well as the pair I made.
I did purchase for the first time a fantasy from Mr. Oddball on eBay. The scan on the eBay listing was sensational. It was a 1955 Topps. The price was cheap, and the postage 70 cents. What I got was a flimsy, index card-thick non-glossy card. Maybe it did not cost much, but I was not amused, nor impressed in the least. The extremely poor execution of what portended to be a beautiful fantasy left a bad taste in my mouth. A good fantasy, as Bob Lemke's creations were, and I feel my two Micks were, complements a period collection, rather than detracts. It's not always about how valuable the items are in your display, but how attractive and compelling the total arrangement becomes to your eyes. Now I realize I'm getting verbose and off the subject. Gotta make my supper for work, anyway.
Cheers. Happy collecting, guys and gals! ---Brian Powell