Mickey Mantle photos - what do I have here?

[judgebuck]

I bought these photos of Mantle at the National a couple of years ago. They are all from the archives of the Miami Herald newspaper. I don't know anything about photos. Should I submit any for grading? One of the photos says Associated Press Wirephoto on the back. Two others appear to have been taken by Miami Herald photographers. The four that I have of a young Mantle fishing (only one posted here) are great. They just have his name written on the back, but there is evidence of paper removal on the backs of each of them. Don't know if a newspaper clipping might have been removed. Any suggestions on what I have, what potential value, if any, they might have, and whether any should be submitted to PSA for grading. Any help is appreciated.

[GrayGhost]

Looks like some pretty cool Mantle Press photos

[judgebuck]

Thanks for the response. I take it that "press photos" have little value?? Is the one that says "Associate Press Wirephoto" on the back also a "press photo? I just don't really know anything about photos.

[bnorth]

Very cool photos, my favorite is the one with his mom and wife. Sorry can't help with value.

[GrayGhost]

Originally Posted by judgebuck

Thanks for the response. I take it that "press photos" have little value?? Is the one that says "Associate Press Wirephoto" on the back also a "press photo? I just don't really know anything about photos.

They definitely have some value. Condition and image and number of interested buyers will take that. Mantle is always collectible.

[billyb]

Judge,
Great Mantle photos. They should sell well. I too like the one with his mother, where you can also see him wearing his World Series ring. You have several great shots.
Wire photos are press photo. Teletype machines distributed photos by wire, to other news medias. This process was 1935 and later. Prior to 1935, copies were right from the negatives. Those earlier photos are called original press photos. So when you say press photos, it does not give a correct complete description of your photos. Wire photo is not an original press photo and visa versa. But both can be classed as press photos.
You can do a search on this site of original press photos and there are several great threads that go into the differences with much more detail.

[drcy]

Press photos was originally used in this thread as a general term for photos by the press. Noting valueless about the term. News photo means the same thing.

Look like some nice Mantle photos, including wirephotos and original by Herald staff. The ones listed on back as AP wirephotos are wirephotos, which are vintage copies (same age as originals, still have value) and the rest are probably originals. The fielding one might be a wirephoto too, not sure. Wirephotos were sent by AP and other big photo agencies to subscribing newspapers. The areas of paper removal remnants were from the AP caption tags describing the image. Remnants like that are common. The newspaper editor or printer removed the caption before using the photo.

No need to submit them. The marks, stamps etc on back identify them fine for the potential buyer. A few have a date stamp, which should be obvious in authenticating significance. I assume the ones with Herald Staff photographer stamps on back would be graded by PSA as type Is, but I also assume it's not worth the cost of submission.

[judgebuck]

Thanks for the info. i really appreciate the responses to my questions. I'm learning. And, I'll check earlier threads about photos.

[billyb]

Judge,
The info you got from Drcy cannot come from much better source, if at all. Drcy is one of the tops in the field of photo identification.