Jerry that is a great looking Mantle! The '51 auto is off the charts!

+1

jerry,

that is an extremely solid 2.5!!! the 59 is tough when it comes to centering and washout and yours presents extremely nicely for the grade...

Thanks guys! Love the centering on the '59 Mantle. Can't wait to have it in hand.

Begsu1013, Congrats on nailing down (pun intended) the 51 Mantle Auto. Some things are worth the wait and this certainly qualifies. Way to go.

Jerry, very nice addition. Certainly looks great for the grade. I haven't added a Mantle in a long time and this has motivated me to find one. Congrats!!

Very cool pickups!

19511951bowmanbowmanwhiteywhiteyfordford
 

1951 Bowman Whitey Ford Freak

My final post war Tiger base set card. Now it's on to the Playball series.
http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/07...900eea10df.jpg

A nicely centered '57 Topps is a beautiful thing.

http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/t...psmr6f97h4.jpg

Picked up a '63 Fleer Bob Gibson, a '72 In Action Willie with ridiculously great centering (too bad about the slight corner touches) and an oddball Jim Bunning. I know KDKA is a radio station is Pittsburgh, PA (and is supposedly the first commercial radio station in the world), but I have no idea what this sucker is. Jimbo was on the Pirates in 68/69 I believe, so it is undoubtedly from that time frame.

If anyone is greatly familiar with '63 Fleers, can you tell me if the 'stain' on the back of my Gibby is SOP for these cards? I figure it has something to do with the cookie the pack held, but I am unsure. Other Fleers I have seem to possess very similar anomalies and I want to make sure it's not the remains of paste or something else put there directly by humans after it left the factory.

Attachment 197985 Attachment 197986

Darren,

I guess I can chime in with some memories of the 1963 Fleer baseball. I collected them as a kid. The ginger cookie was not oily, as I recall, and perhaps a bit stale. Still, cookies have oil as an ingredient, and the Fleer company did something very thoughtful to prevent problems to their cards.

I remember this very well.

Their nickel-a-piece wax packs included another plain card, dark brown on one side and white on the other. The dark brown side faced the cookie, which likely was included to prevent any oil residue on the cookie from being absorbed into one of their beautiful cards. I never remembered any of my Fleers being stained. That would have annoyed me even as a 9-year-old, and I'm rather certain I would have recalled if the cards came out of the pack stained. Some things you'll remember from your childhood--52 years later!:D

Hope this helps at least eliminate the free cookie from being the cause of the stains on your Gibson.

--Brian Powell

Post-war RC and 69 Topps
 

Added another PW RC and a few more cards for my 69 set.

Thanks for your insight, Brian!

cookies
 

Flat, squarish, dry as a bone and cherry flavored....yum

For everyone's edification...I looked around at COMC and immediately ran into a ton of cards that had the same (read as "similar") back stains as my Gibson, so I'll display a few of them here:
Attachment 198188
Attachment 198189

It's pretty clear something was definitely going on inside of the 1963 Fleer packs. If Brian's recollections are correct and the cards were protected from the cookie, my guess is maybe at some point -- at the beginning of the run or later in the run -- the set-up changed and these safeguards were either added or discarded. (In other words, perhaps when the cards were first released there were no protective measures in place, but then consumers started complaining about the stains and Fleer acted on it? Who knows.) The high rate of occurrence of these stains seems to indicate that the dark brown/white protective cards were completely removed and it wasn't just a case of them accidentally NOT being inserted during the packing process from time to time.

That is an awesome Whitey Ford. Love those print offset cards they are so much better than those plain boring regular cards.

Autos
 

Nice Rob, but does show some cards are better suited for autos than others based on card design or photo used

Love those 1958's autographed. Those bold colors take the pen/sharpie really well........

What a slew of 69s! And that Mantle RC signed is just off the proverbial meat rack. Sick.

Rob, but at least the thoughtful and considerate Mr. Drysdale selected the perfect place for his autograph on a 1958 Topps. Agree with Al all the way; the gent who selected a '58 to have Don sign was simply not the brightest crayon in the box. However, again, with Big D signing the yellow background, you have a genuine beauty. Nice pick-up.

---Brian Powell

Arrived Yesterday:
 

The last (base*) Mantle I needed:

* - not planning to see either my car or my condo for the missing 2: 51B & 52T)

Attachment 198417

Centered Mantle alert:

http://i1383.photobucket.com/albums/...ps8kepnfso.jpghttp://i1383.photobucket.com/albums/...pskjn2kvuy.jpg

Picked it up today at a new card shop. No idea why it graded a "4", but I was more than happy to pay a "4" price for it!

'51 Mickey
 

Big thanks to MattyC for this Mantle rookie! Just received it in hand. Card presents so much better than the technical grade...

Great Mantle RC, Jerry! Congrats

I cannot even begin to say how excited I am to have just picked this up. I have been searching for this for years, and it is the last card I needed to consider my Mantle Topps run complete:

http://www.gregbussineau.com/ItemIma...4984_f_lg.jpeg

Many thanks to Chris (PawPaw) for helping me locate it and for the auction house for their exceptional customer service and ridiculously reasonable shipping costs.

Thanks for the aknowlegment, I just knew you piss or shizz your pants when i alerted you about the Venez Mick. Plus, it was not boldly displayed in their catalog. Glad to help you get your hole filled in Bestdj777.

Chris, I am so happy for you, my friend. Ever since I first noticed your thread responses, at the bottom was a plea for help in locating the 1960 Topps Venezuela Rival All Stars Mantle & Boyer. All Topps Venezuelas seem impossible, to my way of thinking. This is truly an occasion to celebrate!

Thank you for sharing with us. Remarkable---thoroughly remarkable.:D

--Brian Powell

Raymond Culpepper'

Hearty and sincere congratulations on the completion of your base Mickey Mantle card run! That '57 is a beaute, and a card none of us fail to appreciate, nor tire of seeing. What a happy, worthwhile accomplishment, bro. Thanks for sharing with us.:D ---Brian Powell

Thanks Chris and Brian! I've wanted this one for years. I had to pass on one in 2012 as I saved for my wife's engagement ring, but have not seen a lower grade example for sale since. Now I just need that pesky Meadowgold Dairy card and a couple of postcards to round out my collection.

Thanks Brian-

I also finished my Base Koufax - but was able to get all of those.

I'm hoping to land three older cards in Leon's auction and then I will sit it out for a while.

Awesome card. I don't think I've seen a better PSA 2. Centering is better than more PSA 7s.

Thanks Jesse! I appreciate it. I have always wanted this card for the longest time. Prices on nice early mantles have been going up. I had to get one before it was too late.

Mantle/Boyer
 

Congrats on this awesome pickup as well as completing your Topps run. Sorry I left the image in (not really) since I wanted to see the Mantle/Boyer Venezuelan pic again...

Now all we need is a picture of all your Mantle's spread out on the floor (dog optional) and/or displayed :D

I am not sure if this qualifies as a "card", but here it is anyway.

Picked it up off Ebay, to bad I am not Scott.

Thanks Mark! When I have it in hand, there will be definitely be another picture. It might just include the Venezuelan run though, as it is getting increasingly difficult to fit everything back into my safe.

I love the Kodak card! It has a picture on it and words, so definitely close enough to being a card :)

Added a couple more last night to my Mantle Pc. Have been trying lately to follow the trend and look for nicely centered examples that look better than their grades...

Extremely happy with this 52B as it knocks another one of my mantle needs off...

http://www.collectorfocus.com/images...952-bowman-101

Also I vowed not to go for any doubles until I completely finished my Mantle run, well I was just a sucker for this 56T. I have a PSA 7 and this one seems to just blow that example away. Kind of makes me wonder when I paid over double for the PSA 7 while this one is an SGC 6...

http://www.collectorfocus.com/images...1956-topps-135

Very nice Mantle, Mike! Was that from last night's Probstein? If so, I think that's another ex-Matty card. :)

Great Mantle RC, Jerry!

Congrats on the Venezuelan, Chris!

That's also a great '66 Mick, Dan!

Seems like this "Mantle" character is pretty popular these days...

That 52B and 56T look vaguely familiar ;) Glad they and many others from that big batch went to some fellow board members!

Nice card, I actually thought I had that one. I was the high bidder with about 2 seconds left. Hard to find centered like that.

http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/07...ee719d88cf.jpg

Just one of those cards that spoke to me!!


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CW, Thanks! Yep it was from the Probstein auctions. I was surprised to get the 56T for the price I did. The 52B I believe I paid quite fairly for so figured in the end they balanced out. More importantly its another one off my list of Mantles to obtain!

Matt I had no clue these were yours, but it makes me feel even better now knowing that I have such top notch cards coming in for my own PC. Since your selling a few of your cards I'm sure you have your eye on something else! Cant wait to see what your next addition will be.

Jesse, Thanks for the compliment! I wasn't planning on going over a grand for the card, but knew its a tough card to find centered. Glad I did now; Mantle just keeps skyrocketing so it seems.

I wouldn't worry about what you paid, it's worth it. Normally I would have bid a little more but I have spent quite a lot lately. I had seen MattyC's net54 post and was trying to pick something up but got out bid on his 51 Bowman Mays as well. Hopefully that went to another net54 member.

You were not alone on this one. I watched but not bid.

National Haul Pt 1: The Micks. The color and image quality on the 54 blows me away. The 69 White Letters is so bright and well centered, just has some micro wrinkles that aren't even visible at first glance! Plus it has great corners more commensurate with a 6 or 7. As to the 56, it looks simply gem mt to me, and the 61 looked wet it is so glossy, and the black was jet black with zero snow, which is what I crave in that card. 62 was just dead centered and couldn't resist ;)

http://i741.photobucket.com/albums/x...ps60hmtijo.jpg

Great looking Mantles Matt!How is that '69 a 3 ?

Nice looking Mantles. That 62 looks much better than any 7 I've ever seen. Usually they still have chipping around the borders and the corners. It certainly wouldn't look out of place in an 8 holder.

Thx very much. Just another case of the old arbitrary grading rules being applied "correctly," LOL. Not how I would grade a card, but fine by any collector who loves to buy a card that satisfies for way less than they'd expect to pay for said satisfaction ;)