Catalog arrived in Canada today! Exciting stuff as always!

Mine is still mia. Maybe Texas seceded and we don't get usps any longer. :D

Mine only arrived in PA today so don't give up hope.

I like the catalog as much as they next guy, but what a collosal waste of paper. Sure most of us already have our bids in and have since last week. I leafed through if for 20 minutes and moved it into the recycling bin. It's a beautiful thing but unnecessary. Maybe some of these companies should at least give customers the option to go paperless.

Catalog arrived yesterday. More auction houses should be sending out catalogs -- in a way it's advertising budget especially when the materials are high end

Rich

Mark, maybe it is just you. Mine arrived in San Antonio yesterday (although was FedEx).

Dave

+ 1 -- great catalog, great AH, etc - but I would prefer to be paperless as well.

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

Forgot to add: I got my REA catalog yesterday, and my Goldin catalog this a.m.

The Yoo Hoo is a much more desirable card. I was the underbidder on the Yamakatsu. If I was confident I could have moved my 52 Topps Mantles at more than fire sale prices, I would have gone all in on it.

[QUOTE=pawpawdiv9;1593659]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

Awesome post Brian. Thank you!

[QUOTE=brian1961;1593718]If memory serves, I believe it was in Carlstadt NJ

Been trying to stay dormant...damn, you giant gorgeous catalog! Three bids in...if I win - there goes Christmas!!

With an auction like this good luck on dormancy :)>

I got my catalog box today. The printer shipped me an actual empty priority mail box. Absolutely no sign that it was ever opened. I bet they charged rea for that high level service though.

Mark

Maybe they sent you the virtual catalog? Its interactive now you know...;)

[QUOTE=brian1961;1593718]Well, I was mistaken about the fireworks display I prognosticated on this rare Mickey Mantle. It seems someone did put in a bid beyond 25K on the last day--but it was immediately topped. I imagine the gentleman decided it was futile, and simply did not want to continue.

With the buyer's premium, the final bill was $36,000, still an impressive sum for a tough Mickey Mantle baseball card. It just falls considerably short of where a high grade centered PSA '52/'53 Topps or '51 Bowman would hammer for now.

I said it before, the 1959 Yoo Hoo Chocolate Drink Mantle is an awesome card. I wish I owned one. I hope its story will be told some day, too, but I fear that time has now passed. The REA write-up was puzzling, for so very little was told about the card. Guess if you don't know anything, you won't say anything. The connection, however brief, between Yoo Hoo and Mantle, is definite, though. With that comical ad photo, and his image on the caps, there is some provenance, enough of which so a few collectors bid it up to 25K on the opening day. Closing at $36K is still substantial.

'Nuf said. ---Brian Powell