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A few of my favorites:
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A couple more of my favorites.
https://www.collectorfocus.com/image...mays-psa-6.5-xhttps://www.collectorfocus.com/image...lie-mays-psa-6 |
The SI cover (from a piece on Larraine Day)
Mays, Day and Durocher were featured on the April 11, 1955, cover of “Sports Illustrated.” Day stands between the two men with her hands on both of their shoulders.
But in 1955, it was an outrage that a white woman would have her hand on a black man’s shoulder. Letters were sent to the magazine, now only a year old, from outraged readers and others asking to cancel their subscriptions, according to Hirsch’s book. Worse than the swimsuit issue!!! |
I popped open a couple of old price guides from 87 and 88 and at the time the 52T Mick sold for around 6x the 52 Mays. As an aside, the Campy card was around the same value as the Mays back in 1987-88.
Nowadays I think the 52 Mantle sells for about 10x a 52 Mays. It could be as low as 8x but it is definitely higher than 6x. Meanwhile the Mays now sells for 4x the price of a same grade Campy. So I don’t think Mays has at all closed the gap to Mantle in 52T. If anything the gap has widened which is part of the reason I’m fond of that Mays issue because I think it continues to be undervalued. Now granted the 52T Mantle is a special animal — it is THE card — so it’s not surprising it has outpaced the Mays even though the Mays is probably one of the 20 most important and iconic cards in the hobby. I think Mays has closed a bit of the gap to Mantle in later issues. Only a feel on this one. I can’t speak for 51B since I don’t know that market but I think Mays issues from 55 onward have probably outpaced the % growth of Mantle in the past two years. |
Good gosh, David. That 67 Mays PSA is absolutely cherry!
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Was curious and looked at a year in which neither card is particularly “special.”
1959 Topps — since mid 2019 a PSA5 Mays has essentially tripled from 100 to 300. A PSA5 Mantle has doubled from ~375 to 750. Supports the idea that Mays has made up ground in later issues but not so much in 52T. |
My father saw him play in Trenton before he got called up. Said he was the best player he ever saw play. Plus when Ty Cobb was old he said he was the only player he would pay to see. Those two opinions are good enough for me!
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Love this one...
Attachment 502748 Created this one... Attachment 502749 Grabbed these ones recently*... Attachment 502751 *Pardon the grammar. |
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Posting this one because I don't think it's made an appearance in this thread, and it's one of my favorites. Notoriously difficult to find centered, which is why I "settled" for this one.
1952 Bowman is the set I'm most familiar with, and I'll say I think Mays has closed the gap a little bit in this set over the last five years...and honestly he should. The Mays card is a more scarce High# in 1952 Bowman and has a lower population overall. Wouldn't surprise me if the Mays card eventually catches Mantle in this set for that very reason. Attachment 502755 |
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1955 Topps Willie Mays :-)
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The PSA 7 Mantle ended up selling for $96K and the Mays for $60K. Not sure if that constitutes a narrowing of any historical gap between the two cards, but at a more than 50% premium for the Mantle, there is obviously still quite a gap. I believe the populations of both cards are similar. Maybe the gap will get closer some day given that most people think Mays was one of the two best players ever, and many don't have Mantle in the top 10. |
Charles, I was the original author of this post and I have to agree that the price level at the finishing line shows Mantle the clear winner...again. Perhaps what I was seeing was an aberration in the early auction bidding. Willie is the sprinter and Mickey is the finisher.
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Many guys in our 40s and 30s who never saw him play still buy Mantle. When we entered the hobby, the 52T Mantle had a mystique and status that will never change— and that card became a gateway of sorts that led many of us to look into his life and accomplishments, as well as his other cards. Then there are Yankee fan collectors who will always be interested in cards of Yankee legends. The notion that as people who saw him play die, his cards will become less desirable, it seems specious at best, especially in light of how cards of many long dead players still have expensive, desirable cards— Mathewson, Shoeless Joe, the list goes on. But ultimately, one can sit around waiting years and years for some puerile price competition between Mantle and Mays to play out, or one can collect what they want to own in the present, whichever athlete that is.
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In REA's auction last night a '51 Bowman Mays SGC 3 sold for $24,600, almost $7K higher than a '51 Bowman Mantle PSA 4.
Strong price for the Mays, which sold for higher than a'51 Bowman Mays SGC 6 in the same auction, and a relatively weak price for the Mantle. Not sure if this is just an outlier, or if Mays is actually closing the gap with Mantle, but you don't see a Mays Rookie outsell a Mantle of a higher grade often. |
At first glance and without fully inspecting the card, that Mays “3” looks like an “8” and the Mantle “4” looks like, well, a “4”. So not entirely an apples-to-apples in this “case”.
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Mays game used bat I recently purchased. Adirondack. Mid to late 60’s.
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Wow, nice Willie card last night
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Look at the outline of the jersey and how there are double-lines. Also, his eye has extra lines. But hey, it was dead-centered. |
Subtle, but nice catch. To me even the one you call focused has an initial slightly out of focus appearance for some reason.
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When BGS grades cards--their 4 categories are 1) centering 2) surface 3) Corners 4) Edges. Not sure if focus/registration is taken into account with surface. |
I have seen some comically out of register cards with huge print shifts in the face without qualifiers or deductions.
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Has anyone determined what the small “paper flaw” on that 51 Bowman SGC 3 Mays is — surface wrinkle? Other?
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A couple of my favorite Mays:
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Willie Was an Outfielder who was (OF) outa focus on that card...
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There are just some players that get more hobby love than others........Ruth, Cobb, Mantle, Speaker, Mathewson, Walter J, Clemente, Gehrig, Ted Williams, Koufax.....
There are some baffling examples though of greats who don't get as much hobby love as they really deserve....the most glaring example to me is Frank Robinson....he truly was one of the great players of the game (check out his HR, hit, RBI totals) yet his cards can be picked up on the cheap, relative to his contemporaries.....which is great for collectors :) |
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