In Orwellian terms, your Room 101 is going to be a room full of slightly off-center cards. :D

Superb reference! (And spot-on.)

I'm with you, I thought a lot of those cards looked really nicely centered. I guess that's just not my area of focus as much as corners.

I think I see color and registration first, corners second, and centering (unless quite off) last.

I've always noticed centering and it never really mattered much to me. But, the last few years, you've people have made me a neurotic:eek:

Interesting. I see centering first and it matters most to me, as long as the card has good aesthetics otherwise. Evan's card in auction is awesome in that respect. It's not bad with any of the others attributes, but that centering....

Count me in with the centering nuts. It's getting so bad, I'm starting to "see" centering issues that aren't even there. I recently did a transaction with a great dude, and he had to go to extra lengths to demonstrate that I was, in fact, not seeing a slight tilt. I know, it's bad.

They may need to name a disease/condition after Matt. Apparently it's contagious.

Still like bitcoin and ethereum? Since you said this bitcoin has dropped from 11K a coin (which itself was down from 17K a couple of months before) to 7K, losing a whopping 10 percent in a single day, today. I know people did real well who got in early, but getting in now seems risky as hell to me. Ethereum has been in free fall too. It's dropped from the mid 800s to the high 300s since your post, and is down 13 percent today alone.

I sent my bitcoins in to be graded and several came back Gem Uncirculated.

And did GAI also call them "first graded"?

Why not?:)

+1. I always preferred the version with the line at the bottom and the curled "e" at the end of the signature. They always seem richer in eye appeal.

Copy and Paste, not me.

The Two Types Of 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle Cards
I mentioned earlier how I love the subtle nuances about cards that make them special. Here is a prime example.

As if the 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle card wasn’t already great enough, there are actually two different types to keep things interesting.

While neither is more valuable than the other (given they’re in the exact same condition), it’s still fun to hunt down their differences.

Let’s take a look:

There is a pixel missing in the lower left border of the Type 1 giving it a rounded look.
The name badge on the Type 1 bleeds yellow along its bottom.
The ‘e’ in Mantle’s facsimile on the Type 1 curves upwards where on the Type 2 it ends sharply.
The overall color scheme of the Type 1 is darker and more rich. The background coloration is obviously different but even his cap, skin tones, and bat are as well.
There is a blue pixel missing in the upper left background on the Type 2.
The border around the Yankees logo on the Type 2 is not as prominent and bold.
The border around the nameplate on the Type 2 is not as sharp. Look at how jagged it appears all the way around.
The upper black horizontal border of the Type 2 slightly overlaps the vertical borders.
1952 Topps Mickey Mantle Card Type 1 and Type 2 Comparison

So those were some of the main differences on the front sides.

But there are still more on the reverse sides.

Article link, about a 1/3rd of the way down.
https://www.oldsportscards.com/micke...e-rookie-card/

+1. I've been converted

Attachment 310640

Heritage has added ESPN interview with current owner - EX Broncos Lineman Evan Mathis. 18 hours to go sitting at 2.1 M

https://vimeo.com/265431229

$2.5 million with buyer's premium

Great interview, Evan! Good luck!

Will be very interesting to watch the late night bidding on this one. When the dollar amount gets that high the number of bidders has to be quite small. Will it stay where it is or get a big last minute run-up? I know I am completely useless at predicting these things!

It's up to $2.6 million now.

2.88

Looks like all the action took place before extended bidding. Still an impressive result and good for the hobby overall.

Congrats, Evan -- I am guessing you already have a beautiful 7 or better to fill the void.

So what would the 10 go for?
 

6 mill?

Anyone buy a 52 Mantle for $ 1 back in the day ?

http://i1267.photobucket.com/albums/...539/img064.jpg

Just need to get that time machine perfected! No worries. Shouldn’t be that difficult.

Already taking offers. You have to come heavy at $3.7 minimum though.

http://i299.photobucket.com/albums/m...psoohhagzm.png

I was interested in seeing how this card in "9" had appreciated in the last few years, so dug out some of my old Beckett Graded magazines, which gave actual auction prices for the examples in the much higher grades. Two "9's" sold in 2007; one for $225,000 and the other for $280,000. Average, obviously, = about $250K. That's a rate of appreciation (just doing the math in my head) of about 25% compounded annually. The cream rises to the top!

Highest regards,

Larry

1980 Topps Rickey Henderson
PSA 9: $350
PSA 10: $25,000

1952 Topps Mickey Mantle
PSA 9: $2,880,000
PSA 10: $205,714,286

Self-correction: the auction sales referred to above occurred in 2006, rather than 2007 (they were listed in a February 2007 issue of Beckett's Graded Card Investor). The compounded rate of appreciation is approximately 20.6% per annum.

Best to all,

Larry

Where does that card go from 2.88mm?! I’m sure I’m a lone wolf in saying this, but I’d rather have one of the 80-85 known Ruth RC’s graded either a 7 or 8. Better player, much rarer card, and from almost 40 years earlier, but yet somehow brings far less.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I think you’re light on that estimate.

It's crazy. Doesn't the 1952 Topps Mantle have variations on the ball stitching on the back and also front box differences ? Wait till someone says one variation is worth more than the other. These cards will need to be regarded indicating which variation it is ! These whales will need all the variations !

They were double printed, 2 per page, each variation having the same total population...I believe.

Yes I probably am low
 

Yes I guess there will be a hedge fund guy willing to pay almost anything to get one of the three 10’s. Maybe $10-12 million?

How would you like to be "the grader" at PSA and you have to make a decision if the Mantle card is a "8" or "9" or "9" or "10" ? Millions of $$$$ difference. Wonder if you knew the submitter ? Labeled From the " so and so " collection .

As far as I know, cards in the 9-10 range (Maybe only 10's?) get multiple reviews before they are slabbed.

Not sure how true that is but I'd like to believe it's somewhat true, especially when there is significant value involved.

To anyone who has seen this card in person what prevented it from a 10?

I have seen it in person and in my opinion it is probably the 2nd best 52 Mantle. The corners are all there and the centering is stronger than 2 of the 3 10’s. The only thing that is holding it back from a 10 IMO is the pack fresh aspect. To be fair, I haven’t seen the 10’s except for scans, but they all appear to be from the find and brighter than this example.

This card rocks and very deserving of the grade. If 9.5 were possible, it would be the poster child.

Brady

Just from scans and photos I've seen, I agree with you. Evan's card looks like a 10 to me. It's certainly better than a lot of 10s of other cards that I've seen.

I still don't get how a card can be better than Mint.

There are a million Henderson 9s, not really a good analogy.

Are you insinuating that a PSA 10 Mantle would bring less than $205,714,286?

Aren't there 3 PSA graded 10 Mantle's from the '52 Topps set out there? Not sure when the last one changed hands but, even if it was before '52 Mantles reached 7 figure status, those three should all be counted as million dollar cards as well.

Marginally less.

This PSA 9 is the most beautiful example I have ever seen. Congrats to the winner, and I'm pretty sure he'll have no trouble flipping it down the line (if he chooses to).

Now some of you are wondering what stopped it from getting a grade of 10 GEM MINT. Did anyone spot the red print line on the reverse side? It can be seen where it says "Switch-hitting Mickey is heralded ..." Maybe that prevented it from getting a 10? Any thoughts?

Ranjodh

If this was graded after the 3 10s I think it may just be a decision by PSA not to give any more 10s. I doubt it's anything specific on the card itself.

You're definitely not alone. I would rather the Ruth in any condition (or a number of other baseball cards) than the Mantle in any condition.

sounds ethical

I am just speculating of course, but it does stand to reason that on something so exclusive and with so low a pop in the grade PSA would be mindful of not wanting to devalue existing examples. Is there any 10 on earth that would be wrongly graded in a 9 holder? The differences to me seem minute or arbitrary. And I would bet heavily that lots of 10s in general are bumps from 9s. The 10 grade is brilliant marketing but I don't think it means much condition-wise.

So what do you mean, flipping it down the line?