1953 Topps Mantle PSA 8 $43,000+. Card bubble or the new norm?
 

PWCC had a '53 Mantle PSA 8 close at $42,300 last night. Very nice card but wondering if we are venturing into a new bubble or are a new group of buyers (aka investors) looking at cards as viable investments.

bubble. I don't think the prices can sustain themselves. Although that is just my humble prediction.

It seems there is a high demand and obviously a very limited supply of high grade high end cards. I would be surprised to see a bubble burst any time soon. Especially on anything related to Mantle or Ruth.

Mantle right now has guys who are 30 and guys who are 70 pursuing his cards. Most of his cards are also most often found poorly cut/centered. It all combines to make the very nice looking examples-- in any TPG grade, high or low-- very contested. The card in question looked really good, in my opinion. While I'd personally prefer it with a single worn corner or hidden wrinkle to keep the price down, I can see why it went so high.

The same card sold for 25K in April.

Sounds like this card was a strong investment!

Wow, you're right. It was listed in April by a guy with 13 feedback using a crappy scan:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/301601825704
http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/MTYwMFgxMj...VNSzJ/$_57.JPG

Then it was reholdered and consigned to PWCC:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/400947458984
http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/OTI4WDUyOA...VkaqB/$_57.JPG

as time shows, there really isn't a bubble when it comes to high grade mantle cards.

simple supply and demand in which only mother nature will decide when the mantle/mankind bubble bursts.

edit: i was in on the action, however was outbid and really didn't mind...as i picked up something else very special and will be more than happy to display once she arrives! ; )

but here's my auto'd version and my 5 which did not get upgraded (only by psa's opinion):

http://caimages.collectors.com/psaim...ntlePSADNA.jpg
http://caimages.collectors.com/psaim.../53mantle5.jpg

If you don't mind, what were you willing to pay? The reason I ask is it looks like when it sold in April, it was a reserve auction with a buy it now for 25K. There were several bidders who weren't willing to pay the 25K until one of those lower bidders decided to hit BIN. Are there suddenly multiple people willing to go so much higher only a couple months before? Are there really that many people who don't check ebay other than certain seller's auctions?

I am sure there were plenty of people that were interested but were not willing to spend $25,000 on an item from an eBay seller with very little feedback, none of which relates to cards.

I would just pay with my credit card and if there was a problem, just dispute it and return the card.

+1. A much better buy IMHO than one of the endless low-grade '52's that appear on the auction circuit.

Best wishes,

Larry

i was willing to go about 20% higher than the previous sales price. it was a solid 8, but the bottom right hand corner was holding me back from "moon" bidding....i also just picked her up which constrained the budget just a tad!

http://caimages.collectors.com/psaim...tlePSADNAa.jpg