Stahl Meyer Mickey Mantle PSA 9
 

Didn't even know it existed in this grade.
https://www.sportscollectorsdaily.co...y-mantle-card/

Top o' the market incoming!

Well, this explains the recent mysterious whale hunting thread on the main board.

One of the sets where a 3 can look like an 8. No way would I ever go after one with such an immense premium when ones that look 95% as good sell for a fraction of that ask. But Mantle and Registry go hand in hand. Also, for some reason I feel like ive seen more stahl meyer mantles for sale recently than I would ever imagine. Seems like his friggin Dan Dee is for sale less often! (I know its not lol). Just my thoughts. Nice card in any case.

Always one of my favorite Mantle cards. Young Mick and that purple/gray backdrop really makes his image pop. Final price, no idea but how often do truly “one of ones “ come available?

Should we start taking bets on the final price?

The 54 Stahl Mantle in PSA 8 (1 of 1, none higher) went for $210k in Feb 2022. Things have cooled off a little since then. Also, I'm not convinced that it really makes a difference whether it's a PSA 8 or a PSA 9, when we're talking about the tippy top of the pop charts.

Of course, whenever you get something with this level of rarity (for the grade), particularly for #7, it's really just a question of when the underbidder will finally decide to drop out. So it's anyone's guess!

I'll go bullish here and guess at $250k, simply because the underbidder on the 54 Stahl probably decided he can't live without having the top graded piece on the 53 Stahl, so keeps pushing it up.

I read that the asking price is $2.567M.

HA. Guess it helps if I actually read the article and not just assume it’s coming to auction.

Anyone think it will actually get $2.5M?

No disrespect to Howard or Brian, but it seems a stretch, unless you want to assume that the 1953 in PSA 9 should be worth 12x what the 1954 in PSA 8 is worth. While that sort of a multiplier might apply to a standard issue, I’m not so sure it applies here.

But good luck to Howard and Brian. They are both good friends, and great guys. Plus, all it takes is one buyer with deep pockets who really wants it!

It's hard to tell what an albatross will go for. It just takes a couple of people to really want it. But yeah $2.5M seems rather sporty lol.

Understanding the asking price
 

Hi all. A paid post will be forthcoming.

Regarding the asking price:

There isn't really a fair comparison to look at - to say a PSA 8 is the same as a PSA 9 will quickly be dispelled by looking at the prices of any Mantle cards (or most other cards) that sell in PSA 8's and 9's.

This card has never been sold since graded.

I used the sale of the 1953 PSA 7 as a starting point. That card sold for $68,125.

I prepared a spread sheet looking at sales of all Topps and Bowman Mantle cards from 1951-1969 in grades of PSA 7 and PSA 9. The price multiple ranged from a low of 9X for the 1965 and a high of 162X for a recently sold 1969 White letter (A PSA 9, POP 4 card (1 PSA 10 higher), sold in December of '22 for $933K). The average multiple across the range of Topps and Bowman Mantles was 39X. There is only a single Mantle card (1956 White back) with no PSA 9 examples. Every other Topps and Bowman Mantle card had PSA 9 populations ranging from 4 (1952 Topps) to 183 (1968). All but 4 Topps and Bowman's also have PSA 10 examples, many multiple PSA 10's.

This Stahl Meyer card is a unicorn. Pop 1 highest graded and a PSA 9 of an issue where PSA 9's "shouldn't" exist. I think it is very reasonable to suggest this card should command a significantly higher multiple than any of the Topps and Bowman issues for all of the above reasons. The 2.6 million ask is at 39X (the average multiple) of the PSA 7 sale. I understand it is in an absolute sense, a lot of $$, but for the right collector, I really believe it is a relative bargain!

Howard - I can certainly understand and appreciate your reasoning.

And I hope you’re right. I’ve definitely been frequently and badly wrong in the past, and the odds are good that my streak will continue in this case as well.

Best of luck with the sale!

Good reasoning and best of luck.

Not putting this up for auction speaks volumes about the confidence in the valuation.



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Howard has said this before, and I agree with him that when it comes to obscure and unusual stuff, auctions are often not a great method to sell stuff. Basically you're getting 1 bid increment above what the underbidder is willing to pay. And even then, only for the bidders who are aware of the auction during the brief window that it's open, and who are in the market for this specific piece, and have the cash ready and available to make a move. The top bidder might have been willing to go 10x higher, but if the underbidder drops out, then the price stops right there.

Accordingly, while an auction is great for commonly found stuff with a wide and deep collecting base, when it comes to rare stuff, particularly if the number of bidders at this rarified air is thin, then a private sale is often a better option to garner the highest price.

In addition to pricing issues, there are also issues of control. As a seller, a private sale offers the utmost in control, in terms of when you sell, how much the item brings, and even who you sell to. With an auction, at least without a reserve, the seller loses control of all of those elements. You cross your fingers and hope for the best.

We can debate which method of selling is the most accurate price for determining value. As an accountant and amateur economist, there's no doubt that I love a good public auction. At the same time, the value of an item is whatever someone will pay for it, and a private sale shouldn't dictate that the price is somehow not the true value simply because it wasn't in an auction. Certainly to the buyer and to the seller in a private sale, the value determined by those parties is very real.

Naturally, we'll see what happens with this one at private sale. We know the price at which the seller has offered to let it go. I guess we'll find out at some point in the not too distant future whether there is a buyer at that price (or something reasonably close enough to tempt the seller to let it go). While I'm not that buyer, all it takes is one motivated Mantle collector who has to have the very best, with the means and desire to take it down, and who doesn't want to wait another 40 years for it to come back on the market again.

GLWSucker.