To each his own . . .
 

but seriously. . . .for a sheet of 99 stickers...???


https://auction.lelands.com/bids/bidplace?itemid=125353

Good Lord.

Sweet Mother!!!!

$2500.00 per signature. What a deal :eek:

To each his own . . .
 

Think of all of the 99 newly autographed items this will create.

Can't wait to see these in Topps Products (/s)

To each his own . . .
 

The “These Pens Suck” inscription will be the chase card.

Truly the dumbest price realized I have seen in the longest time.

I don't think they're stickers. It says that it's on cardstock that has been perforated around each signature. (Although they're all still connected.)

YMMV of course, but I like it. There's a kind of absurdity to it (especially with the "these pens suck" comment) that I like. I'd put it in a different frame (probably just plain black), but I can see some super rich dude putting this on his wall next to a Warhol and a Lichtenstein.

Individually, it's a whole bunch of cut signatures.

Together, it's a very unique piece with an interesting backstory behind it.

The autograph sheet was a gift from Mantle to our consignor during his time signing for Sports Impressions, a statue company that produced MLB, NBA, and NFL-licensed products in the 1980s-90s.

Is that the interesting back story? He signed it for a guy who ran a business selling sports statues with little signatures on them? And I guess he had an extra sheet?

No offense, but would have to be a whole lot more interesting than that.

If broken down into the 99 individual pieces can they only be graded as authentic altered because they were only sold as a sheet? :rolleyes:

If buyer does this and doesn’t disclose it will he be thrown in prison? Beheaded?

:D

If we were in the Philippines perhaps so. But Duterte is out now, I don't know if they're still doing that sort of thing.

I believe the interesting part is that this company possibly provided Mantle with a pen that he deemed inadequate for the job.

What type of licensed major sports statue company would do such a thing? Imagine the internal turmoil raging within Mickey as a result of such thoughtlessness!


Brian

I mean, some people out there have to view this as an art/investment piece that is unique.

A legit Mantle autograph for a cut signature is a few hundred bucks on a good day and bidding went from $90K to $206K (before BP). It was already a nearly 1K-per-auto piece before the bidding escalated.

This got bid up from 90K to 206K in the last day of bidding. That's nearly a 1K floor as a starting point before things got a bit crazy. A fair assumption of the value of the autos by themselves was blown through over 2 weeks before the last day bidding rush.

I certainly agree that it is unique one of a kind piece.

Maybe Billy Crystal bought it.

I agree with this comment.

When viewed and displayed in its entirety, it’s basically pop art.

If I had that kind of cash, I would definitely pay a premium for that item as opposed to 99 individual mantle pieces.

I sort of like it as a commentary on our very hobby…especially as it comes to postwar collecting. We all cherish our ‘special’ collectibles….cards, autographs, etc. But viewing a piece that literally shows 99 mickey mantle autographs side by side, gives you perspective of the post war ‘card show’ reality, that many of the things we collect since the 50’s were basically mass produced. Even autographs. It gives a unique perspective and makes me think…like all good art does.

This was my first thought.

My second thought was, if this was sent in to one of the esteemed autograph authenticating services, e.g., PSA, how many would come back as not authentic?:rolleyes:

hahahaha, all but the one about the sucky pen. ROFL!!!!!

I thought it was way up there at the opening bid of $10K. Goes to show how much I understand about this hobby.

The "these pens suck" panel is pretty funny. I wonder how much it would have sold for if the Mick wrote something "more colorful" like "f*c! these pens" or something like that.

What a hoot !!!!! :eek::eek::eek::eek::eek:

I'd love to see it displayed at the Met. Looks cool and just the right amount of whimsy.

.

this was available on FB for $100k obo for awhile with little serious interest. this is a shocking result

I don't want to be a conspiracy theorist here, but are we sure that word is "pens"?? Sure looks a lot like “pene,” which I believe is the Spanish word for “penis.”

Could be something to this. Just saying. :confused:

Naturally, I had the same reaction, except I was reading it as Italian.

The autographs before the "pens suck" inscription look like they were writing just fine. :confused:

To bring this down to the junior high locker room shower level that some reside in, maybe Mickey was commiserating when comparing his to Arnold Palmer's.


Brian

The buyer almost surely will keep it intact.

I can't imagine those individual autographs going for an average of $2500 each. So, it has to stay together. Right?

I was into it for that same reason; it struck me as a piece of pop art that would fit in with others in my art collection. The signatures all together like that create a visual experience/piece that is more than the mere sum of the parts. To assume everyone looks at it "per signature" is myopic and reductive. There was the visual beauty of his stylish signature, like a graffiti tag, repeated over and over— and then there was the dimension of the commentary on the hobby, the commodification of the signature intended to be broken up and put in pieces for sale. It was a cool lot and I hope whoever won it displays it like a Warhol.

And someone is correct above; they are not stickers. They are rather thick white cardboard, and were slid into little display windows beneath very good quality statues of Mantle— one of which I am looking at right now. Perhaps there were other items as well but the statues are great quality, heavy, porcelain, very realistic.

There has been "dumber" items sold...but this has to be close to the top