[brian1961]

Let's cut to the chase; I will present to you my wife's test of a lifetime for me.

It was the winter of 1988, late January to be exact. My wife and I were evangelical missionaries to the Lakota Sioux Indians, living in Rapid City, South Dakota. Our work kept us pretty busy, but I needed a safety valve outlet to relax with, and so I chose collecting vintage baseball cards. At this point in time, I was concentrating on Mickey Mantle, collecting cards of him that had eluded me in the 1970s, when I was involved in what proved to be the ground floor of the burgeoning adult card collecting hobby. I was praying fervently for Mickey's anguished soul, after reading how much his father's early death had affected him so terribly. You see, I had lost my Dad when I was but 13. It's never a good time, as some of you know .....

I had been getting Sports Collectors Digest for a few years, and it was always a treat when it came. So, on this crisp, cold Saturday morn, the SCD arrived, and I took the issue downstairs to be alone with it. Back then, an SCD was about 240 pages chock full of good stories and ads. I marked a few pages, but was saving Mr. Mint Alan Rosen's 2nd. phone auction for last. The Mint Man always had the finest, choicest, and simply the most desirable cards on planet Earth. I had never dealt with him, but his weekly full-page ad(s) made it succinctly clear who was at the center of the hobby playing field.

Finishing the rest of the issue, I directed my attention to Mr. Mint's auction. He was using ground-breaking technology for the time: with each item, he included a postage stamp-sized (that's being generous) black 'n white photo of it. His lead-off, marquee items bore no such tinzy-weezie pix. He led off with a T-206 Honus Wagner, followed by the big 3 of the 1951 Topps Current All-Stars: Konstanty, Stanky, and Roberts. Wow.

Upon turning the page to see the other items, I audibly gasped and drew the magazine six inches closer to my face. I could scarcely believe what I was seeing----a 1953 Stahl-Meyer Franks Mickey Mantle! Moreover, Alan Rosen classified the rare gem to be in MINT CONDITION!

Really guys and gals, this will require a long time to convey. So, cutting to the chase of this virtually impossible chase card, I talked the situation over with my beloved wife, Esther. I told her in basic terms how much I wanted this card, that I never, ever thought I would see one this nice available, and I would use some funds I had remaining from the lawsuit over the wrongful death of my dear dad. This was in the days when a wrongful death lawsuit was much smaller than it is now.

Understand, my wife and I only earned $650 a month, plus rent-free housing. In essence, I had no business buying such an exotic, likely expensive card. Seven years earlier, I purchased Beckett 3 because it had several type card color sections, amongst which were small photos of the 1953 and 1954 Stahl-Meyer Franks Mickey Mantle. Ninety percent of the reason I bought that guide was to get the tiny photos of the Stahl-Meyer Mantles, figuring I'd never get to own one. Well, her response surprised me and moved me deeply---she encouraged me wholeheartedly to pursue the card! Her tender understanding and blessing is something I will treasure forever.

By the grace of God, I won it, for $2,200. It was by far the most money I had spent on one card. When I received it via UPS, I took the large, thinly-padded envelope downstairs to my office. I could hardly wait to see it, sure. BUT, I had to look at it closely to see if The Mint Man knew what he was talking about, condition-wise. It DID look good, and as I turned it over, and looked and scrutinized all around it, I tried my best to detect anything that would say to me it wasn't mint. Finally, my body relaxed and I began to smile as big as I could. It was mint, all right! Thrill of a hobby lifetime.

About 2002, I knew I needed to get the card PSA-graded. I went to the Chicago National. Long to short, when I got it back in the mail from PSA, and unwrapped the result, the great card umpire had given it a MINT 9. I was bawling all the way upstairs to show my wife, who was so happy for me.

As I researched my book, NEVER CHEAPER BY THE DOZEN, about the immediate post-war regional / food issues, I devoted chapter 13 to the promotion from whence it came, and the provenance of this particular card, of which I gave it the name: "The Maltese Falcon of Baseball Cards".

For those of you a bit curious what a graded-Mint Stahl-Meyer Mantle looks like, someone loaded up the specially-staged photo from my book. Google Stahl Meyer Franks Mickey Mantle images, and when I just did now, it appears on the fourth row. Look for the Maltese Falcon movie statue replica in the photo--that's it. The image will take you to a PSA forum thread I initiated to get advice on how to encourage them to raise their long-antiquated value in their price guide. I got no help from the forum members, but after I posted the photo, well, their language took a more respectful tone.... Back to the OP, without the tender love and encouragement my wife gave me, I might not have been able to fight for it as I did.

Therefore, to be sure, my darling wife passed the most crucial test I ever gave her! Thanks for listening. --- Brian Powell