New to the hobby 1961 Topps Dice cards Mantle Highest Graded!

[whiteymet]

Gentlemen:

Thought you all would be interested in seeing new to the hobby 1961 ( though they are actually from 1963) Topps Dice Cards. Not back from PSA yet, just graded yesterday. See:

https://www.psacard.com/psasetregist...timeset/549026

Included is only the third Mantle graded and this is the highest!

All four will be finding new homes soon. Not sure yet how to proceed, but needless to say it will be fun!

Cheers,

Fred McKie

[STL1944]

That is a good looking PSA 2.5! Congratulations!

[toppcat]

Fred, would love to hear the back story on these!

[whiteymet]

Here are the photos of the Dice Cards

[Eric72]

Tremendous looking cards. Thank you for sharing.

[mantlefan]

Wowie! Congrats Fred.

[ALR-bishop]

Tuff Stuff

[71buc]

Incredible! Congratulations

[Gorditadogg]

Mick was a sucker for the change up, apparently.

Sent from my SM-S906U using Tapatalk

[Lucas00]

Insane find. Some may say once in a lifetime cards to own.

[raulus]

Have fun selling them!

I suspect that player collectors are going to be your best bet, or at least who will be willing to pay the most. Obviously the Mantle collectors out there have been willing to pay some crazy high prices to get the other examples of this card, which are lower graded due to having pin holes.

If I didn’t already have my Mays dice game, then I would be pretty motivated to pick yours up.

Good luck!

[JustinD]

Add me to the list on wanting to hear this story too!

Great find.

[brian1961]

Good afternoon, Fred. Do please take the time to favor us with an anecdote detailing the provenance of these "New to the hobby 1961 Topps Dice cards Mantle Highest Graded!" I realize doing so can be laborious and time-consuming, but as someone who got on these boards earlier this year and wrote out this kind of anecdote, you might find it invigorating, as I did. You may not get much feedback, and I did not either, but I think your story WILL garner a lot of attention. Occasionally, when you knock yourself out and elucidate an enchanting story, the resulting silence is deafening with whispers.......

Should you decide not to bother with us, do take the time to write it up for the auction house you decide to work with. Good stories sell cards....... Brian Powell

[brad31]

Wow these are beauties. Thanks for sharing.

[Zach Wheat]

beautiful cards!

[raulus]

Originally Posted by brian1961

Good afternoon, Fred. Do please take the time to favor us with an anecdote detailing the provenance of these "New to the hobby 1961 Topps Dice cards Mantle Highest Graded!" I realize doing so can be laborious and time-consuming, but as someone who got on these boards earlier this year and wrote out this kind of anecdote, you might find it invigorating, as I did. You may not get much feedback, and I did not either, but I think your story WILL garner a lot of attention. Occasionally, when you knock yourself out and elucidate an enchanting story, the resulting silence is deafening with whispers.......

Should you decide not to bother with us, do take the time to write it up for the auction house you decide to work with. Good stories sell cards....... Brian Powell

Seems like Fred is too busy marketing them to share the backstory here. Either that or he's decided that the mystery adds to the aura, kind of like how the Noodle Incident is never explained in Calvin & Hobbes, so our imaginations are left to run wild at the possibilities.

[ALR-bishop]

I am betting the story shows up in the near future but in a broader venue

[whiteymet]

Originally Posted by ALR-bishop

I am betting the story shows up in the near future but in a broader venue

Hi Guys:

Al has some inside info!

I had expected an article about these that would have answered the questions posed here to be published in Rich Mueller's Sports Collectors Daily today.

Guess it will be out in a few days.

Short version of the story. These were found last year in a pencil case where it has been sitting in a drawer in a family home in Brooklyn for 60 or so years!

A son, now living in South Carolina returned to Brooklyn to clean out his family residence last year. Mom threw out other cards over the years and he said the only reason these survived was because they were in the pencil case. He says they were his brothers cards and most likely an older neighbor kid gave them to him.

They were listed online and he was inundated by offers/info etc.

After six months of talking/negotiating we recently closed the deal

[brian1961]

Thanks, Fred. You've presented us with a very interesting story. Wow. Most of all, congratulations upon getting this suite of sweet Topps Dice Game cards. I am so happy for you.

In my humble opinion, the Dice Game Mantle had best be shown by your chosen auction house during this year's National, and auctioned shortly after. Furthermore, the Dice Mantle had better grace the cover of the auction house catalog.

If I may be so bold to suggest, and this might be a bit uncomfortable for you---offer the auction house your presence at the National to answer questions, and offer opinions. The actual future bidders would (I.E. SHOULD) appreciate meeting and chatting with you.......

--- Brian Powell

[stlcardsfan]

Awesome story and find. Congrats. I am shaking my head at PSA labeling these 1961 after it has clearly been shown they are from 1963.

[whiteymet]

Hi Gang:

Here is the article I mentioned above I was expecting to be published regarding the Dice Cards find.

https://www.sportscollectorsdaily.co...st-cards-find/

[ALR-bishop]

Great article Fred.

The amazing thing to me is that the guy who had them on ebay did not end up giving them up for $ 4.99 before being advised what he had. Must still be some honest folks out there. A long and argumentative thread on 54 about selling and buying ethics could have arisen if they had sold for $ 4.99

[Republicaninmass]

Originally Posted by ALR-bishop

Great article Fred.

The amazing thing to me is that the guy who had them on ebay did not end up giving them up for $ 4.99 before being advised what he had. Must still be some honest folks out there. A long and argumentative thread on 54 about selling and buying ethics could have arisen if they had sold for $ 4.99

Doubtful. As I assume there was a mad rush to get him to end them early for far less than their value and bet nobody said theyd refer him to an auction house

[jayshum]

Fred, congratulations on getting everything worked out for this pickup. Hopefully selling them won't be as challenging.

[bswhiten]

Very cool Fred! I too am glad the seller made a bit more than $20 on the cards!

[whiteymet]

Originally Posted by bswhiten

Very cool Fred! I too am glad the seller made a bit more than $20 on the cards!

Ben:

They were listed for $4.99 for ALL four cars! Not each.

Yes, the seller ended up with QUITE A BIT more than $20!! TONS more.

[pawpawdiv9]

Love to hear where & when these be sold. As someone mentioned, around the Nat'l seems the way to go.

[Lorewalker]

Originally Posted by Republicaninmass

Doubtful. As I assume there was a mad rush to get him to end them early for far less than their value and bet nobody said theyd refer him to an auction house

Probably closer to the truth.

[cannonballsun]

Congratulations, Fred, on an amazing pick-up.
Plus it is also a great story.
I knew those cards were extremely rare, but I truly didn't know how valuable they are, especially the Mantle.
Once again, congratulations.

[raulus]

Originally Posted by pawpawdiv9

Love to hear where & when these be sold. As someone mentioned, around the Nat'l seems the way to go.

Far be it from me to speak for Fred, but I understand he is marketing them now as private sales. So if you want in, I wouldn’t wait to contact Fred.

[mrreality68]

Nice looking cards and nice set of cards

[whiteymet]

Originally Posted by raulus

Far be it from me to speak for Fred, but I understand he is marketing them now as private sales. So if you want in, I wouldn’t wait to contact Fred.

Thanks all for your comments.

Yeah these were a SUPER pick up. A great experience.

I want to say PSA was a huge help in getting the cards graded and getting the cards to them and back. Shout out to Kevin and Nat

FYI all four cards have found a new home

[raulus]

Originally Posted by whiteymet

Thanks all for your comments.

Yeah these were a SUPER pick up. A great experience.

I want to say PSA was a huge help in getting the cards graded and getting the cards to them and back. Shout out to Kevin and Nat

FYI all four cards have found a new home

Congrats to the new owner(s), and welcome to the club!

It's obviously not the same as being a T206 Wagner owner, but since they are even rarer and come up for sale less often, in some ways it's even more exclusive. At the risk of being excessively self serving, hopefully it stays that way for the next few decades until I decide I'm ready to sell mine.

[raulus]

Noticed that there's a writeup on the find in the April 2023 PSA Magazine.

Pages 25-26, here:

https://issuu.com/psamagazine.com/do...gazine_rgb_300

The article suggests that there are 3 copies of each card in existence, for 54 cards total, with one of the sets being in uncut sheet form. Although I wouldn't be surprised if the original uncut sheet has been cut up by now.

To my knowledge, there are 3 of the Mays in PSA holders, and at least one in a SGC holder. Unless someone crossed one of them over, that would make at least 4.

[ALBB]

Wow,
what a story ..what a find !

[sflayank]

that story is all wrong.
6 sets were printed...i believe on a 9x12 sheet of 108 cards
2 uncut sets.....one was hand cut the other is believed to still be intact
the 4 factory cut sets...1 was put into topps files...and each one has the staple holes at top
the other 3 sets are out there somewhere..as evidenced by the 3 willie mays cards graded..the staple hole mays and hand cut mays are not in those 3
i could be wrong but the psa story of only 3 sets made is obviously wrong

[ALR-bishop]

Thanks for info Larry

[raulus]

Originally Posted by sflayank

that story is all wrong.
6 sets were printed...i believe on a 9x12 sheet of 108 cards
2 uncut sets.....one was hand cut the other is believed to still be intact
the 4 factory cut sets...1 was put into topps files...and each one has the staple holes at top
the other 3 sets are out there somewhere..as evidenced by the 3 willie mays cards graded..the staple hole mays and hand cut mays are not in those 3
i could be wrong but the psa story of only 3 sets made is obviously wrong

Makes a lot more sense based on the pop counts and the pieces that we see coming to market once in a blue moon.

[whiteymet]

Just to be clear, I did not give the writer of the article the info about how many sets of Dice cards there were. That must have come from his own research or lack of same.

There are three Mantles graded by PSA and I know of one that is ungraded as well. Not counting the assumed still uncut sheet. So three sets is obviously not a correct count.

The original article about the find on Sports Collectors Daily misquoted or misunderstood me about the ebay listing. The FOUR cards were listed as a group at a starting price of $4.99. Not EACH.

The writer of the PSA article must have picked this up from the Sports Collectors Daily article.

Just setting the record straight......