The official Mickey Mantle Pickup Thread. All Mick, all the time!

[begsu1013]

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[irv]

Originally Posted by begsu1013

most of them were blue flipped originally.

so i had to pretty much take a gamble on a good bit of them that they would crossover as a numerical grade.
i did not want any altered cards for this project.
was happy even if they came back as 1's. some of them i scored big on.
especially on some of the bowmans, which i'll post later...

but as far as the technically graded 1s:

the 56 has paper loss.

the 53 has some transparent tape on left hand side.
hard to see, but it is there. however, was a relative steal considering overall eye appeal, red corner and centering.
all which were harsh personal standards for me on that one.

so those two are pretty much automatic 1's because of those factors.



the 59 was probably a 3, but considering the oc factor that
probably bumped it down to the 1.

and same goes w/ the 67. i think the severity of the crease
mixed w/ the oc appeal granted it the 1.



as for cards personally signed by mick, i only have one...

and i contemplated for a couple of years on whether or not to send it to get graded/entombed.

ultimately, i decided against it for several reasons...

1. i got it in person. and have heard horror stories about how people
have had items they got signed as a kid get kicked back as "non-authentic".

2. im a psa guy, they are not perfect, but i certainly didn't want to
have a black cloud of that magnitude happen not only to this collection
i was putting together but to such a memorable childhood memory as well.

3. most importantly, i didn't need psa's opinion on this one. my dad was
great about saving my cards and recently got them back. i still haven't
finish organizing them or going thru them. but i have pulled all sorts of cards
that would probably grade pretty high and carry some decent monetary value if graded.
but they never will be sent off. i keep the two collections separate and always will.

so w/o further ado, here is that signed 58 that i mowed countless yards to obtain just so i could get signed.
my dad bought the auto ticket but i had to buy whatever i wanted him to sign...it spent $50 on the 58
which was absolutely huge for me back then and even @ $50 the dealer took care of me. his name was
kit young. still in business i believe and for obvious reasons. i will never forget him.

Great story!

Thanks for sharing your info about your cards.

[Stonepony]

If a board member won the Tip Top Mantle in Huggins Scott at $24,250.... congrats and WOW!!!!!

[sflayank]

Dont believe he is a board member
Was it your card?

[CW]

Phenomenal run, Bob, and thanks for posting the side info. The great thing about a run like that (other than being a bunch of cool signed Mantle cards ) is that it takes a lot of effort and dedication to find and acquire those cards. It's a lot more than just having the financial means, and shows a real collecting spirit.

[bswhiten]

Originally Posted by Stonepony

If a board member won the Tip Top Mantle in Huggins Scott at $24,250.... congrats and WOW!!!!!

It went to the #1 Mantle psa master set collector. I didn't think it would go that high though. Wow.

[bswhiten]

What an incredible Mantle auto run. Thanks for sharing.

[orly57]

Kit Young is a great guy. He is still in business (i get his catalog). I always know I can call him and iron out a fair deal. You should reach out to him and tell him the story; i bet he will get a kick out of it.

[Cooptown]

The signed Mantle run is probably the most jaw dropping collection I have ever seen. How do you display them?

Did I miss a 1952 signed one or do you have it?

[irv]

Originally Posted by Cooptown

The signed Mantle run is probably the most jaw dropping collection I have ever seen. How do you display them?

Did I miss a 1952 signed one or do you have it?

Post #17

[bgar3]

I collect 19th century items, but love to find unusual Ashburn related items. I thought Mantle collectors kit be interested in this miscut, but matching Mantle/Ashburn cards. (Interestingly Robin Roberts was the card below)

[begsu1013]

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[JollyElm]

Whoops. Delete!!

[MattyC]

It's so hard to find a nice '65, could not resist. One of my favorite Mickeys. I am generally not a corner guy, but the gem mt corners of this card are really striking in hand.

[Stonepony]

65 one of my favorite mantle. Really hard to find the centering without any tilt

[Johnny630]

MattyC that is a amazing card!! Wow if you ever sell you're gonna get paid big bucks!

[MBMiller25]

Matt, That 65 Mantle is absolutely sick. Congrats

[MikeGarcia]

..
"Scooped up these two Mick/Berras also. Loved the focus and centering on each. Seems like this one is always blurry or OC or both."

.. Matt , your two '57 #400's are a real treat for the eyes.......besides blurry or off-center please also add : rough-cut edges, 'snow' PD on the black long sleeves/stockings, and a focus/registration that makes Yogi's eyes indistinct from his eyebrows.......

..If only someone could take just the best features of each one of these four cards,and from them create one decent card.............oh damn , hey wait a minute ....now where did I put Lemke's mailing address....


..

...

[Canofcorn]

Pretty beat up like most, but the damage somehow avoided his face!
Very happy to add this one to the collection!

[Neal]

Nice mickups fellas!

[Stonepony]

Great pickups

[MattyC]

Thanks on the 65, fellas.

MBM, we have always had very similar tastes in cards, going back many years now. Loved your Jackie Robinson pickup!

That Stahl Meyer is really exceptional. The central image is so smooth. That card and the Dan Dee have that cheery picture of The Mick. Just a pleasant portrait that always brightens the day.

Mike, it really is fun to consider how tough that Mantle/Berra is. It's really amazing how many of Mick's cards are just so hard to find without certain endemic flaws. Makes collecting them such a challenge, and thus rewarding.

I was planning on selling this one below, but after getting an hour to think it over I've decided to hold onto it. The centering and utter lack of the usual print imperfections just won me over

[Jsquared123]

Originally Posted by MattyC

It's so hard to find a nice '65, could not resist. One of my favorite Mickeys. I am generally not a corner guy, but the gem mt corners of this card are really striking in hand.

'65 is the nicest Mantle card of the 1960s IMO .. Amazing!

[savedfrommyspokes]

Noticed that the PSA 6 and 4 52 Topps Mantles that ended in the MH auction last night fell well below current trends......was it their centering, or were they missed opportunities.

[MattyC]

I believe it was due to their rather ugly centering/eye appeal.

[pokerplyr80]

I'd have to agree with Matt on this one. I believe those Mantles have followed the current trend of collectors stepping up for nice examples of 52 Mantles and passing on drastically off center cards. For many, including myself, a 52 Mantle is a huge purchase and the center piece of a collection. Might as well get one that actually looks good for the grade.

[savedfrommyspokes]

Centering was my first thought as to why those cards did not sell at the trend prices....a decently centered PSA 3 (old flip, compares closer to a current 2 - 2.5 due to heavy crease) sold last evening on ebay for $23,500.

I think every collector has their peeves, based on the prices, centering is a greater concern than a heavy crease.

For lower grade cards , I do find centered cards with fairly intact corners but possessing light creasing/surface wear much more appealing than a card that is o/c, w/rounded corners, has staining and/or has heavy creasing.

[gregr2]

Picked up from a board member, thanks Chris!!
DSCN1586.jpg

[irv]

Originally Posted by MikeGarcia

..
"Scooped up these two Mick/Berras also. Loved the focus and centering on each. Seems like this one is always blurry or OC or both."


...

Love that card!

Great P/U's!

[EFrey76]

Picked this up off of ebay:



I paid $499, which is more than I have dropped on any one card before, but I have always wanted to collect Mantles and recently decided to start (great time for me to get in, huh? LOL)

Ideally, I was looking for a PSA 4 or better, but this one seemed pretty fairly priced considering it looks pretty nice to me for a 3 (looks better than a lot of 4's I've seen, which are currently selling for almost double what I got this for.

Did I do ok or did I way overpay?

[Stonepony]

There's no such thing as overpaying for a nice eye appeal Mantle in any grade. Nice card and congrats!

[Stonepony]

FINALLY found the 1969 Mick that i've been searching for to fill one of the few slots left in my high grade regular issue Mantle run. MattyC I'm ready for your 54 Bowman.
1969 mantle 4.jpg

[MattyC]

Wow that is a GORGEOUS 8! Major props. Hands down, that card is better than a 9 I recently saw. Beautiful.

Help me find a 54B in 8 with the same centering as my 7 and you got first dibs on my 7, brother!

[MattyC]

Originally Posted by Stonepony

There's no such thing as overpaying for a nice eye appeal Mantle in any grade.

We should put that on a line of mugs and T-shirts !

[brian1961]

Originally Posted by MattyC

We should put that on a line of mugs and T-shirts !

Here, here. Well said.

Dave, your '69 Topps Mantle is nothing short of stunning. I love the rich colors and crisp picture registry, to go along with that 1 in a 100 perfect centering.

You know something, the version with his last name in white might be much rarer, but his last name looks so good in yellow, the way they were all designed to be!

Dave, thanks for sharing your joyous acquisition with us. ---Brian Powell

[pokerplyr80]

This one just arrived today.

[Stonepony]

Great card! I'm a fan of the 52B

[pokerplyr80]

Thanks I'm a fan as well. An under rated and under appreciated Mantle in my opinion. Awesome 69, and that 65 is unreal. A lot of nice pickups lately.

To answer efrey's question, VCP AVG for a psa 3 53 Mantle is 430, and the highest sale is 577. You paid about the going rate for an above average psa 3. I'd say you did fine.

[MattyC]

Congrats on the 52B! Very slept on card. Very beautiful card, too. They just don't make'em like that anymore.

I am generally the farthest thing from an auto guy but this piece had such charm I had to pull the trigger. The kid's writing on the back is just such a happy reminder of what it's all about. Reminds me of keeping street ball and whiffle ball stats in a pad, or waking up and first thing checking box scores.

[pokerplyr80]

Thanks Matt, nice signed Mantle. I've been looking for one to add as well. I never know what to bid on one though.

[DeanH3]

Sweet '52 Jesse. Nice pick up.

Matt - nice auto'd Mick!

Man, I sure wish I had kept at least one of my signed Mantles. Had Mr. Mantle sign 3 cards, '60, '64 and a '69, at a show back in the late 80's. Sold them to fund other purchase but I sure regret it now.

[Neal]

Originally Posted by DeanH3

Sweet '52 Jesse. Nice pick up.

Matt - nice auto'd Mick!

Man, I sure wish I had kept at least one of my signed Mantles. Had Mr. Mantle sign 3 cards, '60, '64 and a '69, at a show back in the late 80's. Sold them to fund other purchase but I sure regret it now.

part of the fun of collecting is letting go of some stuff to get certain stuff back ... at least for me

[pawpawdiv9]

Originally Posted by savedfrommyspokes

Centering was my first thought as to why those cards did not sell at the trend prices....a decently centered PSA 3 (old flip, compares closer to a current 2 - 2.5 due to heavy crease) sold last evening on ebay for $23,500.

I think every collector has their peeves, based on the prices, centering is a greater concern than a heavy crease.

For lower grade cards , I do find centered cards with fairly intact corners but possessing light creasing/surface wear much more appealing than a card that is o/c, w/rounded corners, has staining and/or has heavy creasing.

I missed seeing that one, maybe someone can find the link to it, as I cant find it.
BTW...did you guys see the listing on Ebay for 3 1952 Mantle rookies!!!!
for 120k
http://www.ebay.com/itm/3-1952-Topps...p2047675.l2557
PSA 5, PSA 7oc, and BVG 5.5
I only saw it, bc my g-parents live near by this town.

[savedfrommyspokes]

Originally Posted by pawpawdiv9

I missed seeing that one, maybe someone can find the link to it, as I cant find it.
BTW...did you guys see the listing on Ebay for 3 1952 Mantle rookies!!!!
for 120k
http://www.ebay.com/itm/3-1952-Topps...p2047675.l2557
PSA 5, PSA 7oc, and BVG 5.5
I only saw it, bc my g-parents live near by this town.

Below is the link for the 52 Topps 311 PSA 3 that sold (originally) for $23.5K on Aug 18 on ebay via BO....the day after it sold, the price that was in the system was $23.5k (I checked the price on the 19th the same way as I did today). Today, I checked the sell price again and it is now showing this card sold for $19230 via BO.....I would have to believe the $23.5k price is much closer to the correct price.

The only reason that I can think that caused the price to change from $23.5k to $19230 is that for some unknown reason the seller provided a $4k+ refund to the buyer at some point since Aug 19th. Possibly some sort of case opened through ebay and the seller offered a partial refund to resolve the concern and complete the transaction and this refund caused the change in price this card sold for? The card appears to be in a old holder. Possibly the card was regarded as a 2.5 and the seller agreed to reimburse the buyer if the grade was lower. The buyer did provide a glowing positive feedback on the transaction though.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1952-Topps-M...UAAOSw9VZXO8Rq

[AustinMike]

As always, some very nice Micks. Here are three cards I picked up in the last week or two. The '57 isn't centered all that nicely, but the price was right. They also are more in focus in hand than these scanned images show.

[Stonepony]

Surely someone won one of the gorgeous Micks PWCC had up this week? Let's see em

[tjenkins]

My most recent Mantle acquisition. I always wanted this card and finally pulled the trigger thanks to "KC Doughboy."

'61 Mantle All Star GMA 4

[Bestdj777]

Originally Posted by tjenkins

My most recent Mantle acquisition. I always wanted this card and finally pulled the trigger thanks to "KC Doughboy."

'61 Mantle All Star PSA 4

That's not a PSA 4...

[tjenkins]

Originally Posted by Bestdj777

That's not a PSA 4...

You are correct. Force of habit. I don't know much about GMA but look forward to getting the card.

[Bestdj777]

Originally Posted by tjenkins

You are correct. Force of habit. I don't know much about GMA but look forward to getting the card.

Fair enough In my opinion, it is one of the most aesthetically pleasing Topps cards, second only to maybe the 52. It's such a creative design.