1952 Topps Mantle; Worth It In Any Condition?

[Beatles Guy]

It is well centered though

[Beatles Guy]

I think baby boomers drive the market on this card. Once that generation starts to pass away, you will not have anyone who actually collected in that era or watched Mantle play. Therefore I think the demand will slow.

As a Gen-Xer, I love the card, it's been iconic since I started collecting in the 70's. However, if I had the disposable income to purchase one, I think I'd pass unless the deal was so good that I could flip it for a decent profit.

[Bocabirdman]

Originally Posted by Beatles Guy

I think baby boomers drive the market on this card. Once that generation starts to pass away, you will not have anyone who actually collected in that era or watched Mantle play. Therefore I think the demand will slow.

As a Gen-Xer, I love the card, it's been iconic since I started collecting in the 70's. However, if I had the disposable income to purchase one, I think I'd pass unless the deal was so good that I could flip it for a decent profit.

Nobody alive has seen Ty Cobb play or Wagner or ...well you get the idea. Their prices are holding up just fine...........

[Beatles Guy]

Originally Posted by Bocabirdman

Nobody alive has seen Ty Cobb play or Wagner or ...well you get the idea. Their prices are holding up just fine...........

I see your point. I would venture to say that there are a lot more '52 Mantle's out there than Cobb and Wagner.

[HappyJack41]

I'll just say this, I can think of A LOT better items to spend nearly $4,000 on than that faded piece of worn out, destroyed, scrap garbage

To answer your question, I don't see how the trend CAN'T continue......there's obviously no shortage of really, really "intelligent" people out there with too much money in their hands that are willing to pay $4,000 for scrap examples such as this when the card is actually so common and plentiful. Well over 2,000 examples......and that's just the graded ones! Haha. Doesn't even include all the raw specimens out there (probably actually closer to 3,000). It would be like the Griffey Jr. UD rookie fetching $100,000 20 years from now. I know seems so silly.....that's what everybody first thought in the early to mid 80's when the Mantle prices first started getting stupid.

[Exhibitman]

That's exactly my point, Roy. With thousands of these cards out there, no issue of scarcity exists, just demand.

[pawpawdiv9]

I had actually placed a early bid, and sat and watched it climb. I talked it over with another board guy (Bestdj777) who shared interest in almost anything Mantle. We thought near 2500 max, maybe near 3k tops would win this one. The image is still there and centered was a plus. Like i mentioned somewhere, it must been a few guys on a registry that needed one. Its the 'white whale' guys, i remember when i snagged mine, and how joyous i was when i got it. Some guys do it for the money, some do it for love of cardboard,

[HRBAKER]

I get the allure of the card but not that one.
I wouldn't be interested @ 10% of what it brought xc for the opportunity to sell it at a profit perhaps. That's hideous but beauty is in the eye of the beholder.