1966 Mantle, green #50

[ALR-bishop]

Vey nostalgic to see a thread started by Bob on one of the many hobby mysteries he used to explore.

Would be great to know more about these cards and their origin. I think 1967 was the last year for Topps Salesman Sample 3 card strips. I have several including one for 1966. While in some years there was an ad on the back of two cards and a regular back on the third card, the back and front did not usually match the same player. But in 1966 the 3 card panel I have has no regular back card. The 3d card is a second ad for the Rub Off inserts for that year. So no green number.

[swarmee]

PSA has no record of a 1966 Salesman's Sample graded with Mantle on it. They only have "Howie Koplitz/Jim Lonborg/Luis Aparicio", "Don Mossi/Jim Fregosi/Sandy Koufax", and the guy selling a bunch on eBay only has 30 copies of "Pepitone/Niekro/Wagner".

I'm still leaning towards reprint rather than printing anomaly. Why would only the Mantle have a card number in green?

[goheels]

I am with Al. So good to see Bob's name in print again. What a great man.

I am betting this is a reprint but it is fascinating. Are there printing experts out there that could tell if this is a reprint or not? Print dots, marks, etc?

[savedfrommyspokes]

Originally Posted by goheels

I am with Al. So good to see Bob's name in print again. What a great man.

I am betting this is a reprint but it is fascinating. Are there printing experts out there that could tell if this is a reprint or not? Print dots, marks, etc?

+1 on Bob.....couple thoughts on this card: 1)if this card is legit, more than likely there should be other 66s with green numbers on the back also, at least from the same series. 2) Neither of the example cards are centered, so I am thinking they may not be reprints, but were they altered in some way(as previously mentioned stained w/a chemical, etc)?