So I started a Mickey Mantle "project"......

[DJCollector1]

4-6


Snagged yet another Mickey Mantle for my display.
This time its a '68 Topps Game..... while admittedly this issue was never among most people's favorites, I didn't mind it at all.
I distinctly remember many of these when i was younger, it certainly is a "stand out" issue, unlike most any other commonly produced cards back then.




Solid eye appeal, and again its right along the lines of what I was looking for.

I have already picked up my next card, and this next one is a sparkler. !
I'll post it late this week when it comes in.

Chugging right along with this display, and truth be known I won't have room for too many more cards. Just trying to decide which I want to include at this point.

[DJCollector1]

4-15




I had been looking for a great looking '59 for a bit, and this one was actually slabbed. I soon busted it out, as I'm not putting in anything in slabs into my display.

I'm slowly moving towards the end of my project, but there is still room for a few more cards.
Looking to likely get an excellent eye-appeal '58 AS, if I can find one reasonably. After all, that is easily one of his more iconic cards.

I saw this '59 on Ebay, and it had a fair BIN price, but "OBO".
I sent him a bit of a low-ball offer, but much to my surprise it was accepted very soon thereafter.

Another strong addition, and my earliest Mantle thus far, headed to my display project.
The glare in the lower right is from the light source directly behind me.



This will undoubtedly be my most expensive card in this project, working from memory , I believe it was around $130 delivered. (Why so cheap you ask??? It was in a PSA 4 MK slab)
Some kid took a very light pen and wrote a tiny "7" on the back of the card, his jersey number. Its so slight and hard to see, if it wasn't pointed out to you, you likely wouldn't notice it was even there.
So a small "7" on the back led me to getting an absolutely beautiful '59 for what I thought was a great price.
I wanted to get one really nice vintage Mick, that looked to be in great shape to slide in to this display.....BINGO! this was it.

[DJCollector1]

5-11



Another "low end visually appealing example" for my project thats in progress.

I had been looking (and previously mentioned) wanting a '58 AS for this display. Its just such an iconic card, I knew from day 1 I would include one of these....... *IF* I could find one I liked at a good price that is.

As with all my "low end" examples I have snagged for my display, it's not without its small issues, but this is going to be a perfect addition to my project.
The coloring really popped on this one, which was the main reason I snagged it.
The centering is OK, although not perfect by any stretch, as you can see.
The corners aren't perfect, and the top to bottom centering is off some as well.
There is also a vague hint of a print line across the bottom, when you look at it closely.

Overall, I thought it looked great, and is a perfect candidate for this display, and at roughly $55 delivered, I thought it was a great acquisition.






I am nearing the end of my "display project". It has taken a little longer than I had anticipated, due to a few other non-card life issues.

There are a couple of cards left I want to get, and I will be grabbing them in short order.

[DJCollector1]

6-22


Picked up yet another card for my Mantle display I'm working on.

I've been chipping away at this for a few months. Its taken longer than expected due to a couple "life issues", but I'm just about ready to bring everything to get it "pieced together".

I'd been looking for a couple "outside - the - box" items, and not your normal run of the mill basic Mantle run cards, combined with keeping the cost down on my project.
I always liked this particular image.
Mick looks happy here, (which he did NOT always look like that) , and I also wanted something that dated itself from back in that time frame, not just another Mantle card.
One of these Post issues was right in my wheelhouse.
I also had wanted to get a horizontal card, to go alongside another horizontal card I have had in mind in my display, so this Post issue was absolutely perfect for my tastes, for a variety of reasons.

Down to needing a couple more items, then I'll be finished.

1961 POST MICKEY MANTLE -




It has one very small surface paper tear on the back, that doesn't go through....that and these Post releases don't often get very high grades..... edges, perforations etc.
I was actually shocked at how low this one graded, (SGC 30/2) for the look and presentation.

Got this for a measly $40 + shipping, so for that price and eye appeal, I couldn't resist.

[DJCollector1]

7-10


Snagged another Mick for my project.

This has always been one of my favorite cards of his. The vintage look, the "Sporting News" title and the shield across the front in which his image is placed.
Everything about this one screams classic or "vintage" baseball.

I was also looking for something that isn't bright red, and the blue is perfect.
After going through his cards, its surprising how many have red or bright red.
So in making this framed display, I was wanting some different coloring.
This blue fits the bill and is perfect for what I was looking for.

Its not in the greatest shape, but I was looking for a "well aged" look. Decent eye appeal but not necessarily "mint" and this one lines up perfectly for this project.
This card was actually in a BVG 3 holder, and I soon freed it from that slab once I got the card in.
The fact I got it for a decent price was just icing on the cake.


-1959 Mickey Mantle All Star-



Almost done...... hopefully I can get this wrapped up in a few more weeks.

[TexasDan]

I have enjoyed the updates to your collection. Hopefully, you can show pictures of the display when complete. Good luck as you finish.

[DJCollector1]

Originally Posted by TexasDan

I have enjoyed the updates to your collection. Hopefully, you can show pictures of the display when complete. Good luck as you finish.

Thanks.
I try to talk a little bit about why I get certain cards, when I pick them up.
(admittedly, these aren't my usual PC pickups, these are all basically geared towards this specific Mantle display)

But I like hearing why collectors gravitate towards certain cards.
I have written about it several times, mostly on Blowout, but I tend to go for PC cards that have an "overall good appeal", not strictly perfect centering, not only sharp corners, etc....
Give me a good overall "7", over a "4" with perfect centering any day~!

Anyhow, it interests me why collectors gravitate towards certain cards, so whenever I pick something up, I like to expand a little as to why, or what I was thinking when I picked up said card.

This "Mickey Mantle project" has taught me to appreciate lower grade cards more than before.
I wanted a way to enjoy some Mantle cards, but I didn't want my more expensive Mantle cards just laying around the house, so thats why I decided to do this project.

I'm actually ending up spending more than I thought I would, by about 20%-30%, but I am doing it like I want.
I won't say what my last "bigger $$$" purchase is going to be, but it will be the most expensive part of the project. I'm only going to design this once, so I'll do it right and get the pieces I really want, or in the shape I am looking for.
After laying out some dimensions, and comparing it to other posters and framed things I have, I am going to be able to put 2 more cards in there than I thought.
So thats leaving me with a couple more cards to get.
Finding strong eye-appeal Mantle cards isn't easy, and it certainly isn't cheap either.
Thats why its taken me a little longer to finish than I had anticipated.
Hopefully within the next couple weeks I can pick up another card or two, and I will be just about done.

Thanks again Dan, and I will definitely have a few pictures of the completed project when the time comes.

More updates coming soon to this thread.