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

[bnorth]

Originally Posted by DJCollector1

There are usually a few signed index cards floating around on Ebay at any given time to choose from.
Some have little "headshot" pictures, some are personalized, are "signed cut" scraps, are multi signed or various other little attributes. (Plus, although I will soon snag an autographed baseball card for my PC, I wanted an older style plain index card for this...... NOT a signed baseball card)
Its hard to tell from my poor cell phone picture, but this is an older example. I'm going to assume its from the late 70's or early 80s, judging from the index card and the toning. (Plus its in pen, and I wanted that over a pencil or Sharpie)
This one was close to what I was expecting in price too.

I'm not really sure if you watch the examples that come up for sale, but a couple months ago there was a VERY OLD Mantle signed slip of paper that came up. It was one of those with the very large "older style Mantle signed cursive M's", and you don't see the very old ones like that come up often. I figured it was from the 1950's.......
I really wanted to snag that one, but there was some absurd price on it, like $1,500 or something crazy. (Hell it may have even been in pencil too, I can't remember after looking at so many of these for months and months)


Looking back, I wish I'd have gotten 1-2 different cards. I really wanted to include a '55 Bowman, but it just didn't work out. (Plus I wanted to keep it on a semblance of a budget)
I might look over this stuff again and lay it all out, and if I'm not happy with it, who knows......... might just pick up a '55 Bowman yet.

It is cool to see how peoples auto evolve over time. The early 50s one is my favorite Mantle.

Pick up the 55 Bowman, it is one of his nicest looking cards IMO.

[DJCollector1]

So, in my project that has evolved slightly........ I added another pickup in the last few days.
I have been "tinkering" with how I am going to frame this thing, and its "changed sizes" a couple of times, leading to another card or two to include.


I nabbed this '58 Batting Foes Mantle/Aaron this week.
The cell pics don't do it justice, it has excellent image clarity, which is tough for this issue. Snow is almost always a problem.
The centering isn't great, but better image quality on this one was more important to me.







I have room for one more horizontal card, and some of you may have noticed in the BST I am looking for a '55 Bowman.


Hopefully I can find one soon that fits the bill.
This has pretty much come together, and I should be done after one more pick up.......... FINALLY~!

[DJCollector1]

Just got in my last grab for this project, which took longer than anticipated.

Didn't detract from the fun though.



I liked the centering of this '55 Bowman , but it obviously has its faults. (the glare on the right side is just lighting)
There is a slight wrinkle near the bottom that doesn't detract from the card too terribly..... and of course you have the chipping which damn near every '55 Bowman has, at least in varying amounts anyway.

Not the highest grading type, but it fit my bill of the "well worn but respectable appeal" variety.

It was damn tough to find a decent looking '55 Bowman under $200. The vast majority have MAJOR ISSUES but I was really happy with this one.

Now I'm dropping everything off at my local frame shop in a day or two, and it will be good to finally get this thing done and framed so I can enjoy it.

This has been a great "diversion" from all the gloom and doom trimming issues, and more recently the Corona virus and stock market ridiculousness going on.

[Mark70Z]

Very much looking forward to seeing the finished product...

[DJCollector1]

Originally Posted by Mark70Z

Very much looking forward to seeing the finished product...

Thanks........ it's being worked on as we speak.
I dropped it off yesterday, I'm hoping to have it back in hand late next week.

[mr2686]

Looking forward to seeing this great project all framed and matted.

[DJCollector1]

Originally Posted by mr2686

Looking forward to seeing this great project all framed and matted.

Thank you sir~! (and thanks to everyone that has commented along the way)



It's been fun, and a great "getaway" from my usual "snag it , then lock it away" routine.

I slipped by the frame shop earlier this morning, to go over a few specific last minute design possibilities.

I should have it in hand in about 10-12 days he said.