1956 mantle purchase. Now ?

[DJCollector1]

Originally Posted by JollyElm

People keep talking about the coming 'baseball card market correction,' but there's never been a Mantle market correction. His cards always keep going up, up, up in price (sure, some contrarian will bring up certain exceptions, but I'm talking overall Mantle pricing). Think back only a year or two (hell, even just two MONTHS ago) to the 'crazy' prices people were charging for their Mantles on eBay. Today, every single one of us would immediately jump at those prices and hit 'Buy It Now,' because his values have soared into the ionosphere. Just some of the high prices that various Mantles have sold for recently in the B/S/T here had me shocked. Yowza!!

I'm not suggesting you do anything stupid and completely overpay for the '56 you have your eye on, but I just don't see his prices coming down either. The Mantle elevator only goes one way...up. My two cents.

Agree with this 100%. One of the more serious "Mantle collectors" (Matty) on this board mentioned something a year or so ago, and its even more true now.
He said something along the lines of "Mantle is as about as blue chip as one can get. Almost every time you sell any high eye appeal Mantle, you almost always regret it down the road, since to "get it back" you have to pay a premium, and they virtually never go down.

True, some of the naysayers will point to specific cards or the overall market declining a bit..... but the simple fact is Mickey Mantle transcends the market. There are a handful of others that are similar, and a good modern day example is Trout. (Babe Ruth is another example, but I think the big surge the last year or so really put his prices where they should have been all along)

I bought a very strong centered/high eye appeal '57 Mick for $400 like 3 years ago. I just sold it recently on the BST for $2100 , and I likely could have gotten more had I waited or tried to negotiate a better offer.

I really hated to do it, but some life problems left me with no choice other than to move some of my bigger cards. I sold 3 Mantle cards, the '57, a '66 and a BVG 5 '64. ALL THREE had exceptional eye appeal for the grades, and they brought premiums accordingly.

To all the guys who bought any from me (and I sold a few higher end Clementes as well) I hope you enjoy the cards as much as I did. I hated to let them go, but it is what it is. Cards will always be there, but "life problems" unfortunately take precedence on occasion.
Now its time to start rebuilding my small collection, and the Mantle cards are the ones I will have the most trouble replacing.... for 2 reasons.

A - The Mantle collectors are a fierce bunch, and any and all "high eye appeal" Mantle's are snapped up in short order on places like Ebay etc. Even the low grade, but centered high eye appeal bring very strong prices. So just "opting for a nice PSA 4-5" isn't enough, you can still expect to pay a premium unless you truly find a diamond in the rough or get lucky.

B- The prices are just unreal. I was out of cards for many years, and the amounts Mantle alone bring have skyrocketed even in that short time frame of the last 5 years or so.

Sell any visually strong Mantle at your own peril. You will almost certainly regret it down the road..... and replacing them is a real bitch.