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

[DJCollector1]

Soooooooooo..... years later, I'm wondering about this project of mine.

Due to some health issues and other life problems, I am debating on selling this piece.
The only major change is I replaced the '55 Bowman Mantle with a '63 Jell-O Mantle instead.
The Bowman just never looked quite right in this, which I guess was mainly because of the chipping on the outside and I really think it looks better with the Jell-O anyway.

The finished project is this....



(original and clearer picture, showing the great color etc.....looks exactly like this yet it has the Jello-O instead of the Bowman Mantle now)




I can definitely get more pictures if someone is serious about it.
All cards are originals, no reprints. All of them present well, even though there aren't any "PSA 9's or 10's" in the bunch. Centering is "pretty good" on most every card.
There are no major issues or creases on any of these, with the lone exception that some kid wrote "7" (his number) in really small handwriting on the back of the '59.

It was framed and mounted along with the signed index card still in its slab by McCool's of Bon Air, (Richmond Va.) which after many years the owners just recently retired and closed forever. McCool's was known for years for very high quality work, and they were even contracted by the government to frame some flags and items that were related with the events of 9/11.

All cards are held in place with acid free corner holders, framed and matted.
It has been in a smoke free environment, it is behind UD protectant glass, and has been out of direct sunlight for all these years.
I know the main value of this is in its "entirety" and look of the piece. Since the cards aren't graded and in slabs, even though a number of them were and I cracked them out before putting this together.

You guys likely know a bit more about this than most, and I'm wondering what kind of value figure some of you would put on this.....?
I know the signed and slabbed index card alone (at the time) was roughly $450 or more.
I'm sure shipping wouldn't be cheap either.

I'm not necessarily Hell bent on selling it, although I would consider any serious offers. (PMs are fine )
But mainly I was wondering roughly what something like this would be worth, just some sense of value.

Any help is appreciated....... and thanks for any ideas.

[DJCollector1]

Bump it up.



Anyone have any idea about value on this Mantle "piece"....?
Thanks in advance.

[samosa4u]

If you paid $100 - 200 for each card years ago, then they're probably worth about the same today. Not sure about the AUTO though.

[DJCollector1]

Any help on value is appreciated.

One local card dealer says possibly $1,200-$1,500.

Is such a unique piece, surely someone would want to add it into their display or collection.

[raulus]

Originally Posted by DJCollector1

Any help on value is appreciated.

One local card dealer says possibly $1,200-$1,500.

Is such a unique piece, surely someone would want to add it into their display or collection.

Maybe they would want it as-is? I'm going to guess that with a display piece like this, it's probably often something that is more dear to the person who compiled it than it is to a potential buyer.

If I had to guess, you might get more by breaking them up, than by keeping them together. But that's just my guess. I suppose it's possible that someone might want a piece like this as a present for some big Mantle fan who otherwise doesn't really have much of a Mantle collection. And maybe they would be willing to pay a bit more for the polished presentation.

But for the average collector, I'm guessing that they probably won't pay extra for this, even as nice as it is, simply because they're more interested in the cards as individual items rather than in the presentation piece as a whole. And often they might only be interested in some of the cards, rather than all of them, which might further hurt the value.

Certainly for anyone who wants the cards, the only way to really value this is going to be a really close look at the condition of the cards, which is hard to gauge since the cards are all raw, and we don't have the cards in person.

Since it looks like you mostly bought these in 2019 and early 2020, assuming you didn't pay above market prices (such as by just using BIN on eBay, which is often high retail or extremely high retail), then the odds are good that the values have gone up, probably double or maybe triple what you originally paid. But the only way to really know for sure is to go piece by piece and take a really close look at condition and then attempt to assign values to each piece.

Once you get done adding them up, it's just a question of whether your buyer just wants the pieces individually, in which case you probably don't get a premium, or whether the buyer really loves the delightful presentation, and will pay a little extra to get it.