Looking at Mickey Mantle PSA Population

[rsdill2]

Thought this was interesting. Feel free to draw your own conclusions. But I did a simple tally of the listed population of Mantle Cards according to PSA (I excluded qualifiers).

A few things that jump out to me:
-The '69 White letter variation is exceedingly rare compared to other Mantle's. As of this moment, there are zero auctions on eBay.
-Pretty sure PSA didn't label '56 white/gray backs until very late in the game hence the seemingly low pop of '56 whites. While I agree a white back '56 is tougher than a gray back, I don't think the current ratio of white:gray in the population is an accurate reflection of the true population.
-'65s are much less plentiful than other '60s issues. It was from a later series so maybe that's it?
-Big drop off in population pre-'56.

What jumps out at you?

[Seven]

To me, it's the fact that the population of 53 Topps is a good chunk higher than the 53 Bowman, yet the Topps is the more expensive card out of the two. Both Beautiful cards in my opinion.

I think the 51 Bowman, his true RC, is massively undervalued. It's population isn't that high, it's such a nice card, you would think the demand for it would be higher.

[brewing]

Originally Posted by Seven

To me, it's the fact that the population of 53 Topps is a good chunk higher than the 53 Bowman, yet the Topps is the more expensive card out of the two. Both Beautiful cards in my opinion.

I think the 51 Bowman, his true RC, is massively undervalued. It's population isn't that high, it's such a nice card, you would think the demand for it would be higher.

I agree.

The Bowman Mantle's get no collector love in relation to Topps.

[Tere1071]

The 53 Bowman is a beautiful card and it should be worth more than the Topps issue. Of course, I'm biased as I have a 53 Bowman set with a nice PSA 4 Mantle. Going back years, Bowmans usually caught the attention of more advanced collectors whereas pretty much everyone had something Topps related. On eBay graded 53 Bowman Mantles frequently appear, but anything PSA 7 or higher not so much.

[swarmee]

As a reslab is so cheap and the vast price difference exists between white back and gray back 1956s, I believe there is truly a major difference in the population between the two that is borne out in the Pop Report. We have had threads about it in the past, and it appeared the Mantle card was SP'd on white back sheets. Looks like Willie Mays may have been as well.
https://www.net54baseball.com/showthread.php?t=254338

[ValKehl]

Robert, I'm curious as to why you didn't include the 1954B and 1955B cards in your graph.

[rats60]

Originally Posted by swarmee

As a reslab is so cheap and the vast price difference exists between white back and gray back 1956s, I believe there is truly a major difference in the population between the two that is borne out in the Pop Report. We have had threads about it in the past, and it appeared the Mantle card was SP'd on white back sheets. Looks like Willie Mays may have been as well.
https://www.net54baseball.com/showthread.php?t=254338

The first series 1-100 the white backs and grey backs are printed in similar quantities with white being slightly more common. The second series cards are all very rare with a white back.

[Gorditadogg]

What I find interesting is there are plenty of 1956 cards out there yet prices for 56s are a lot higher than other years. Why is there more demand for a 56 Mantle than, for instance, the 58 or 59, when the supply is similar?

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

[rsdill2]

Originally Posted by Gorditadogg

What I find interesting is there are plenty of 1956 cards out there yet prices for 56s are a lot higher than other years. Why is there more demand for a 56 Mantle than, for instance, the 58 or 59, when the supply is similar?

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

56 is often looked at as his most aesthetically pleasing card. It's his triple crown year, its the last year of the full size cards. But that is a good point that the 56 pop is higher than every Mantle issued afterwards until '66.

And also, in the end we're looking at PSA populations, which isn't necessarily an indication of total cards available. Because of sell prices, '56 Mantle's are more likely to get graded in any grade than others would be.

[Gorditadogg]

Originally Posted by rsdill2

56 is often looked at as his most aesthetically pleasing card. It's his triple crown year, its the last year of the full size cards. But that is a good point that the 56 pop is higher than every Mantle issued afterwards until '66.

And also, in the end we're looking at PSA populations, which isn't necessarily an indication of total cards available. Because of sell prices, '56 Mantle's are more likely to get graded in any grade than others would be.

That all makes sense. Other than his rookie cards, I guess his Triple Crown year is the next one you want. Back to back MVP year too!

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk