My Mickey Mantle Collection

If you’re going to collect cards from the 1950’s and 1960’s you’re going to come face to face with “The Mickey Mantle Premium.”  Mantle cards, without exception, carry the highest premium of any post WWII era player.  I don’t really collect Mickey Mantle items…usually they are a part of a set I am collecting.  But as I went through this exercise, I was surprised by the amount of Mantle material I have. 

From 1952 to 1969 every Topps set has one regular issue Mantle card. Many sets also have a Mantle all-star and/or multi-player card.  For a complete list of Topps cards, see the link below.  If you’re trying to complete a set from those years, you’re going to have to pay the Mantle Premium to complete your set.  Mantle’s rookie card is considered to be the 1951 Bowman, but his most expensive card is his first Topps card from 1952. The high prices are not a matter of scarcity; a random check on eBay as I wrote this turned up 18 Topps 1952 cards and 22 cards from Bowman 1951. Rather, I think it’s a matter of demand; most collectors want something that has a connection to Mantle.  His early cards range in price from $1,500 to $100,000 depending on condition.  I saw this week in Sports Collector’s Digest that a 1952 Topps Mantle - PSA 8 was sold on eBay for $80,000.

Why do Mantle cards (and collectibles) carry a heavy premium; and why not Mays or Musial or Aaron or Snider?  Mays, Aaron, Musial and Snider collectibles are expensive, but not nearly as much as Mantle material.  Following is my effort to make a case for The Mantle Premium:

Mantle played his entire career in New York

·       The Giants moved to San Francisco in 1958; the middle of Mays’ career.  The Braves moved to Atlanta in 1966; the middle of Aaron’s career.  The Dodgers moved to Los Angeles in 1958; toward the end of Snider’s career.  Musial played his entire career in St. Louis (arguably the best baseball city in America) but it was “only” St. Louis ….. and it was NOT New York.  This doesn’t take away from their personal or team accomplishments, but it does have a suppressing effect on national fan interest in the player.

His career coincided with the baby boom after WWII  

·       If you were born in 1946, you were five years old when Mantle was a rookie.  Mantle was in his prime when baseball was at its most popular and the Baby Boomers were coming of age.

He was a World Series hero

·       In the 14 years from the 1951 to 1964, the Yankees (and Mantle) appeared in the World Series 12 times, winning 7 of them.  Mantle still holds the record for Series Home Runs with 18.  This gets you national recognition in a way that the other players could not approach.

He is part of a legacy

·       From Ruth and Gehrig, to DiMaggio, to Mantle (to Munson, to Mattingly, to Jeter) there is a lineage that correlates to excellence and championships.  Mickey was not the greatest of these players, but he was a powerhouse in the Yankee lineup from 1952-65. 

He was a tragic figure and that humanized him, made him accessible, and most of all made him like-able.

·        His speed as a rookie was remarkable – until he ruined his knee on a sprinkler in the 1951 World Series.  http://bleacherreport.com/articles/730540-mickey-mantles-worst-injury-it-was-joe-dimaggios-play

·       As a 19 year old rookie, Mantle was striking out too much in 1951.  Casey Stengel sent him to Kansas City AAA to work out his problems.  He called his father (Mutt) to say he wanted to come home.  Mutt met him at a hotel and said, “OK, pack your bags. We’re going home.”  Mickey was surprised by Mutt’s reaction and decided to stay with the team. 

·       Mickey drank too much – and was probably alcoholic.  

Mantle passed away at 63, a fairly young age. 

·      When Hall of Famers pass-away, their memorabilia usually goes up in price.

The prices for early Mantle cards are out of reach for me so I will not try to assemble those sets from the 50’s.  Born in 1957, I collected cards in the 1960’s and still do.  I am fortunate to find many of his cards reasonably priced from those years.  As a child, I had four Mantle cards.

My first Mantle card was the Topps 1966 #50 which, for me, was the summer before fourth grade.  As I rekindled my baseball card interest in the early 80’s, I was happy to see that I still had this card.  Upon closer inspection, I saw that there was a tack hole just above Mick’s head.  I was in denial for many years about that hole.  A few years ago I replaced the card with a purchase from Kit Young’s website.  I then had the card graded by PSA as a 4.

My original (right) and my PSA 4 

The pinhole (above his head)

I also got a Mantle card in the summer of 1967, Topps #150.  Probably my least favorite of all the Mantle cards, it is a close up of Mickey in which he looks kind of goofy.  Given what we know about him today, it’s possible he had been drinking – or had a hangover.  My card has some dings around the edges and is probably a VG card – with a grade of about PSA 3. I have not yet replaced this card – but the set is complete with this lesser quality Mantle.

Goofy Mantle

Last I got a 1968 Mantle card, Topps #280 in the spring of 1968.  What else was going on then?  Let’s see, Martin Luther King and Bobby Kennedy were assassinated, we had an undeclared war in Vietnam, and Nixon was about to become president.  What I remember about this card was taking it to school in my shirt pocket to share with my friends.  Not a good idea if you wanted to make any money from it when you got older.  It’s creased and not in very good shape now.  This card I replaced with an on-line purchase of a PSA 6.

Original (right) and PSA 6

I also had a Topps 1968 # 490 Super Stars card which I had graded by PSA as a 7.  This card pictures Mantle with Killebrew and Mays.  Having had little interest in this card, it remained in Near Mint condition.

Topps 1968 #490

Back in the early 80’s, a friend unloaded a bunch of cards he didn’t want on me – pretty much a shoe box full of Topps Cards from 1965 and 1966 that were in VG condition or less.  Two of the cards in the box were Mantle and Mays from ’65.  The Mantle card is creased and needs to be replaced, but it serves as a decent place holder in my complete 65 set until I can afford a better quality card.

1965 Mantle with creases - I need to replace it

About 6 months ago I completed the 1969 Topps set (no white letters) and had to buy a Mantle card to do so.  This is his last card.  I found a decent looking PSA 5 on eBay and got it for less than I had bid. It’s actually a nice looking card – but Mickey did not make it to opening day of ’69 – his bad legs (and drinking?) caught up with him.  He retired in March 1, 1969 at age 36. 

Mantle's last baseball card - 1969 Topps #500

I am now in the process of assembling a 1964 Topps set.  I have not yet found a Mantle card #50 at a price I am willing to pay.  I have, however, found multiplayer card, #331. A.L. Bombers.  This card has Al Kaline and Norm Cash from the Detroit Tigers with Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle from the Yankees.  It’s a nice looking card and I am fortunate to have two of them, one of which is graded. 

1964 topps A.L. Bombers

Also, in 1964, Topps issued a set of “giant” cards – commonly referred to as Topps Giant.  I did not collect these cards as a kid – but started and completed the set in the 1990’s in the Minneapolis area.  It was not hard to find these cards – they are plentiful – and an entire set is not too expensive.  In perfect shape (ungraded) they would cost about $250. 

Topps Giant

As a part of my PSA Graded World Series collection (see earlier blog) I had to locate three Topps Mantle cards, all of which I found on eBay:

·         World Series Foes, 1958 #418 pictures Mantle with Hank Aaron together.  They had squared off in the 1957 World Series which the Braves won.  The Yanks would get their revenge in 1958.

·         Mantle Slams 2 Homers, 1961 #307 pictures a right handed, air brushed, Mantle swinging for the fences. This depicts the 1960 Series that the Yanks lost to Pittsburgh on Mazerowski’s famous Game 7 walk off home run.

·         Mantle’s Clutch HR, 1965 # 134 pictures Mantle left handed in full extension of his powerful swing.  Again, the Yanks were Series Losers, this time to the great St. Louis Cardinals led by Bob Gibson’s pitching. This would be the last World Series for Mantle and the last for the Yankees until 1976. 

World Series Cards

At one time I had a bee in my britches about collecting PSA Graded subsets of Topps cards. All of these were acquired on eBay within the last five years. There are three subsets I have completed so far that include a Mantle card:

·         Mantle Hits 42^nd Homer for Crown, 1959 # 461 pictures a right handed Mantle slamming a home run.

·         Mantle Blasts 565 FT Home Run, 1961 #406 displays a photo of Griffith Stadium in Washington, DC with an arrow tracing the arc of Mantle’s historic home run.

·         The Switch Hitter Connects, 1962 #318 is a three panel shot of Mantle, batting left handed, connecting for a hit. 

Topps Subset Cards

There are a couple of miscellaneous items I have picked up over the years.  First would be a 1963 Jell-O Mantle #15 – YES it is cut from a Jell-o box.  I sent it in to PSA and they did not put a grade on it – but they did call it “Authentic” and “Hand Cut.” This is common with Cereal Cards and  was all I could really hope for – and as such, it is worth about $100.  I bought it in Iowa about 20 years ago for about $10. Nice….

Post Cereal  

I also have a 1955 Bowman Mantle #202.  This was acquired from my next door neighbor in New Jersey some time when I was in high school.  I traded him my Aurora racing car set for the card.  I also sent this card off to PSA for grading and with all the creases, they called it a “1MC” which means Poor and Mis-cut.  That works out to about $50 in value.  Go figure, huh?

1955 Bowman

I came across the Mantle inserts from the 1965 (foil embossed) and 1968 (game) sets in two different ways.  Inserts are items that were sold with the card packs.  This includes things like foil and game cards (below). It also could be stickers, coins, folding stand-ups, and tattoos.  All are collectible to varying degrees.  I bought the entire 1965 foil embossed set on line about 10 years ago while living in La Crosse, WI.  The 68 game set I had nearly completed as a kid – but needed a Rod Carew and Joe Torre to finish it off.  I found those game cards at a card show in Greensboro, NC about 2 years ago. 

Inserts foil (right) and game card (left)

I also have a Mickey Mantle signed baseball.  It was purchased at Field of Dreams in the Santa Ana Mall in California and was a birthday present from my kids (via my ex) for my 34^th birthday.  Of course it is authenticated by Field Of Dreams.  As I recall, FOD was selling it for about $75 which seemed like a fortune at the time.  Over time it has proven to be a wise purchase. 

Field Of Dreams Authenticated Baseball

Last, I have pictures of Mickey Mantle Day, September 18, 1965 in Yankee Stadium.  One shows Mickey speaking and a second has Mickey and Joe DiMaggio waving to the crowd.  Mr. Coffee looks really good in this shot.  These pics have the Kodak development date on the back as October 1965 which makes sense.  They were in our house and taken by an unknown source.  At one point I thought Dad happened to be at the game.  At another time, I thought it may have been my step-grandfather.  While they are not worth very much, they are meaningful to me as they have been in my room since 1965.

 

Mickey Mantle Day 9/18/65

 Here are pictures and a listing of every Topps Mickey Mantle card:

http://www.cardboardconnection.com/mickey-mantle-topps-cards-ultimate-guide

01-19-14 - I recently added this 1964 Mantle to my collection.  I'm about 60 cards short of having the 64 set complete.