Mantle Run: I am really feeling this digital binder thing.

[Doctor Claw]

It's a great way to organize and view cards in one visual gulp, so to speak. Also approximates that binder vibe from youthful collecting. Great invention from PSA I gotta say.

[seabass97166]

Love it love it love it. You must really be a Doctor with a collection like that.

[ThoseBackPages]

Not horrible

[whitesoxfan3579]

Wow wow wow

[SirTommyWinAlot]

That is an awesome collection Doc. I might have to check out that binder. That is a pretty neat feature.

[Daddymc]

Wow. Great looking collection!

[MiamiFinFan13]

Very nice collection ������

That 52 Topps is a 4.5 !! Holy S$$$$$$$$ !!

[Jay9Suited]

Awesome Mantle collection, that PSA binder is perfect for these.

[Doctor Claw]

Many thanks! When us collectors don't have our cards in hand, having a great digital way to view them is very clutch. What is nice with displaying a player collection in this digital binder thingy is that it is nice to view the progression of the player through time as well as the different card designs.

[SirTommyWinAlot]

Originally Posted by Doctor Claw

Many thanks! When us collectors don't have our cards in hand, having a great digital way to view them is very clutch. What is nice with displaying a player collection in this digital binder thingy is that it is nice to view the progression of the player through time as well as the different card designs.

Hey Doc, just curious. Putting aside value and rookie designations and that sort, what would you say is your favorite card? I'm talking condition, centering, design and pose. I have to say the 1953, 1956 and 1961 topps are my favorites. I also like the 53 Bowman. Absolutely beautiful cards.

I didn't see a 1958 topps all star mickey mantle in your binder. That's a beauty as well. There's some really nice ones on ebay that just sold recently.

[Doctor Claw]

I love that All Star card and do have one, which I'll attach below. I need to figure a way to add it to the binder; it is somewhat restrictive in terms of which cards you can add.

I really do love all his cards, so picking a favorite is almost impossible for me. That said if I imagined they were all in a burning room and I had to grab them in an order, it would go: 52T, 51B, 53B, 53T, 52B, 54B, 56T, 65T, 60T, 61T, 57T, 58T, 62T...then the rest.

In terms of the specific cards in my collection, finding a centered and focused 51B was by far the hardest task, followed by a centered 52T. The 51B is usually a mess of problems. Even high technical grade cards are usually suffering in the more critical eye appeal department. Case in point, the recent PWCC PSA 7, which was woefully out of focus.

The 1962 card in an accurate 8 grade with centering and proper registration of the white border lines was incredibly difficult, I guess hence why the 8s are so pricey.

The 1957 card is also a huge beast to tame. If it's not centering on that one, it's tilt. If not those, it is out of focus. To date I have only encountered one lone specimen of this card that has no tilt, perfect focus, crisp registration, and is centered perfectly at least one of the two ways, and thankfully I was able to reel it in at auction. It is off top bottom a bit, but after all the years collecting his cards I doubt a truly perfect example exists. I have seen two 8.5s and a bunch of 9s and they were all really poorly tilted or focused; they just had sharp corners and thus squeaked into the technical grade.

The 1965 and 1960 are also very tough to find without a slew of endemic problems.

But all these idiosyncrasies of Mick's cards are what make the hunt so challenging and thus rewarding. I love that to get the real great examples of his card it takes real patience and use of the good old eyes, with so many technical high grades still being poorly centered with print dots. I suppose that dovetails nicely with the 1958 AS card, which usually is poorly centered or tilted, can have PD in that gorgeous background, and then add to that how the Mick can be out of focus. So just finding an example that is centered, free of PD, and focused is quite the challenge.

[SirTommyWinAlot]

Originally Posted by Doctor Claw

I love that All Star card and do have one, which I'll attach below. I need to figure a way to add it to the binder; it is somewhat restrictive in terms of which cards you can add.

I really do love all his cards, so picking a favorite is almost impossible for me. That said if I imagined they were all in a burning room and I had to grab them in an order, it would go: 52T, 51B, 53B, 53T, 52B, 54B, 56T, 65T, 60T, 61T, 57T, 58T, 62T...then the rest.

In terms of the specific cards in my collection, finding a centered and focused 51B was by far the hardest task, followed by a centered 52T. The 51B is usually a mess of problems. Even high technical grade cards are usually suffering in the more critical eye appeal department. Case in point, the recent PWCC PSA 7, which was woefully out of focus.

The 1962 card in an accurate 8 grade with centering and proper registration of the white border lines was incredibly difficult, I guess hence why the 8s are so pricey.

The 1957 card is also a huge beast to tame. If it's not centering on that one, it's tilt. If not those, it is out of focus. To date I have only encountered one lone specimen of this card that has no tilt, perfect focus, crisp registration, and is centered perfectly at least one of the two ways, and thankfully I was able to reel it in at auction. It is off top bottom a bit, but after all the years collecting his cards I doubt a truly perfect example exists. I have seen two 8.5s and a bunch of 9s and they were all really poorly tilted or focused; they just had sharp corners and thus squeaked into the technical grade.

The 1965 and 1960 are also very tough to find without a slew of endemic problems.

But all these idiosyncrasies of Mick's cards are what make the hunt so challenging and thus rewarding. I love that to get the real great examples of his card it takes real patience and use of the good old eyes, with so many technical high grades still being poorly centered with print dots. I suppose that dovetails nicely with the 1958 AS card, which usually is poorly centered or tilted, can have PD in that gorgeous background, and then add to that how the Mick can be out of focus. So just finding an example that is centered, free of PD, and focused is quite the challenge.

I need to get going on my Mantle collection. I wished I had started earlier, now even alot of his 7-8's are expensive. I'm more open now when it comes to collecting. Before I was like, i'm a red sox fan i'm not collecting no damn yankee!

[izucantc]

That 52 is a 4.5!? Wow, amazing collection.

[Archangel1775]

I'll probably go this route for insurance purposes. I had about $2k worth of graded cards stolen from movers. I got $200 from insurance......*&^*&^(#*

[kyle1707]

plus 67 65 psa 9 wow

40-50 K here??/

[ThoseBackPages]

Originally Posted by kyle1707

plus 67 65 psa 9 wow

40-50 K here??/

The 52 alone is probably in that area

[kyle1707]

Originally Posted by ThoseBackPages

The 52 alone is probably in that area

Ya I'm way off... my eyes are bad...

psa 7 1953... is 20-25k

80-100 k?

Crazy collection for sure....

[izucantc]

Originally Posted by Archangel1775

I'll probably go this route for insurance purposes. I had about $2k worth of graded cards stolen from movers. I got $200 from insurance......*&^*&^(#*

I would put these cards in an underground bomb proof vault.

[Sean1125]

Originally Posted by kyle1707

Ya I'm way off... my eyes are bad...

psa 7 1953... is 20-25k

80-100 k?

Crazy collection for sure....

As the third largest seller in the sports category on eBay, the break-up value of this Mickey Mantle set is $200,000-$240,000. With Mantles like this, the centering premium for high end examples is a multiple of what the cards sell for. Each of these cards is exceptionally well centered with perfect registration. I don't think I've ever seen a run of Mantles like this in all my years of collecting and selling.

[Mister2Bits]

The 53 Bowman color is my favorite. I have a raw one that's a little lower than yours, but it's my favorite card in any of my collections.

That whole set is great and is something that I will pass on to my kids. In fact, I may scan the whole set this weekend and share her on the vintage boards.

[Doctor Claw]

Originally Posted by Mister2Bits

The 53 Bowman color is my favorite. I have a raw one that's a little lower than yours, but it's my favorite card in any of my collections.

That whole set is great and is something that I will pass on to my kids. In fact, I may scan the whole set this weekend and share her on the vintage boards.

I agree; the photography on that 53 Bowman set, in addition to the minimalist design aesthetic, really makes it special and striking. The 53B was always a favorite Mantle of mine as a kid. I remember the first time seeing the image. The composition of the photo just makes it so memorable. It was the first graded Mantle I ever bought.

The 53B Mick is virtually impossible to find centered, as well. Perhaps 1 in every 50 or worse is close to perfectly centered, or thereabouts.

[pokerplyr80]

Originally Posted by Sean1125

As the third largest seller in the sports category on eBay, the break-up value of this Mickey Mantle set is $200,000-$240,000. With Mantles like this, the centering premium for high end examples is a multiple of what the cards sell for. Each of these cards is exceptionally well centered with perfect registration. I don't think I've ever seen a run of Mantles like this in all my years of collecting and selling.

Agreed. Possibly the nicest Mantle run in existence in terms of centering and eye appeal for the grade. 200k for the run would be a steal.

[Doctor Claw]

Thank you guys very much.

I have worked very hard to select the best looking card, with the best centering and image quality. And many times it is not the highest sticker grade.

I think the set is pretty much done, unless I can somehow find some of them with the same exact or better centering and improved corners, which is really tough.

The 51B for example... I have looked every day since 2012 to upgrade that specimen, but simply cannot find a 6 or 7 with the same or better centering and registration. I initially got excited when I heard PWCC had a 6 and a 7 up for auction, but sure enough, when I looked at them, the same old poor centering.

[Jsquared123]

That '52T with such good centering! Wowie.. Love the 65T and 53T too. Heck I love 'em all. I would offer a kidney for this type of collection but I don't think that's nearly enough

[kyle121592]

Absolutely incredible collection!