Just Collect ventured to New England recently to purchase a small star-packed collection of PSA graded vintage cards. After a few phone calls with the seller, Just Collect was able to evaluate the collection and offer a fair purchase price. Just Collect arranged to travel to The Cape to meet with the collector and purchase this incredible group of cards. The collection primarily spans the glory years of the New York Yankees and features cards of Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Joe DiMaggio, Yogi Berra, Whitey Ford and a few other greats of the era. The key aspect of this collection is the volume of Mickey Mantle cards that boast a complete run of Topps and Bowman cards beginning with his 1951 Bowman and 1952 Topps rookie cards through to his final Topps card in 1969, including both the Yellow and White Letter variations. The set also included all of Mantle’s MVP, All Stars and all multi-player cards he appeared on between those years.
“I had an excellent experience reviewing my baseball card collation with Scott and we arrived at a price I was very comfortable with.”
From a chronological perspective, the collection begins with 1933 Goudey cards of Lou Gehrig and Babe Ruth. Gehrig is featured on card #92, his first in the Goudey series, and shows the “Iron Horse” in his home Yankees pinstripes about ready to drive another baseball over the right field wall. The Ruth card is #181 and depicts a close-up image of “The Sultan of Swat” with lumber in hand contemplating how many home runs he’ll be hitting that afternoon. Joe DiMaggio is represented in his 1948 Leaf issue. The #1 card in the inaugural Leaf issue, the “Yankee Clipper” appears as stoic as always in his classic follow-through. The complete run of Mickey Mantle cards commences with the 1951 Bowman #253 card. This example features a baby-face Mantle staring intently with bat at the ready. Mantle’s true rookie card the ‘51 Bowman, is often overlooked as collectors hunt for the “Holy Grail” of Mantle baseball cards, the 1952 Topps issue which is also represented in this collection well centered and presents incredibly well for its technical grade. The lesser acknowledged 1951 Bowman represents the first major manufacturer baseball card issued of the “Commerce Comet” while the ’52 is his first Topps card.
While the two rookie cards would be impressive enough, the run continues with the balance of the Bowman issues. The collection boasts an attractive 1952 Bowman, the iconic imagery of the 1953 Bowman, not one, but two 1954 Bowmans and the brown bordered, TV motif of the final Bowman issue from 1955.
Having already noted the 1952 Topps, the breadth Mantles continued to amaze. The close-up image featured on the 1953 Topps nearly jumps off the card in an incredible PSA 6 example. After contractual issues with Bowman, Topps resumed inclusion of Mantle in the 1956 issue (Mickey’s Triple Crown Season) and this card has remained one of the most collected Mantle cards in part because of the dual image format that features an action image and a portrait and because of the incredible season that it represents. Mantle led the American League in batting, hitting an astounding .353 for the season, while also pacing the Junior Circuit with 52 homeruns and a league leading 130 RBI. If this feat is not amazing enough, Mantle’s stratospheric numbers eclipsed EVERYONE in major league baseball and Mickey is still the last player to have won all of the major categories across both leagues in a single season.
The Topps Mantle run concludes with the two variations of the 1969 Topps card featuring both the regular Last Name in Yellow and the scarcer Last Name in White. Always popular with Mantle collectors, this card is unique in that as Mickey’s last card, it also has his final lifetime stats as he retired just prior to the beginning of the 1969 season.
Other cards issued by Topps over the years featured Mantle as an All-Star, an MVP and on several multi-player cards with the likes of Aaron, Mays, Killebrew and others. They were all included in this collection. Additionally, several other Mantle issues were included. The ever popular 1954 Red Heart card is one of the most desired food issues of the era. Also included is a 1963 Post Cereal card.
Just Collect is always looking to buy vintage sports cards and memorabilia. We are staffed with vintage card experts who can make you an offer within 48 hours! Use the form on this page or email us at info@justcollect.com to contact us for a free appraisal today. If you're unable to bring your collection to us we can review photos or digital scans for an appraisal. For more substantial card collections, we'll pay to have you ship your collection to us. In cases where your collection is extremely rare or high in value, we’ll even fly to meet with you!
