The TRUE Mickey Mantle rookie card isn't the 1952 Topps card you believe it is. The Mick's rookie card came a year prior in 1951. Today, we'll teach you about these incredible treasures in our new series: The Set of the Week.
Did you know Mickey Mantle's rookie card isn't the famous 1952 Topps rookie? Even if you've never owned a single baseball card, you're probably familiar with the 1952 Topps card; it's one of the most valuable cards on Earth. However, a full year earlier, BOWMAN put the Mick into their baseball set, before Mantle even played a single game in big leagues.
The three-time MVP, seven-time World Series champion, and Hall of Famer, Mickey Mantle made his MLB debut on April 17th, 1951. Bowman baseball cards were released in April of 1951, and on card #253 is the future star.
The complete 1951 Bowman set consists of 324 cards, each measuring 2-1/16" by 3-1/8". The front of each card has a beautiful painted rendition of a press photograph. You can spot each player's name in a black box with white lettering. A white border is around each player image on the front.
Aside from Mickey Mantle, other baseball icons are in the 1951 Bowman set including:
When you flip a 1951 Bowman card over, you'll find the card number, player info, and a nice writeup. Long before the Internet was a thing, we learned about athletes by reading the back of their cards! We also love that "picture cards" is printed on each card. Not "baseball" card, but "picture" card.
Notice the GUM next to Bowman? Much like Topps is a candy manufacturer, Bowman was a gum manufacturer. Jacob Warren Bowman started a gum company in 1927. Remember opening up wax packs and getting a stick of gum with your cards? In 1951, you could buy a penny pack - 1 card for 1 penny! A pack of 6 cards set you back a nickel. We're not sure you can buy anything in the world for a penny these days let alone a pack of baseball cards.
Just Collect is always buying 1951 Bowman cards! One of the more unique collections we purchased had two 1951 Bowman Mickey Mantle cards inside of an ankle brace! You can see the photos below and read the story HERE.
Ankle brace boxes aren't how we recommended to safely store your cards, but it makes for a great story!
The cards you see today are each from the 1951 Bowman set, some of which have been graded by the top grading companies in our hobby - PSA and SGC. Using a scale from 1 to 10 with 10 being Gem Mint, perfect, finding any 1951 Bowman card in a grade of 10 is SUPER RARE! PSA has only graded 219 cards, ever, as a 10. At the time of this story, 114,934 cards from the 1951 Bowman set have been graded by PSA - and only 219 were a 10. Just ONE Mickey Mantle was graded a ten. How much is that Mantle 10 valued at? The sky is the limit! For a comparison, PSA has graded 9 Mickey Mantle cards as a PSA 9, and the last one was sold for $3,192,000! Condition is very important when determining the value of a card. Using this Mantle as an example, a PSA 8 was last sold for $372,000. Still VERY valuable, but not three million dollars, and the grade was just one lower. Keep your cards stored safely!
We hope you enjoyed learning about the 1951 Bowman baseball set. Make sure to come back next week to learn about our next Set of the Week.
Love this story? Check out other blogs featuring incredible collections such as:
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Just Collect is always buying vintage sports and non-sports cards from 1879 to 2009 as well as select modern cards. If you have a collection that you are considering selling, contact us today to discuss or get our industry-leading purchase offer. If you have a collection that you want appraised, please contact us and we would be happy to discuss your collection and help you understand the real cash value of your collection in the current marketplace. Check out the Just Collect Buy List.
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We offer may ways to evaluate your cards other than or using our website, too.
If you can make the trip here like the son from my hometown did for this collection- we can make a deal at the office. We once met a father-son duo that drove eight hours from Virginia to meet us to sell a Michael Jordan rookie card stored in Tupperware since 1986 - great read here.
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If you have a valuable collection and want us to come to you, we'll hop on the next plane out.
If you're near New York City and would like to meet in a public place, our owner, Leighton, would be happy to meet you; read all the information here.
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We've run into a wide range of people and collections over the last 25 years. Although Just Collect is known for buying vintage sports cards and especially vintage baseball cards, we are also extremely interested in buying non-sports cards, too!
Every collection and every collector is different and we treat EVERY collection with the respect and attention that we show for our own collections. We understand that many have put their heart and souls into building their collections. So when you're ready to sell, we understand the feelings that you're going through and will work with you to help you reach a decision that is a WIN/WIN, because if you're not happy, we're not happy.
Whether you have vintage cards or modern wax you want to sell, you can reach out to us any time!