Hobby Library

The PSA 8 Graded 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle Sotheby’s Auctioned In 2005

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In June 2005, Sotheby’s offered this gorgeous PSA 8 graded 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle in their Important Sports Memorabilia and Cards catalog. The expected sales price was $40-50k! It’s now a million-dollar card after changing hands at least two more times!

I’m unsure what Sotheby’s sold the card for, or if it changed hands again, but in November 2014, it showed up in SCP’s Fall Premier Auction, where it sold for $268k.

Then, in May 2017, Memory Lane had the same card in their Spring Holy Grail Rarities Auction, where it sold for $462k.

I’m unsure if that buyer sold it since, but the PSA Card page for the cert shows that it was re-slabbed. Behold, over a million dollars in its plastic tomb!

It would be pretty cool if someone would trace the lineage of all the high-grade (PSA and SGC 8+) 1952 Mickey Mantle cards. It’s sort of just happened that I’ve started such a task with the T206 Wagner cards:

Happy Collecting!

The Set That Never Was – The 1976-77 HRT/RES 1947 Bowman Baseball Cards

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Ted Taylor and Bob Schmierer created three series of 1947 Bowman Baseball cards in 1976 and 1977 to promote the 2nd and 3rd Philly Baseball Card Shows! They placed this advertisement in the July 1976 issue of The Trader Speaks to promote the show and cards!

Here’s what The Standard Catalog has to say about the 1976-77 HRT / RES 1947 Bowman Baseball Cards:

Advertised as “The Set That Never Was,” this collectors’ issue from Ted Taylor and Bob Schmierer used a 2-1/8” x 2-1/2” black-and-white format and gray cardboard stock to replicate the feel of the first post-WWII baseball cards. The set was issued in three series with advertising on back promoting the second (1976) and third (1977) annual EPSCC ‘Philly’ shows. Series one (#1-49) was issued in 1976; series two (#50-81) and three (#82-113) were 1977 issues.

PSA has graded more of these than I expected, considering it’s a bit of an odd collectors’ issue. There are 32 total PSA-graded cards across the 113-card set; here’s an example of one I found on eBay, card #17, in the 1st series, Jackie Robinson.

I found two complete sets for sale on eBay (January 2025); one was asking $295, and the other $285.

The $295 set included a T206 Honus Wagner promotional card, a sort of 114th card.

The seller of the $295 set also added a bit more information. First, they mentioned that the set was patterned after the 1948 Bowman baseball cards; surprisingly, The Standard Catalog didn’t write that; maybe it’s too obvious. They also said that Ted Taylor was HRT and Robert Schmierer was RES, adding that they printed 2000 series one sets while limiting series two and three to just 1000 sets each.

Happy collecting!

Rarity and Intrigue: The 1954 Bowman Metal Printers Sheet with Mickey Mantle and Ted Williams

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Here’s an item you don’t see every day: a 1954 Bowman baseball metal printers sheet with Mickey Mantle and, next to him, one of the set’s rarities, Ted Williams! But guess what? It’s got a twin, but I don’t know where either is anymore!

The unique sheet was lot 152 in the 1995 National Sports Collectors Convention Auction, presented by Bill Mastro as “The Best of Yesterday.”

They included a slightly larger photo of the Mantle and Williams cards, too.

Here’s the lots complete description:

1954 BOWMAN BASEBALL METAL PRINTERS SHEET WITH #66 TED WILLIAMS
26 inches by 36 inches metal printers sheet with 32 cards on it (8 across, 4 down) in the upper left corner is Mickey Mantle and immediately to his right is the rarest of all Bowman baseball cards -#66 Ted Williams, many years ago two of these exact sheets turned up, one of which now resides in the Halper collection, the offered sheet has numerous holes and spotting and although it lacks visual appeal it more than makes up for its condition defects with its extreme rarity, framed properly would surely add to its attractiveness, very good condition. MINIMUM BID: 900.00

It’s interesting that Bowman would have made two of these sheets; maybe they weren’t identical. Also, if you weren’t aware, according to BaseballCardPedia, “In 1954, Topps signed an exclusive contract with Ted Williams, which forced Bowman to pull card #66 of Williams from its set. Bowman replaced #66 with a card of Jimmy Piersall who was also featured on card #210.”

Interestingly, I haven’t been able to track down any “regular” 32-card 1954 Bowman baseball uncut sheets, just this absolutely incredible proof sheet from portland_uncut_sheets on Instagram.

But I did find that Heritage sold a 4-card uncut panel featuring Mantle, Wiliams, Mueller, and Gilliam in the same layout as the metal sheet. It sold for $13,145 in May 2016.

Robert Edward Auctions then re-sold the same sheet for just $6k in the fall of 2018. They highlighted that it was cut down from a larger 32-card production sheet

It doesn’t look like a salesman sample; those had a diamond/square sticker on the back, and the 4-card panel shows no evidence of sticker removal. Of course, it could have been intended as a sample but never used as one. Here’s an example of the back of a 1954 Bowman Salesemen’s Sample:

Happy collecting! And check out more uncut sheets on the archive!

A Look Back at the 1952 Topps Partial Uncut Sheet Auctioned at the 1992 National

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Superior Galleries auctioned off this awesome 1952 Topps partial uncut sheet of 12 triple-printed cards via the 13th National Sports Collectors Convention Auction in July 1992. I’d love to find a copy in color!

First, here’s the sheet’s complete description:

1952 Topps Partial Uncut Sheet of 12 Cards. This unique sheet has a triple-printed image on each card. Extremely difficult uncut sheet to acquire. Contains the following triple-printed cards: Johnny Mize, Jackie Jenson. This sheet must be seen to be appreciated. A great item for you uncut sheet collectors. Overall Excellent condition with some creases and some partial cards. Estimated Value $1200-2000.

There are a few of these in the hobby; in November 2013, Heritage sold this 9-card example for $1,673 (the back was also multi-printed).

Then, a few years later, in August 2015, they sold these multi-printed panels for $334 (which today feels like a robbery by the buyer!)

And in the spring of 2020, REA sold this double print error uncut panel for $1,680.

How many of these came from the same printing? I have no idea! But to learn more about 1952 Topps uncut sheets, I highly recommend the article What In The Wide World Of Sports Is Going On Here? by The Topps Archives.

Also, check out The Uncut Sheet Archive for more items like these, and happy collecting!

A Tribute to a Baseball Legend: The 1976 Douglas Cool Papa Bell Set

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The 1976 D&S Enterprises Cool Papa Bell set celebrates the career of one of baseball’s legends. It’s an affordable must-have for fans of obscure collectors’ issues and baseball history.

I first learned about this set while flipping through the March 1976 issue of The Trader Speaks when I saw an advertisement for them directly from Douglas.

You can see that the 13-card, ~3” x 4”, complete set was available for $2.50. It was developed in partnership with Bell, so they included his commentary. Here’s what The Standard Catalog had to say about it:

The collectors’ issue was produced following the 1974 induction of James “Cool Papa” Bell into the Hall of Fame. Collector John Douglas collaborated with Bell to produce the set chronicling Bell’s career (1922-46) in the Negro and Latin American pro leagues. Fronts have vintage sepia-toned photos of Bell surrounded by a yellow, green or orange woodgrain frame with a title plaque at bottom. Backs are in brown-and-white with a drawing of Bell at top and autobiographical material at center. A description of the photo and copyright data are at bottom.

It’s cool that the HOF Favorite card is a reprint of Bob Laughlin’s 1974 Old-Time Black Stars portrait.

While the 1974 Laughlin Cool Papa Bell card alone will cost a few hundred dollars, complete 1976 Douglas Cool Papa Bell sets routinely sell for just $90.

There are quite a few signed copies around, too.

Happy collecting!

Tony Gwynn and Lite Beer: His 1984 San Diego Padres Promo Card

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The 1984 San Diego Padres Tony Gwynn Lite Beer promo card is a fascinating oddball issue. I spotted it in an August 1985 Baseball Cards Magazine ad from San Diego Sports Collectibles, but I’m unsure how it was originally distributed.

The advertisement says they were only released in the San Diego area in September 1984, but where and how? If you have the details, let me know in the comments.

The back of the card only includes information and statistics from his 1983 season, but the front honors the fact that he led the National League in batting in 1984 (with a .351 average, by the way). 

The signed promotional card example pictured above was sold by Memory Lane Inc. on 11 January 2025 for $540, but you can pick up an ungraded and unsigned card for between $15 and $20.

Update 30 Jan 2025: A few collectors on X told me they were given out at a game as a stadium giveaway.

What You Missed in a 1984 Ad: A $23K T206 Wagner and a Mickey Mantle Autograph for $24.99

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A few months ago, I shared this 1984 ad from Richard Gelman that offered a T206 Honus Wagner card for $23k and .25 cent 1981 MSA Mini Discs on the same page, but another collector highlighted another great buy: the $24.99 life of Mickey Mantle set probably had the autograph in it!

Here’s a zoomed-in scan of “The Life of Mickey Mantle” section highlighting the 1982 set that Authentic Sports Autographs (ASA) released.

The Standard Catalog wrote that:

This 72-card set chronicles the life of Mickey Mantle in contemporary photos, many from Mantle’s own collection and many picturing him with such stars of the era as Maris, DiMaggio, Ted Williams, Mays, etc. A total of 20,000 sets was produced; 5,000 of them feature a genuine Mantle autograph on card #1 and 15,000 sets have no autograph. Back of cards from the autographed sets are printed in blue while the unautographed sets have backs printed in red. Issue price was $25 for the autographed set, $13 for the unsigned version.

TCDB has more set info, including that blue back cards with serial numbers 1-10 had every card in the set autographed and auctioned off with bids due by May 1, 1982. They also wrote that the blue back sets were originally $19.99, but sets ordered after May 31, 1982, were $24.99, while the red back sets were originally $9.99, increasing to $12.99.

A few more notes shared by TCDB:

  • 14 cards in the set were printed in full color, and 58 are black, blue, and white.
  • There was one card for each of Mickey’s seasons.
  • There was one card for each of Mickey’s World Series.
  • The set was written and researched by Fred McMane of UPI.
  • Photos from Mickey and Merlyn Mantle’s personal collection.
  • Sets began shipping in May 1982.

That info comes from the following advertisement; please let me know if you know its source.

Update 30 Jan 2025: Andrew Aronstein told me that his dad distributed this set through his advertising vehicle, The Baseball Advertiser which is where the ad came from.

Here’s an example of a signed card #1 that PWCC sold for $435 in August 2020, which is around what they’re selling on eBay these days.

Here’s what the unsigned card #1s look like:

I also found an uncut proof sheet (see The Uncut Sheet Archive for more), signed by Mantle, that REA sold for $690 in the summer of 2024.

The sets came boxed; REA sold this one, including the signed card #1, for $360 in October 2021.

Happy collecting!