1954 Topps Hank Aaron vs 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle
 

The 1954 Topps Hank Aaron has taking in major gains over the past two years. The last Psa 10 sold for over $357,000 back in 2012, and I'm sure it would take in double that now. The 52 Mantle has been and will be in heavy demand forever. Its' gains have put it above the T206 Wagner as the most valuable card of all time.

Do you think the 3:1 supply ratio in the PSA pop reports is the only difference here? Mantle cards are hot, but is there a someday when Aaron cards are hotter?

The last PSA 9 1954 Topps Hank Aaron sold for 144,000. The last PSA 9 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle sold for 2,880,000. That is a factor of 20 times. I don't see Aaron ever coming close to Mantle. By the way, a PSA 5 MC t206 Honus Wagner sold for more than that PSA 9 Mantle, so Mantle has some ground to make up before it passes Wagner as the most valuable baseball card.

No chance aaron rookie ever overtakes mantle rookie...in 50 years I see prices of both cards being lower than today...but I won't be here to see it!!!!

Zero chance.

That would be an incredible achievement...

The question wasn't about Hank's card eclipsing Mantle in price, just being as hot or hotter in a timeframe. So yes, when Hank passes away, there will be a window where the 54 Aaron is as hot or hotter than the 52 Mantle. For maybe six months.

The 3:1 supply ratio is a moot point, this time. Mr. Aaron is a fine gentleman, a quiet man that quietly (without pyrotechnic gyrations of his voice and arms) passed the mighty Babe for lifetime home runs. His home fields were Milwaukee and Atlanta, great baseball towns both, yet even combined do not come close to generating what New York does, and what New York seems to have always done in the minds and hearts of baseball fandom.

There have been many good explanations why Hank's baseball cards do not reach the stratosphere as Mickey Mantle's do. In a nutshell, it comes down to DEMAND, not the supply factor. The demand for Mick overwhelms that for Henry, period.

I won't say much, save that when I collected as a youngster, and I would open my Topps wax and cello packs, I'm sure I smiled when I got Henry Aaron. On the other hand, when I got Mickey Mantle, I inhaled audibly, my eyes got huge, and a great, big smile grew on my face. I usually REMEMBERED the occasion when I got Mickey each year, but I don't recall any given time I got Hank Aaron. Guess it comes down to this----I like and respect Hank Aaron, but I love Mickey Mantle.

---Brian Powell

Again, well said Brian!

http://i1267.photobucket.com/albums/...539/img046.jpg

The number of people who collect the 52 set itself seems like a factor to me a s well. If you collect the set you need the card even if you are not a Mantle guy. (And in my case I needed both variations :-{ )

Which may be why his 61 Dice and 67 Stand Ups, although extremely scarce do not command even more money than they do when they come up

Brian,

Do you believe the demand could shift to Aaron as a newer , collecting generation takes over?

I think it can happen, but not with my generation.

Aaron represents excellent value imo.

No, people have been saying that about Willie Mays for ~30 years. In the early 80s, Mantle and Mays were priced about the same. Then Mantle got hot and his cards jumped in value. Instead of Mays closing the gap, it has just become greater as time has gone by.

I think values and popularity are now set for post war players. If Ted Williams and Willie Mays can't close the gap on Mantle, then Aaron won't either. Williams and Mays were the players we actually chased in the 60s. Aaron was a tier below them. I see no reason for that to ever change.

rats60 I appreciate your insight!

As do I.

You know, Lou, there are so many things to consider for the future, and likely more than a few surprises. The future generation is not that "in" to collecting baseball cards. PSA has kept its business strong with the robust business they're doing grading Pokemon cards. I have a nephew by marriage that makes his living buying and selling old video games from the late 20th century. He is a walking price guide of what these things are going for, so he can spot a "good buy" as soon as he sees one in the used game shops, which seem to be as prolific as the card shops of a quarter-century ago. Back then, dads got their kicks buying old baseball, football, and hockey cards they once had, or never got and wanted. They lived it up, while the far, far, far majority of their sons played video games, that did not need to be enjoyed with a dad present. Now those late 20th century boys are men earning good livings in their 30s, and WHAT DO THEY WANT?

Old video games, as you already guessed by this response. These collectors are dead serious, too. They want those old games they used to have, those that their parents could not afford to buy at the time, and those they never heard about that piques their fancy.

They've split apart into nuances exactly what an old game must have to be COMPLETE, to "one up" a fellow gaming collector----the condition of the game cartridge, if it has the original box it came in, if it has the game instruction manual, if it has the original flyer cards that came inside THAT GAME, and a real kicker---if it has the original game poster that came as a freebee with the game (referring to the few games that offered a free poster), that a kid could display in his room!!! They are happy as a clam, talking as they do about various rare games, and all the accoutrements that may be had. Their discussions mirror what we used to do, and we still do today.

As far as Mickey Mantle versus Hank Aaron?

"Who's that?"

Just sayin'.

So, enjoy collecting while you can. There will still be ferocious collectors of Hank and Mick down the road. However, from what I am seeing, there's not gonna be too many of them.

By the by, a generation ago, serious coin and stamp collectors were angry about all these young guys who were going stark raving mad about collecting baseball cards! Baseball cards? They should be collecting coins, or even stamps like us! How are we supposed to keep our beloved hobby going? Who's going to be around to pay world record prices for my great collection I painstakingly built and spent my adult life building? AH!!!!!!!!!!!!

The passing parade. ----Brian Powell

Thanks Brian.

I'll have nightmares all night long now.....

My daughter is 12 a lot of the boys in her class collect cards or collected cards when younger. Are they as passionate as we were some I would say yes absolutely. If you combine gaming cards I’d say more or as many buy trading cards as when I was a kid. I think video games is a growing future market as is action figures but that doesn’t mean cards have no future far from it.

Guys, as I re-read my post, I know it sounded dire. I know in the future there will be card collectors, and very serious card collectors. We all would agree our hobby has retracted to an unpleasant extent. Looking back 30 years ago, everything was BOOMING. We can name some of the significant signs, easily: the dwindling number of brick and mortar baseball card shops, the scant number of card shows, periodicals that have ceased publication, combined with others, or shrunk.

However, on the plus-side, and it is a significant plus-side, we have a plethora of on-line hobby outlets. We happily have Net54baseball.com, providing us with a great outlet to voice our joys, sorrows, concerns, and remembrances. We have a very strong cadre of auction houses, from which we can buy, and sell. If said auction houses were not selling well, they would have switched to what was selling well. Most of my purchases have been on eBay; thus, the brick and mortar has evolved to on-line, making them a veritable highway of card shops.

As far as most kids today not knowing Mickey Mantle or Hank Aaron, well, that's really understandable. In my day, they knew who Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig were, but probably not Honus Wagner, Christy Mathewson, Ted Williams (by the time he retired from managing), and Stan Musial. The passing parade does a lot to slowly drain the memory of the once-famous.

There's probably a lot more younger card collectors and fans of the past than I think there are. Still, there are more choices today that were unavailable in the past. In my time there was no fantasy football. I hear in some quarters that is quite the rage. As I wrote before, for many youngsters of a generation ago, their happiness was derived from their video game enjoyment. Those that loved collecting cards then were driven by the hobby periodicals that told them, in no uncertain terms, that they were holding onto gold, and their cards would all be worth a fortune some day---rookie card mania in the extreme. Sellers sold bricks of 100 Greg Jeffries, and other names that you could come up with in a flash. Years later, when those trusting young collectors tried to sell.......:mad:

Take heart, me buckos, collect what you love, and maybe someone else will want to buy it from you down the way. The major sports aren't going away; look what happened with all the frenzy over Aaron Judge last year; then too, look what happened to the frenzy over that pitcher, Stephen Strasburg (is that his name? Spelling?) I'd like to edit, but gotta go.

In a nutshell, the hobby changed in ways it had to, with professional grading, and a strong on-line presence. Some collectors could not, or would not, change with the times. Some have grasped it and flourished.

Bye. ---Brian Powell

For one, hobby related, the internet (auction sites such as eBay, etc) killed the hobby in a sense (card shops, etc...).

It's harder for kids to collect mainly because they can't log into PayPal and use their credit card to buy cards online.

In return, they are driven to what's easily accessible (Pokémon, games, comics and toys). There are several toys shops and Gamestops in any local mid sized town. Card and coin shops, not so much.


Back to the topic.

Mantle--- Bigger fan base, all american white athlete in a HUGE sports town.

Aaron--- Smaller sports market/town, black American athlete, breaking the most hallowed record of all time resulting in more hatred and even escalating the "racism" factor even more as well.

Millions of people did not want Ruths record to be broken, especially by a black ball player so lets be realistic. Sad yes, but it's the truth.

In my opinion, it is about timing. Had Mantle and Aaron played today, I feel their collectable status would be different. They played in the 50's-70's. Not too many collectors from that era still around these days.


I can go on and on, but I'm typing from my phone and it's kind of annoying lol.

These are just a few things that crossed my mind in regards to the topic.

PS: I will say this. Society and technology has evolved since they played the game. Usually people tend to go with "what's hot" or with "what's trending" and with Marvel and DC movies killing it in the theatres nowadays, COMICS and TOYS have become more popular than anything else. More so than a typical teen or young adult going after that 1957 Topps PSA 4 Mickey Mantle with great centering lol.


David

Strongly disagree with both of these. People thought Willie Mays would break the record and saw Aaron as a lesser player and not as worthy. It also didn't help that Aaron played in the most home run friendly stadium and then the Braves moved fences in in 1969 to help Aaron break the record, then moved them back in 1974 as Aaron's production was declining.

Mantle still played in New York and Aaron didn't. 12 World Series for Mantle, 2 for Aaron. 7 World Series rings for Mantle, 1 for Aaron. 3 MVPs for Mantle (probably 6 or 7 today), 1 for Aaron. A superstar in pinstripes is going to out sell one in another jersey. Just look at Derek Jeter.

I wasn't aware of that? Was the fence move made obvious or did they disguise it as a necessity for some reason?