1963 mickey mantle mask plaque
 

its in REA auction
1st one to make appearance
no tab but nice frame

I have a scan of another one with tab, so at least two out there but no evidence it is a Topps product other than say-so. Perhaps a Bazooka premium; if it appeared on a comic of the era that would be neat.

http://toppsarchives.blogspot.com/se...0Mantle%20Mask

mask
 

dave
i meant 1st to make appearance in major auction
the scan you have is my mask
larry

Larry:

If you don't mind, can you share how you obtained this piece? I would love to be able to get the Topps provenance on it as it's a bit of a mystery to this day. I have no idea where I got that scan from at this point.

mantle mask
 

hi dave
in the last 20 years i have seen 5 masks now including the one coming up in REA..One had the entire wood looking frame cut off, the 2nd the wood looking frame was extremely poor and the mantle face was damaged...one i saw at the 500 hr show in ac in the 80s the other at the national in atlanta 1999 or 2000 i forget....neither had any remnant of the hanging tab... the 4th appeared on ebay in the last year and is the 2nd nicest ive seen and i purchased.. amazingly located 5 minutes from where i live it has 1/2 of the hanging tab...the 5th is in REAs auction and has the nicest frame ive seen except where the hanging tab is supposed to be..if it had the tab it would be the nicest...
the 3rd one is the one i own...B&E had it in an auction in 2001.. a few minor breaks on the underside of frame at the corners...and the only fully intact hanging tab ive ever seen
As for wheer they actually came from its hard to say as Ive never seen the ad...Lemke says he mustve been shown the wrapper as thats how it got in the book..Mile High actully told me that he had a bunch of those wrappers about 20 years ago..if his memory serves him right...REA is now saying they were told it was actually a cereal premium...send-a-way..
The fact that it was put in the book with the date of origin being 1963 tells me that whatever the evidence was at the time must have been solid enough for it to be included in the book...therefore either a wrapper or a comic book or magazine must have been shown otherwise how could the year have been ascertained

Thanks Larry. I would not think a wrapper ad exists in '63 but maybe one of those inserts they used to insert into the packs with premiums? I could see the cereal angle being legit though. Didn't he sell Maypo?