My PostWar Homies Are Gonna Call Me Crazy...
 

But I think this is my favorite card. I actually love it more because of the super low grade, because to me that makes it a cool anomaly. I just always loved this picture as a kid for some reason, and finding this card centered and also focused was always such a high priority for me. I had a 6 forever; it was actually the first graded card I bought when I got back heavy into the hobby, but the centering on that 6 never sat right with me.

Holding this card in hand, I could not care any less about a few faded letters with ink loss on the back. Best loot I ever spent!

http://www.collectorfocus.com/images...-mickey-mantle

Matt,

You are headed to the dark side. Next thing I know, you'll be bidding against me for cards like this (this one is surrounded by plastic as well):

http://i1345.photobucket.com/albums/...ps04210949.jpg

I love the card by the way. It is one of the top Mantle issues in my opinion. Beautiful coloring, and yours is a gem.

Classic card, I have always loved this one. I also love the 54 Bowman Mantle.

I would love to see the back. How bad is it to make that nice card a "good?"

He's already talked about this card in this month's pickup thread, including the back.

http://i741.photobucket.com/albums/x...psbabd65de.jpg

Mantle Again
 

I think the 53 Bowman Mantle is the only non Topps one I have. That set is one of the only non Fleer or Topps sets I have built. I did that one because I loved the Musial, who was absent from Topps sets until 1958. Myt 53 Bowman set, like all my sets, is, with a couple of exceptions, ungraded

http://i1267.photobucket.com/albums/...g?t=1401473811

I may have one other non Topps Mantle, but not intentionally. I picked this up because it is listed in SCD as a Topps premium send away that was advertised on some high # wax packs in 1963. But I have never seen such an advertisement, so it may not really have a Topps origin

http://i1267.photobucket.com/albums/...9/P1010074.jpg

Nice Stan the Man, Al. That is my favorite post-war card of all time, and I regret selling my decently-centered 7 copy a year or two ago.