1952 Topps Mantle reprint advice...
 

A friend of a friend asked me to help him look at selling a 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle #311 for a local man who is having medical issues. The owner remembers having it since he was a boy. I pretty quickly determined it is not real because of the variation of the Topps Baseball written on the back (I know there are at least a half dozen other signs, but that one was the dagger). I have seen these before…anyone have an idea of when it might have been reprinted?

Can't say that i've seen that one before. The usual '52 Mantle reprint selling on the Bay - that is, other than the authorized 1983 issue - has a back that is almost indistinguishable from the genuine card. But the one you have there is immediately recognizable as a reprint - Topps line on the back has a strange font, among other signs. Who knows when it was made, but if the owner did obtain it as a kid, how old is he now?

He's in his 70s i think but further probing indicates it was give to him sometime later. I hated to break the news to him but I showed him comparisons and he understood.

Yeah, disappointing i guess, but if it was a gift, at least he's not kicking himself, like some others who were taken.