In the Fall of '52, I opened up my last 5-cent waxpack and I'll never forget how exci-Ted I was to see the Mantle card shown here (Type 1). Yes, that's my original Mantle
card. My youthful collection was not thrown away. Many have a tendency to blame their Mom's for lost collections. Let's give them a break....yesterday was Mother's day.
I think many lost collections are due to MOVES, and not MOM's. My folks never moved....I was lucky.
Whatever....when I returned to the hobby in 1977, things in this hobby were "popping". And, the 52T Mantle was the key card for many collectors. This was in part due to
"hobby hype". By 1980, B & B Collectibles (Philadelphia) auctioned off 3 crisp looking 52T Mantle cards for an unprecdedented $10,000. This event was front page headlines
in The Philadelphia Inquirer. And, was all over hobby news reports.
This event set the tone for "52T Mantle-mania" that has lasted for the past 34 years. And, I expect that it will continue for quite a few more years.
I saw Mantle play in the 1950's, and especially in every World Series game. His REGULAR season performance was really great....and, as good, if not better than Willie Mays
or Duke Snider. But, for those of you who like to compare performance (STATS) of these 3 great players, there is no comparison with Mickey when it comes to World Series
performance.
Trust me, there are many guys my age; and, many more "baby boomers" that remember the excitement Mantle provided us during those years (1952-1964). And, there is a
lot more I can say regarding this subject....I will leave you with this to consider....in 1980, an Ex/Mt 52T Mantle was selling for $3000, while a 33G Ruth was selling for $300.
And, Mantle's 1951 Bowman (rookie card) $200.
Type 2 .................................................. .................................................. .................
Type 1
....
TED Z
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LOOKING for this T206 guy to complete my EXCLUSIVE 12 red HINDU sub-set (12 subjects)
SHECKARD (glove)
.