1957 Mickey Mantle

[the 'stache]

Wow, I don't know how many times I've looked at that card, and I never noticed the ghost until now.

[Tanman7baseball]

I appreciate the help guys. I like to buy and trade cards locally because I rather support my local card shop or card collector friend. I'm meeting more and more people wanting to trade or sell, and I just don't know sometimes when I find an awesome high-end card if its real or fake. That's why I will post it on here to get some help. I just don't like buying high end graded cards because the chance that it has been tampered with scares me. I'm sticking with raw cards and then when I buy high end graded cards I figured I would stick with well known dealers or auction houses.

[Bestdj777]

Originally Posted by the 'stache

Wow, I don't know how many times I've looked at that card, and I never noticed the ghost until now.

I just learned about the ghost a few months ago from a Net54 thread. I own the card yet had never seen it. If you ever get bored, take a look through ebay. It is really cool seeing the various degrees of the ghost. Every card I have seen has one present, but some are much clearer.


Colby, this may sounds strange, but something I do with all older cards is I take them out of the holder and smell them. Older cards tend to get a bit of a musty smell. Obviously, older fakes would likely have this smell as well, so it isn't fool proof. But, it is just another tool to use.

[ALR-bishop]

If you compare enough of the 57 Mantles you can find different degrees in the airbrushing of the figure in the background. I have been told there are cards with the figure more or less all gone, but never seen one. The other mystery is who it was.

[Volod]

Originally Posted by ALR-bishop

If you compare enough of the 57 Mantles you can find different degrees in the airbrushing of the figure in the background. I have been told there are cards with the figure more or less all gone, but never seen one. The other mystery is who it was.

Al, maybe a plausible candidate would be Billy Martin. The Yankees demoted him to Kansas City in June, 1957, following the notorious incident in the Copacabana. Ok, actually it was a lateral transfer, since KC was technically a major league club. Even so, that would not have been the reason for the airbrush job by Topps - but, knowing Martin, he could have been in the background of the photo of his pal, Mantle, perhaps making a gesture similar to the one he famously slipped into his 1972 Topps card. Just a wild theory, I know.