I bought the cheapest Mickey Mantle ever...

[mintacular]

I picked up an authentic 1958 Topps AS for $2 at the flea market and I believe have set a Guinness record for the buying the cheapest authentic Mantle pick-up, plus it was from the 50s to boot...

Has anyone else bought a dirt-cheap Mantle? This card mind you is missing a corner and is only half a bicycle stroke away from falling into two pieces. I might provide a scan but such activity could cause it to dissolve. This card would make Bob Costas' look like a gem-mint 10

[steve B]

Nice pickup.

I've got the same card in similar condition. Picked up in a batch of 50's-early 60's cards all of them very worn. It was the first decent sized batch of older stuff I bought. I've still got many of them, especially the stars.

I won't say how much it was, but it was reasonable at the time. And ridiculously cheap by todays pricing. of course, it was almost 30 years ago...

Steve B

[ValKehl]

About 10-15 years ago, at a local flea market, I bought the 1953 Briggs Hot Dog Mantle card on the right in the pic below (with the $50 price sticker) from a dealer who didn't know what he had and was very happy to accept my $20 offer!
Val

[jabiloxi]

I bought a 56 topps mantle off Sportsbuy about a month ago for a little less then a $100, I was skeptical but the seller during the course of the auction was pretty cool, and gave me some additional pics etc. and I was able to determine it was not only genuine but in vgex condition.

Turned out to be a steal for me. I think there are so many sites popping up on the net trying to compete with ebay, and sellers are becoming more desperate to move items that you can find amazing deals out there. You find sites like sportsbuy, where the lack of traffic decreases the competition on cards. Forums our pretty golden too.

I am going to check out some local shows in the next couple weeks, I will see what the prices are like on vintage there. Last time I checked out a show in 2005 0r 2006, the dealers where really stubborn. I even got yelled at trying to convince a seller to sell me an eric chavez bowman chrome rc for $5 instead of $8. True Story. Than I discovered pre war and vintage cards.

Sorry for the ramble.

[lesliewestbrook]

The first Mantle I ever bought was out of a junk box at a card show in Bossier, La. It was, like yours, the '58 All-Star. It has a decent front but a horrid back. I paid $13 for it and a 1962 Topps Roger Maris that has his team scratched out and corrected (I guess in a later year).

My real steal, though, was a purchase from the Beckett.com marketplace: A 1969 Topps Mickey Mantle for a listed price of $1. I thought it looked to good to be true until I got it in the mail. (It does appear to have been carried around in someone's back pocket)