He Has Arrived...

[MattyC]

I have no words. The color. The centering. I'm taking the day off to celebrate.

I am eternally grateful this card was so harshly graded, and did not get into the 6 holder it deserves. Would never have been able to afford it.

I will NEVER, EVER complain about a submitted card coming back undergraded/lower than anticipated



GIFSoup

[nebboy]

Congratulations!!

Nice card, and nice moves....

[ALR-bishop]

Great Card Matt. Very Happy for you....but we will remember what you said about no future complaints . Enjoy the card and your day off

[Harliduck]

Wow.

[Leon]

Great card. Congrats!!

[CW]

[pawpawdiv9]

Nice MattyC, i been looking at these for months now, eye candy shopping for Variation A.
That defeintily deserves a bump. all i can see wrong is some ding corners.
Are you displaying it or is it being locked up in a bank?

[brewing]

Card porn!!!!!!

Absolutely Awesome.

[MattyC]

Originally Posted by pawpawdiv9

Nice MattyC, i been looking at these for months now, eye candy shopping for Variation A.
That defeintily deserves a bump. all i can see wrong is some ding corners.
Are you displaying it or is it being locked up in a bank?

It is spending the day with me then off to the bank box with the rest of my cards. Really happy the image makes others as happy as it makes me. I can stare at it all day. Takes fellow collectors to understand.

[goheels]

Kate Upton. I understand. Congratulations.

[KingFisk]

Congratulations! Beautiful card and truly iconic.

[KCRfan1]

Is the bank president going to mind you hanging out in the vault a bit more often? You know that you will not be able to stay away from that card.

[paleocards]

Wow! Congratulations.

[David W]

Nice. Congrats.

[NateMack]

Amazing card! I can only hope to own one in future!

[gregr2]

Congrats!! That is awesome.

[baseballfan]

Wow! Beautiful

Congrats!

[GregC]

Originally Posted by goheels

Kate Upton. I understand. Congratulations.

I'd take that Mantle over Kate any day.

[Cardboard Junkie]

Better eye appeal than most 6's and 7's. I know it's rude but what was the ticket? I'm guessing close to 18K give or take. Wanna sell? I'm your man. Congrats. Save that mother! Back clean?

[pclpads]

What a super score! Congrats! Incredible card!

[CW]

Originally Posted by MattyC

It is spending the day with me then off to the bank box with the rest of my cards.

Haha, I can just see Matt hanging out with the 4.5 all day, doing various activities across town, such as:


A leisurely drive on a winding road, top down on the covertible, Mantle hanging out on the passenger seat...





Then a quick stop at the local amusement park for a ride on their new rollercoaster (HANG ON TIGHT! )...





Of course, you gotta catch a ball game with The Mick!






And finally, to top it all off, a delicious meal accompanied with a fine Cabernet. Mantle approves.

[MattyC]

CW-- THAT IS HILARIOUS.

All the mores because it is PRECARIOUSLY CLOSE TO THE TRUTH OF MY DAY! I literally took it with me to lunch, to my workout, and of course driving all in between it was on the passenger seat. You nailed it, brother!

Originally Posted by Cardboard Junkie

Better eye appeal than most 6's and 7's. I know it's rude but what was the ticket? I'm guessing close to 18K give or take. Wanna sell? I'm your man. Congrats. Save that mother! Back clean?

Thanks, brother. Back is immaculate. Went for double that estimate but I was ready to pay even higher. Centering, color, and immaculate surface make a standout 52 Mantle, in my opinion, but to find all three of those rare aspects in one card-- a card that was not in a prohibitive 7, 8, 9, or 10 holder-- it was the find of a lifetime. Bill Goodwin said, well after it sold, that he's held all three of the 10s in his lifetime, and in terms of centering, color, and surface this bad boy can hang. That really meant a lot, coming from the heart of such a veteran. Clearly the corners are the main issue, but I'm grateful for them. Here's the back...

[Cardboard Junkie]

That is crazy nice man! What a freaking card! That's a "left nut" card if there ever was one!

[bobsbbcards]

Originally Posted by Cardboard Junkie

That is crazy nice man! What a freaking card! That's a "left nut" card if there ever was one!

I couldn't disagree more. It's a "both nut" card.

[the 'stache]

Originally Posted by GregC

I'd take that Mantle over Kate any day.

I wouldn't.

[MattyC]

I gotta side with my little bro on this one. Granted, his perspective is skewed since he has hooked up with quite a few famous actresses.

But in a few years, Kate Upton will not be looking like she is now, whereas the Mantle will always be beautiful!

And-- no question-- there are far more hot women on Kate's level than there are dead centered #311s walking around!

[GregC]

Originally Posted by MattyC

I gotta side with my little bro on this one. Granted, his perspective is skewed since he has hooked up with quite a few famous actresses.

But in a few years, Kate Upton will not be looking like she is now, whereas the Mantle will always be beautiful!

And-- no question-- there are far more hot women on Kate's level than there are dead centered #311s walking around!

Beautiful women grow on trees and are far easier to obtain than a '52 Mantle that looks like that. Throw on a nice outfit and saddle up to a high end bar in any major city and something as good as Kate or better is guaranteed to walk by.

Can't ever recall taking home a '52 Mantle though

[ALR-bishop]

Greg---you must not be married

[MattyC]

Nope, he's not. Does have his first ever serious girlfriend though-- at 34.

I, however, am settled down.

Albeit with a Swedish model

[Harliduck]

Originally Posted by MattyC

Nope, he's not. Does have his first ever serious girlfriend though-- at 34.

I, however, am settled down.

Albeit with a Swedish model

No wife = Cool cards.


That explains A LOT! haha.

Behind every hot girl (Kate Upton) there is some dude tired of it. I am doubting I would ever get tired of 311....

[MattyC]

Originally Posted by Harliduck

Behind every hot girl (Kate Upton) there is some dude tired of it. I am doubting I would ever get tired of 311....

+1 Brother!

[hammer]

Super card and congrats.

[h2oya311]

sweet card Matt -

I'm happy my username shares the '52 mantle card number (coincidence, actually, since it happens to be my birthday). But yeah, I'd say I'd saddle up with this Mantle. Gotta agree though, no wife/gf = sweet cards!

[Rickyy]

Sweeeeeeeeeeet!

Ricky Y

[Bocabirdman]

Originally Posted by the 'stache

I wouldn't.

If you can afford Kate then you can afford both.

[mmcgruff]

Matt,

That truly is one in a million Mickey that I have seen probably for ever! Personally I am not a fan of graded/certified cards, but that to come out in that condition is really dynamite.
Just a truly great looking 52 Mantle. I applaud you!

Rick

[MattyC]

Wanna say much thanks to all my boys here with whom I can share the Mick; we all here know how most of those in our daily spheres can't really get down with our cards and how much enjoyment they give us.

Now actually, I must come clean on one level; when I said "settle down" earlier, one of my buddies here interpreted that as me having a girlfriend but not being married. In fact, I do have a ball and chain. Actually trying to post a nice photo bucket shot of my better half here but the whole URL text string keeps coming through-- gonna fix that and find a way to share a scan of my gem mt 10 lady lol.

[Bestdj777]

Congrats on the great pickups Matt.

[MattyC]

Thx, Chris. So have you tracked down the Dice Game '61 Mantle yet?! I was just doing some reading on that beast of a Mantle. Wonder what it would fetch in this surging market.

[Bestdj777]

Originally Posted by MattyC

Thx, Chris. So have you tracked down the Dice Game '61 Mantle yet?! I was just doing some reading on that beast of a Mantle. Wonder what it would fetch in this surging market.

Haha, my understanding is that there are only two out there, and I believe they are both owned by board members. I am currently working on getting one of them to adopt me... I would imagine they would bring huge money now.

[GregC]

What is this elusive Dice Game Mantle you speak of? I just googled an image of it is a beautiful image. Such a simple card. What's the history on it?

[MattyC]

Here is what I know-- though I'm sure some here might have more accurate info...

Topps never marketed the cards of the dice game. It was more of a test product, an internal thing. What seems to support this is that almost every other Topps issue of the era used color and the surviving Dice cards were black and white. Again, not saying that as FACT. My knowledge here is limited.

I remember reading that someone at Topps named Woody Gelman was like their creative director and would issue samples and letters to established hobbyists and sometimes the card was stapled or otherwise affixed to the letter.

Rumor was there were a few sheets with 20 cards. I think Fritsch owned one of them. The one Dice Game Mick I recall for sale was raw hand-cut.

So that one had to come from a sheet, but I remember seeing another one that PSA slabbed that looked factory cut to me.

There was also a send away official Topps product called the plaque/mask and was from 63? That's also rare. I believe the Dice card is considered tougher and more valuable though. Maybe some of our big Mantle collectors can shed some more light for you.

Link to a past sale:

Dice Game Card Sold

[Bestdj777]

My understanding is the same. They are simple black and white cards. At least one of the two has staple holes and was stapled to a sheet of paper at some point in the past. They are believed to have come from Woody Gelman. As far as I know, there are only two Mantles out there. Someone on here posts theirs occasionally, but I cannot recall where the thread is or who the member is off the top of my head. As far as I know, the Dice Game did not make it as far along in production as some of the other rare test/proto types from the 50s/60s.

As for the 63 Plaque, it is a pretty weird looking piece. It is rare but not nearly as rare as the Dice Game. It was supposedly advertised as a send away on what I believe were high series packs. There is some debate about whether this is actually true or not. I have not seen an advertisement for it.

Just my thoughts. I am far from an advanced collector, and I am sure others will weigh in with some better insight.

[pawpawdiv9]

The 63 plaque/mask was something i placed strong bid on back in the REA auction 2013, but i settled on 2 other lots..I know it had the 'tab' intact and fetched more than the 5k i wanted, if i remember it reached 7k.
One of the board members gladly has one and shows it once in a while with a wood frame border. I can tell you that the plastic frame of the card is very brittle they say and careful of the nose to not break off. if i not mistaken, there was one on Ebay at one time.

Now for the 61 Dice Game...yeah its the #1 most valuable it seems.
One of the other sites (COMC) i think has a top 5 list what people think are most valuable Mantle cards.
61 Dice Game, 63 plaque/mask, 55 test stamps (which may be claim as 56), then a 70 topps cloth (which also is uncertain) then 66 topps punch-out, then maybe a 59 Bazooka

[esquiresports]

Man, that color is off the charts! Congrats again Matty. I would not be able to put that card in a vault.

[MattyC]

Thanks. Yeah man that scan is au naturale. No roids LOL. I stare at either the scan or the catalog page of it probably an hour a day all added up. It's like a Pavlovian thing; I see that 4.5 and I just get all chill and happy.