Help with Mickey Mantle values
 

Hi, my grandfather was Mickey Mantles Dr. For a while. He was also a photographer. He died in 1959. I have recently discovered my grandfather left behind several photos "original negatives included" of Mickey hitting home runs and other plays. After months of google search I believe I have pinned down they were taken at municipal park stadium Ks in the 50's.
So I'm trying to figure out if they have a value? Should I sell them? Insure them? Or just enjoy the heirloom? Any help in the right direction is appreciated.
These photos have never seen the light of day by any one other than my family. The negatives are in FULL COLOR and close, crisp, and mint condition. I'm concerned if somebody wanted to buy them, I'm sure they wouldn't want the pics plastered all over the web, so I have been hesitant to post them anywhere. I just don't know what to do...if anything. Thanks for your help

I'd say they have some value. How much is more for the guys that are more into photos. I think it would depend on the details of the photo itself. Like was it taken from a good close spot like a press photographers area or dugout, or from the bleachers? Ones taken from a distance are -to me anyway- pretty cool but usually aren't as valuable. Ones taken from a really good spot will usually show more detail and be more valuable. Being able to identify the event more closely would help.

I guess what to do with them depends more on what you want to do. Personally I'd keep them as a family heirloom. But not everyone has that sort of attachment to family stuff. And I also realize that the value would make a difference to most people.

Either way, get some proper archival storage stuff for them, and keep the original packaging as well.

Boring technical stuff below. :)

A couple ideas, if the color is still good they're probably Kodachrome, which will stay nice for a long time. The negatives will have that somewhere in the margins, and there's usually a datecode telling when the film was made. A good photo lab if you can find one will be able to make some nice prints from the original negatives.
If they're not Kodachrome but some other Kodak film then the color may eventually fade, typically for a positive image that means fading to red with a loss of detail. (Non Kodak films do that too, but almost all companies had something similar to Kodachrome. Just let me know the brand and whatever else it says in the margin and I can find out details from a film collecting friend of mine) If they're not Kodachrome and not faded it might be worth having duplicate negatives made. Again that's not hard for a good photo lab, and the new stuff should last quite a while. (Although probably not as long as Kodachrome, which should hold good color for as long as the plastic substrate lasts and beyond! )

Steve B

They potentially have decent monetary value, but it would depend on the quality of the images. Color images from the 1950s would be particularly neat and unusual. But it's impossible to appraise photos that you haven't seen.

How?
 

How do I post a photo for y'all to see?

[attach]Attachment 262962[/attach]

These are just a couple. They will only allow 600x600. So they are a fraction of the real quality. These are modern prints taken from the negatives and scanned and watermarked.

Better quality at this link
 

I posted the pics to my auction site. Better to see the real quality.

http://www.ubotit.com/Listing/Detail...t-auction-only