OT-$282,587 for a Mantle PSA 9

[Archive]

Posted By: Paul

I'll make an effort to answer Richard's question about why the 52 Topps Mantle is more popular than the 51 Bowman. I think there's several factors.

First, as Barry said, the 52 Topps set is considered to be the classic post-war set. But I don't think that alone explains it. After all, that would mean Willie Mays' 52 Topps card should be worth more than his 51 Bowman rookie.

Second, and I think this is critical, throughout the 70s and 80s, 52 Topps high numbers were true glamour cards. They were very expensive (by the standards of the time) and were simply unavailable from most dealers. Few collectors even knew of true rarities like E107s, so 52 Topps high numbers were considered genuine rarities among those cards that ordinary people actually collected. Mantle was more popular than any other player in the high number series, including Mays. So his 52 Topps card was the king of this run of rarities.

Third, it was not until the late 1980s that Mantle's card was discovered to be a triple print. By this time, its status as the most important and most valuable post-war card had been fixed. (Though the 54 Bowman Ted Williams gave it a run for this title for awhile.)

Fourth, marketing. Once the 52 Mantle was established as the most desireable post-war card, dealers started to exaggerate its significance to boost sales. To this day, some dealers falsely call the card Mantle's rookie card. Even highly respected dealers and auction houses refer to it as Mantle's "Topps rookie card." I think this caused many novice collectors to either overlook the 51 Bowman Mantle entirely, or to think that there was something "wrong" with the card that disqualified it from being his rookie (just like many collectors find something "wrong" with 1947 Homogenized Bond cards and don't consider them rookies). Collectors carry with them what they learn when they are novices. So, as these collectors became more experienced, they still valued and desired the 52 Mantle, even though they eventually learned that he had a legitmiate earlier card.

Fifth, Mr. Mint's find of 52 Topps high numbers. Once the rarity of the 52 Topps high numbers was established, Alan Rosen found some mint unopened cases. This suddenly made ultra-high grade 52 Topps Mantles available. Others may disagree, but I think the influx of these cards actually made the price of ultra-high grade 52 Mantles go up. Until this "find," I don't think collectors strived to own the single finest 52 Topps Mantle, or one of the top ten. They satisfied themselves with owning a very nice one. After the "find," this became the top priority of many collectors, driving up the price of high grade 52 Mantles even further. The development of grading companies also contributed greatly to this phenomenon, but the existence of grading companies doesn't explain why the 52 Topps Mantle was singled out.

There may be other factors that I've overlooked, and some may disagree with the ones I've listed. But I've given it my best shot.

Paul