1952 Topps Mantle; Worth It In Any Condition?

[Bocabirdman]

Originally Posted by Beatles Guy

I think baby boomers drive the market on this card. Once that generation starts to pass away, you will not have anyone who actually collected in that era or watched Mantle play. Therefore I think the demand will slow.

As a Gen-Xer, I love the card, it's been iconic since I started collecting in the 70's. However, if I had the disposable income to purchase one, I think I'd pass unless the deal was so good that I could flip it for a decent profit.

Nobody alive has seen Ty Cobb play or Wagner or ...well you get the idea. Their prices are holding up just fine...........

[Beatles Guy]

Originally Posted by Bocabirdman

Nobody alive has seen Ty Cobb play or Wagner or ...well you get the idea. Their prices are holding up just fine...........

I see your point. I would venture to say that there are a lot more '52 Mantle's out there than Cobb and Wagner.

[HappyJack41]

I'll just say this, I can think of A LOT better items to spend nearly $4,000 on than that faded piece of worn out, destroyed, scrap garbage

To answer your question, I don't see how the trend CAN'T continue......there's obviously no shortage of really, really "intelligent" people out there with too much money in their hands that are willing to pay $4,000 for scrap examples such as this when the card is actually so common and plentiful. Well over 2,000 examples......and that's just the graded ones! Haha. Doesn't even include all the raw specimens out there (probably actually closer to 3,000). It would be like the Griffey Jr. UD rookie fetching $100,000 20 years from now. I know seems so silly.....that's what everybody first thought in the early to mid 80's when the Mantle prices first started getting stupid.

[Exhibitman]

That's exactly my point, Roy. With thousands of these cards out there, no issue of scarcity exists, just demand.

[pawpawdiv9]

I had actually placed a early bid, and sat and watched it climb. I talked it over with another board guy (Bestdj777) who shared interest in almost anything Mantle. We thought near 2500 max, maybe near 3k tops would win this one. The image is still there and centered was a plus. Like i mentioned somewhere, it must been a few guys on a registry that needed one. Its the 'white whale' guys, i remember when i snagged mine, and how joyous i was when i got it. Some guys do it for the money, some do it for love of cardboard,

[HRBAKER]

I get the allure of the card but not that one.
I wouldn't be interested @ 10% of what it brought xc for the opportunity to sell it at a profit perhaps. That's hideous but beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

[Bestdj777]

1952 Topps Mantles, in lower grade, have been going very strong over the last couple of years. I bought my first one roughly five years ago and paid a little less than this one. It was damaged, but I love it. When I went for my second, the price for anything somewhat presentable jumped by $500 or so dollars. I did not think that this would bring what it did. As I told Chris, I thought it was a $2,800 card and would have easily laid out the $2,000 on it myself it I thought I had a shot of winning it.

At the end of the day, some people like well loved Mantle cards. I happen to be one of them. And, you can apparently not get an authentic 52 Topps Mantle for less than $3,000 anymore.

Congrats to the buyer and the seller!

[MattyC]

When one accounts for the large amount of crackouts and crossovers, there are probably around 1300 or so graded by SGC and PSA. It is simply specious logic to try and disparage the hobby's most desired postwar icon by citing that number-- because the demand simply dwarfs it. Hence the prices examples fetch.

There could be five of a card on earth; if no one wants it, it's worthless. Like the card or not-- most do love it, and most do want one. And the relationship between the number of Mantles and those who want one is such that prices are what they are. If that relationship was the same as the UD Griffey, the card would cost the same as the Griffey. Sheer supply is only part of the equation, and focusing only on part will fail to give an accurate, complete picture.

Then a whole separate discussion is the difference between an average looking example and a beauty. Of all the examples extant, how many are off centered, tilted, or otherwise suffering in the eye appeal department? The rather fierce competition for the better looking specimens in turn makes it a desired piece, even in rough condition-- it becomes what some call an, "I just want to own a copy" card. The CJ Shoeless was like that for me-- an icon I could not find or afford in great shape, but was just overjoyed to even own a beater.

As to the future, no one knows-- but as a collector in his 30s, I can say that I and the probably twenty or so collectors I know between 30 and 35 all love and pursue the card. Our children already know how much it means to us, and all the reasons why, and some of those children may in turn grow up valuing the card. The same way I value a Gehrig or Ruth or others I never saw play. Heck, I never saw Mantle play; that doesn't prohibit me or others my age from studying the game, and becoming fans of past players, and wanting to collect them. That does not even factor in how, to a baseball card collector, certain cards-- especially the 1952 Topps Mantle-- have an historical value and cachet to the collecting hobby, beyond being an early card representing a great player.

Collectors in their 30s have a few good decades left to support the card. As do collectors in their 40s. So over the next few decades many of us will be enjoying either the hunt for or ownership of a cherished card.

It was mentioned that the prices began to skyrocket in the 80s. That means we have a 30+ year trend in progress, of this card being quite expensive. That is quite a long history.

Ultimately, collecting is a deeply personal endeavor and no one is ever forcing anyone else what cards to buy. That's why I always question why some take a supercilious stance against cards others like, and how another man wants to spend his hard-earned money. A collector just needs to be happy with cards, that's all. If the owner of that PSA 1 card is happy, that's all that matters.

[kamikidEFFL]

Hey to say u own a 52 mantle even in the shape this one is in is still pretty cool. I don't know if I could of went this high but sometimes when bidding you can get lost in just saying you need to own it no matter what. Hey congrats to the guy who owns it now and hey maybe a heirloom for his kid

[Rickyy]

I think the demand is always there for this card...since many can't get into the big $ range...(like me) even the lesser grades are appealing for those who has to have one.

Ricky Y

[HRBAKER]

Originally Posted by kamikidEFFL

Hey to say u own a 52 mantle even in the shape this one is in is still pretty cool. I don't know if I could of went this high but sometimes when bidding you can get lost in just saying you need to own it no matter what. Hey congrats to the guy who owns it now and hey maybe a heirloom for his kid

That gives a whole new perspective on "heirloom quality." I think this is a symptom of what happens in this hobby when "you have to have something." To me it leads down a lot of paths of being less discriminating on what you buy and who you buy it from in many instances. Not trying to be supercilious, just providing a POV.

[pawpawdiv9]

Not to be hypocriticial, but i was just thinking>
The Sterling auction ended? Feb 5th right? (correct me if wrong)
and the person already has it in hand? or they are expecting to have it, when this auction ends on the 17th?

[MattyC]

One aspect that can't be overlooked is that when shopping on a budget within a specific grade, options can often be limited.

With respect to the 1952 Topps Mantle, there are 191 PSA 1s and 45 SGC 10s. With crack-outs and crossovers, there are likely considerably fewer than 236. Let's say an even 200.

If the price tag of the 2s is prohibitive to someone who wants one for their collection, then such a collector is relegated to seeking a POOR-grade specimen. This shopper would also likely and rightly surmise that a freakishly nice "PSA 1/SGC 10" would likely sell at auction or privately for much closer to a 1.5 or 2 price. So of those 200 cards in the shopper's grade/price range, many are going to look the part, meaning the grade.

So in the under 5k price tag, there is such a limited supply of the card relative to demand that it's no wonder there's stiff competition for the lowest graded examples these days. Pretty AUTHs command anywhere from 10k to 25k, and 2s are 10k+ now.

So if someone has 10k and beyond to shop for the card, their options are much greater than the collector seeking to drop only a couple grand.

[mrmantlecollector]

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[HRBAKER]

I agree that if the buyer would be happy then he made the right call for himself. This looks to be a speculator who thinks that $3800 is a cost that can be recouped and then some due to the demand that surrounds the card. Maybe so. For me this is not the $3800 Mantle card I want to be holding when the music stops.

I guess looking at it another way from my perspective. If in order to have a Ferrari, I have to buy a smashed up, rusted out one that doesn't run then I am not sure I have a Ferrari. Just a personal thing, to each their own.

I do not think that examples like this will continue to follow the escalation trail and be dragged up infinitum by the overall strength of demand of the card. There has to be some sort of limit to what most people would pay for a card that looks like this regardless of what card it started out as.