How much should I spend on a 1952 topps psa 1 Mantle?

[MattyC]

Originally Posted by KCRfan1

"The only people who believe Mantle cards are overvalued are people who don't own them."

+ Infinity.

Doubly so if they are centered

[Bestdj777]

Originally Posted by MattyC

+ Infinity.

Doubly so if they are centered

Centered cards are overrated

[GregC]

To expand on what Matt said, when you get down to the grade level the op is considering the pool of truly good looking examples gets even more shallow. Assuming you don't want to explore the Authentic/Altered market and are looking for a numerical grade, a centered, relatively clean psa/sgc 1.5 or lower becomes something of a unicorn.

I was shopping in this range last year and it was tough to find a centered card. Luckily I stumbled across one privately and avoided any competition for it. Considering that higher grades are out of many collectors budgets I would think demand for this range would be fierce.

[begsu1013]

here's a fun lil test for the op.

both cards are psa graded and "X"represents your budget.

both cards have creases and staining. and both are available for the same amount of $X. which one would you pick...

A:





OR



B:

[Jdoggs]

A looks better. The background is very faded blue on B and the card looks obviously altered.

[Donscards]

A. I love the colors

[begsu1013]

keep'em coming...

[pawpawdiv9]

First off. those are two different variations, type A (complete logo box) and type B (squiggly signature box)
I however like the bold rich colors in the A. both have the crease across the face, tho A shows up more prevailant in the bolder color. I was tempted to go with B, but the big stain at the hat disturbs me, the right edge border on B, i could live with on it.