So I started a Mickey Mantle "project"......

[DJCollector1]

3-28

Picked up a nice raw Jay Pub, pictured below.

1962-1965 MICKEY MANTLE JAY PUB Photo -





Notice it is raw. The display I am tinkering with will utilize raw cards only, so I have been picking up some decent "good eye appeal", but lower grades Mantles, which is a bit of a challenge unto itself.
This JAY PUB photo is in great shape, but it has a few minor flaws. It is not mint, and instead it has a slightly aged look, and thats precisely what I was looking for in my display "piece", there won't be any PSA 9's in this one.
I thought grabbing this for a mere $35 was excellent~!
I always liked this particular image, and I knew from day one it would be a part of this project.

This project may take me a few months, but I have a good start on it already.

[DJCollector1]

3-30


Still slowly adding to my "Mickey Mantle display project".
Looking over a few more "solid eye-appeal" lower end ungraded Mickey Mantles, I came across this one on EBAY a week or so back.
While its not exactly my favorite Mick image, it does reflect back to his key '56 MVP season.




This is exactly the type raw card I am looking for, and its right in my wheelhouse for my "display items" project I am tinkering with.

A very tiny surface wrinkle that you can only see at a certain angle kept the price very low. I believe this was roughly $65 delivered.
Has decent centering, and all the eye appeal hallmarks I am pursuing for a display-bound lower end raw Mantle.

Another pickup I'm satisfied with. !

More coming soon.

[DJCollector1]

4-4



It looks as if it may have possibly been lightly trimmed, but looking at it compared to other cards, its awfully close, I mean really close.

To me, this card looked like it was a sort of a miscut, and someone went back and tried to "straighten it out".
Regardless, even if it was slightly trimmed, its right in my "Mantle project" wheelhouse, and I liked that its extremely presentable for the price.

I got this one VERY CHEAP, in the B/S/T section over on Blowout.

I don't mind it appears to have been lightly trimmed, as it will go nicely in the display I am working on......which is starting to take shape.
As I think back on this one, I am still debating on whether or not I should put this in my custom display.
The fact its trimmed, doesn't really "bother" me in that sense, but it is a bit of an irritant.
But, all that aside it has a good clean image and presents well, even though the borders may have been lightly trimmed.
Thats mostly what I have been looking for, and it fits like a glove into this project.
I believe I got it for right around $40 bucks delivered, and I certainly can't complain with that, as I was very happy with the card I picked up for that price.
Is it something that will appreciate into a ton of money? No, and the trim job will always detract from the value, but the eye appeal of the image is otherwise very good, so it fit all the right criteria for my project.






I have a '68 Topps game Mantle en route, and I will be posting that in the next day or two.

[DJCollector1]

4-6


Snagged yet another Mickey Mantle for my display.
This time its a '68 Topps Game..... while admittedly this issue was never among most people's favorites, I didn't mind it at all.
I distinctly remember many of these when i was younger, it certainly is a "stand out" issue, unlike most any other commonly produced cards back then.




Solid eye appeal, and again its right along the lines of what I was looking for.

I have already picked up my next card, and this next one is a sparkler. !
I'll post it late this week when it comes in.

Chugging right along with this display, and truth be known I won't have room for too many more cards. Just trying to decide which I want to include at this point.

[DJCollector1]

4-15




I had been looking for a great looking '59 for a bit, and this one was actually slabbed. I soon busted it out, as I'm not putting in anything in slabs into my display.

I'm slowly moving towards the end of my project, but there is still room for a few more cards.
Looking to likely get an excellent eye-appeal '58 AS, if I can find one reasonably. After all, that is easily one of his more iconic cards.

I saw this '59 on Ebay, and it had a fair BIN price, but "OBO".
I sent him a bit of a low-ball offer, but much to my surprise it was accepted very soon thereafter.

Another strong addition, and my earliest Mantle thus far, headed to my display project.
The glare in the lower right is from the light source directly behind me.



This will undoubtedly be my most expensive card in this project, working from memory , I believe it was around $130 delivered. (Why so cheap you ask??? It was in a PSA 4 MK slab)
Some kid took a very light pen and wrote a tiny "7" on the back of the card, his jersey number. Its so slight and hard to see, if it wasn't pointed out to you, you likely wouldn't notice it was even there.
So a small "7" on the back led me to getting an absolutely beautiful '59 for what I thought was a great price.
I wanted to get one really nice vintage Mick, that looked to be in great shape to slide in to this display.....BINGO! this was it.

[DJCollector1]

5-11



Another "low end visually appealing example" for my project thats in progress.

I had been looking (and previously mentioned) wanting a '58 AS for this display. Its just such an iconic card, I knew from day 1 I would include one of these....... *IF* I could find one I liked at a good price that is.

As with all my "low end" examples I have snagged for my display, it's not without its small issues, but this is going to be a perfect addition to my project.
The coloring really popped on this one, which was the main reason I snagged it.
The centering is OK, although not perfect by any stretch, as you can see.
The corners aren't perfect, and the top to bottom centering is off some as well.
There is also a vague hint of a print line across the bottom, when you look at it closely.

Overall, I thought it looked great, and is a perfect candidate for this display, and at roughly $55 delivered, I thought it was a great acquisition.






I am nearing the end of my "display project". It has taken a little longer than I had anticipated, due to a few other non-card life issues.

There are a couple of cards left I want to get, and I will be grabbing them in short order.

[DJCollector1]

6-22


Picked up yet another card for my Mantle display I'm working on.

I've been chipping away at this for a few months. Its taken longer than expected due to a couple "life issues", but I'm just about ready to bring everything to get it "pieced together".

I'd been looking for a couple "outside - the - box" items, and not your normal run of the mill basic Mantle run cards, combined with keeping the cost down on my project.
I always liked this particular image.
Mick looks happy here, (which he did NOT always look like that) , and I also wanted something that dated itself from back in that time frame, not just another Mantle card.
One of these Post issues was right in my wheelhouse.
I also had wanted to get a horizontal card, to go alongside another horizontal card I have had in mind in my display, so this Post issue was absolutely perfect for my tastes, for a variety of reasons.

Down to needing a couple more items, then I'll be finished.

1961 POST MICKEY MANTLE -




It has one very small surface paper tear on the back, that doesn't go through....that and these Post releases don't often get very high grades..... edges, perforations etc.
I was actually shocked at how low this one graded, (SGC 30/2) for the look and presentation.

Got this for a measly $40 + shipping, so for that price and eye appeal, I couldn't resist.