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

[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.

[DJCollector1]

7-10


Snagged another Mick for my project.

This has always been one of my favorite cards of his. The vintage look, the "Sporting News" title and the shield across the front in which his image is placed.
Everything about this one screams classic or "vintage" baseball.

I was also looking for something that isn't bright red, and the blue is perfect.
After going through his cards, its surprising how many have red or bright red.
So in making this framed display, I was wanting some different coloring.
This blue fits the bill and is perfect for what I was looking for.

Its not in the greatest shape, but I was looking for a "well aged" look. Decent eye appeal but not necessarily "mint" and this one lines up perfectly for this project.
This card was actually in a BVG 3 holder, and I soon freed it from that slab once I got the card in.
The fact I got it for a decent price was just icing on the cake.


-1959 Mickey Mantle All Star-



Almost done...... hopefully I can get this wrapped up in a few more weeks.

[TexasDan]

I have enjoyed the updates to your collection. Hopefully, you can show pictures of the display when complete. Good luck as you finish.

[DJCollector1]

Originally Posted by TexasDan

I have enjoyed the updates to your collection. Hopefully, you can show pictures of the display when complete. Good luck as you finish.

Thanks.
I try to talk a little bit about why I get certain cards, when I pick them up.
(admittedly, these aren't my usual PC pickups, these are all basically geared towards this specific Mantle display)

But I like hearing why collectors gravitate towards certain cards.
I have written about it several times, mostly on Blowout, but I tend to go for PC cards that have an "overall good appeal", not strictly perfect centering, not only sharp corners, etc....
Give me a good overall "7", over a "4" with perfect centering any day~!

Anyhow, it interests me why collectors gravitate towards certain cards, so whenever I pick something up, I like to expand a little as to why, or what I was thinking when I picked up said card.

This "Mickey Mantle project" has taught me to appreciate lower grade cards more than before.
I wanted a way to enjoy some Mantle cards, but I didn't want my more expensive Mantle cards just laying around the house, so thats why I decided to do this project.

I'm actually ending up spending more than I thought I would, by about 20%-30%, but I am doing it like I want.
I won't say what my last "bigger $$$" purchase is going to be, but it will be the most expensive part of the project. I'm only going to design this once, so I'll do it right and get the pieces I really want, or in the shape I am looking for.
After laying out some dimensions, and comparing it to other posters and framed things I have, I am going to be able to put 2 more cards in there than I thought.
So thats leaving me with a couple more cards to get.
Finding strong eye-appeal Mantle cards isn't easy, and it certainly isn't cheap either.
Thats why its taken me a little longer to finish than I had anticipated.
Hopefully within the next couple weeks I can pick up another card or two, and I will be just about done.

Thanks again Dan, and I will definitely have a few pictures of the completed project when the time comes.

More updates coming soon to this thread.

[Mark70Z]

Scott,

Look forward to seeing your last couple of cards for the display. Of course I like all of the pickups so far. For some reason I’m partial to the larger Jays Mantle you picked up; really a great picture of Mantle in my view. Like what was mentioned I’d like to view the end result as well. Also, you basically stated that you were measuring for a place to display; I’d really like to see the finished project displayed with what else is in the wall. Always love to see how collectors display their collections rather then boxed up in a closet (like most of mine).

[DJCollector1]

Originally Posted by Mark70Z

Scott,

Look forward to seeing your last couple of cards for the display. Of course I like all of the pickups so far. For some reason I’m partial to the larger Jays Mantle you picked up; really a great picture of Mantle in my view. Like what was mentioned I’d like to view the end result as well. Also, you basically stated that you were measuring for a place to display; I’d really like to see the finished project displayed with what else is in the wall. Always love to see how collectors display their collections rather then boxed up in a closet (like most of mine).

Thanks for the interest.
It has been a fun undertaking, and on a "collector to collector" note, this is something I think a lot of people should try, or something similar.
It's tended to "re-invigorate" the hobby for me, not just the same old "ho hum look at it and lock'em away somewhere" pick ups in that sense.
We all tend to get in a rut if we do this long enough, and this has let me learn to appreciate some lesser graded cards far more than I had in the past.

You may have taken what I wrote about measuring slightly wrong.(but more likely I wasn't very clear lol)

I had a neighborhood frame shop do a number of posters for me years ago.
I thought I was going to make this one a specific size, but I am actually making it slightly bigger. (I actually have several differing size posters downstairs, and I will be making it the larger size, not the smaller size I originally thought I would have to make it)
This Mantle project will end up being 20x24.... and I can fit a bit more in there than I thought originally.

I did this basically so I could enjoy some Mantle items, but still have my more valuable stuff locked away.
Maybe you can take inspiration from this and do something similar so that you can enjoy your collection more often, rather than have it tucked away...? You mention having most of your stuff boxed up in a closet.
You are a big Brooks Robinson fan I think, Hell you could do something similar to this of Brooks a whole lot cheaper than you can for Mantle!
Just a thought anyway.
I would assume most here have most of their stuff locked away, especially the valuable stuff, and rightfully so.

I have several posters downstairs already and I tend to swap them in and out.
I'm a bit of a TWILIGHT ZONE fan, and I have a number of posters signed by the original actors downstairs. Most of these posters are essentially one of a kind, that a buddy of mine designed, and we had many of the actors sign them in person at various conventions over the last 20 or so odd years.
Plus I have a big poster of Rod Serling himself, and that is always on display.
(which in itself, thats a cool shot........ a buddy of mine had an original transparency negative that he acquired from a collector, its a classic shot of Serling himself on the set of episode "Still Valley" a 1961 episode) I had that image blown up into a massive poster, and I have it displayed in my living room.

Oddly enough, this will be the only baseball themed piece in my home.
But expect to see some Twilight Zone stuff adjacent to this Mantle piece when I get it finished.

And I agree with what you said. I too am a fan of that Jay Pub Mantle image.
It screams classic Mantle, and its catching him right as he's looking to crank another one, or so it seems.

[DJCollector1]

Down to 2 more items I need to pick up, after this recent grab off Ebay.

-1961 Mickey Mantle-






Full disclosure, this 1961 isn't my favorite card of his. But when I saw it, I knew I could get it for a good price, and I was looking for yet another Mick that wasn't a "field of red".
So many of his cards had a ton of the color red in his images, I've been trying to pick up some that aren't so "red heavy" so it would look better in my display.
The centering is right in the sweet spot for me (for this anyway). Not perfect, with the obvious top-to-bottom difference.
When I took this picture, I angled the card a little to keep the glare down off the card saver.
Its a much more presentable card than this cellphone picture leads you to believe.

I have one incoming in the next day or two, and it comes straight from the board member "Dboneesq". Thanks again for the deal.

Its a '69 that is essentially perfect for what I am doing.
Can't wait to get this finished and framed, and the finish line is very close.