1952 Topps Mickey Mantle: Input Appreciated

[mccrardl]

Net54 experts and detectives,
I am trying to help out a friend. Anyone able to tell whether or not this card is a) authentic and/or b) altered?

Recognize no one can be 100% positive from these photos alone, but it's all that he has provided me. Appreciate any input / thoughts / perspectives.

Thank you very much in advance!

[bks14sr]

Very fake. Rounded corners are over embellished and stock looks off. My opinion

[dio]

+1 fake as hell
Don't buy raw. Buy graded .

[hcv123]

why was the top of the "holder" its in left out of the photo?

[mccrardl]

Originally Posted by hcv123

why was the top of the "holder" its in left out of the photo?

Thanks for all the input. I just shot him an email asking about that.

[mccrardl]

Originally Posted by mccrardl

Thanks for all the input. I just shot him an email asking about that.

Ah, okay - a bit of an update. See the attached (uncropped) photos he just sent. Looks like it was "graded" by CMR Grading, which I've never heard of. Anyone else?

He didn't want the fact that it was in a CMR case to bias anyone's view as to whether it was real or fake. He clearly doesn't have any confidence in CMR.

Does this change (or further confirm ) anyone's view?

Thanks again and apologies for the twist. Should have noticed the holder beforehand.

[ejstel]

Fake- corners - dead giveaway... the counter fitters do even understand cards.

Hard to get that consistently rounded corners (on all the corners) and no creases.

A card with a corner bit off by an iguana because it loved the taste of 70 year old paper would be easier to believe

Sent from my Pixel 3 using Tapatalk

[dio]

There's better version of fake than this.
Chances are if you're buying 52 topps mantle, you have to PAY, you won't really get no deal out there

[mccrardl]

Thanks for all of your input. Agree with everything. Based on the very helpful article below, the card clearly appears to be a fake Type 2 Mantle.

https://allvintagecards.com/how-to-s...-topps-mantle/

[Peter_Spaeth]

https://bbcemporium.com/index.php?st...=mickey_mantle

A superb resource IMO.

This card has no "missing pixel" and is an atrocious fake.

[Popcorn]

Back is always a dead giveaway on this card, they can’t replicate 70yr old paper

Buy some cheap 52 topps originals and this will stick out like a sore thumb.

[jchcollins]

Ouch. There are fakes, and really bad fakes. This one would be of the latter ilk.

[SWinn]

The "Type 1" and "Type 2" articles only do so good determining fakes online.

The "missing pixel" is the equivalent of 100+ pixels on my home printer these days. Any of that stuff can be replicated without blinking an eye. Card stock is always the giveaway.

Early 50s and lower series have ridges on the cardstock. It's the quickest and easiest way to determine for anyone new collecting vintage. These fakes are exceptionally bad and have "hazing" around the printing on the rear as well.

These guys target people new to collecting vintage and don't have much experience holding the physicals. But it is pretty common people new to it will drop a lot of money on their first purchase, so there is always a barrel of fish.

[jchcollins]

The slab here is a dead giveaway too. I wouldn't buy a '52 Mantle that's not in a PSA or SGC slab.

[LincolnVT]

Bat is way too clean near his right hand for starters.

[cardsagain74]

Surprised no one mentioned how narrow the borders look.

A handful of other things haven't been checked either. It might be able to fill a whole bingo card of mistakes.

M-I-C-K-Y across the top for bingo, since they probably misspelled his name too.

[dio]

Check this one out guys, someone really stupid to pay 20k for this

https://www.ebay.com/itm/1952-topps-...p2047675.l2557

[mccrardl]

Originally Posted by dio

Check this one out guys, someone really stupid to pay 20k for this

https://www.ebay.com/itm/1952-topps-...p2047675.l2557

[jayshum]

Originally Posted by dio

Check this one out guys, someone really stupid to pay 20k for this

https://www.ebay.com/itm/1952-topps-...p2047675.l2557

It actually says Trimmed on the flip. I don't remember seeing that before. When did PSA actually put a reason for an Authentic grade on the flip or do they still do it depending on the reason?

[jchcollins]

Originally Posted by jayshum

It actually says Trimmed on the flip. I don't remember seeing that before. When did PSA actually put a reason for an Authentic grade on the flip or do they still do it depending on the reason?

Older slab. On some of them with big cards they would do things like that, putting "trimmed". Today I think that would just be Authentic Altered.

[jayshum]

Originally Posted by jchcollins

Older slab. On some of them with big cards they would do things like that, putting "trimmed". Today I think that would just be Authentic Altered.

Thanks. It would be nice if there was some way they could do that still since there are some cards graded Authentic Altered where it is not obvious what the reason is for the grade, and most of the time, the seller doesn't know either.

[jchcollins]

Originally Posted by jayshum

Thanks. It would be nice if there was some way they could do that still since there are some cards graded Authentic Altered where it is not obvious what the reason is for the grade, and most of the time, the seller doesn't know either.

PSA at least says "Altered." SGC will only grade something an A, which means it may or may not be altered. Sometimes A slabs with them and I think the card is not altered per se, but is in like a "below poor" grade because of missing pieces or integrity issues - but they do not come out and say it.

I've said for a long time that grading would be a lot more informative if cards could be sent back either with manual notes or notes that could be entered into a database tied to a serial number. That way you could get some sense as to what the grader was thinking at the time. This of course is a practical impossibility today however with the slab-mills that grading companies have turned into and in consideration of the fact that they may allot you all of 30 seconds of their time on an expensive card. They are already months and months behind in many cases in turning around orders grading in that fashion. So, I have little hope of grading becoming somehow more informative in the near future.