Lot # 1: 1952 Topps #311 Mickey Mantle (PSA 7.5) - One of Only 4 Examples at this Lofty Plateau!

Category: 1950-1959

Starting Bid: $50,000.00

Bids: 37 (Bid History)

Time Left: Auction closed
Lot / Auction Closed




This lot is closed. Bidding is not allowed.

Item was in Auction "Winter Extravaganza Auction",
which ran from 12/26/2015 12:00 PM to
1/16/2016 7:00 PM



(LOT 1)
1952 Topps #311 Mickey Mantle (PSA 7.5)

 However Mantle’s 1952 Topps subject achieved its current mystique may never achieve full resolution, but it is surely “here to stay”, with only the T206 Honus Wagner “Holy Grail” arguably surpassing “The Mick’s” inaugural ’52 Topps iconic stature.  This cardboard marvel’s sudden rise to stardom in the late 80’s and early 90’s ably assisted the overall market stature, with its incredible pricing points redefining one’s perspective for utilizing cardboard heirlooms as viable investment options.  For quite some time and before 2013, price tags for the 1952 Topps Mantle subject had remained relatively “flat”, and while not diminishing in value, its pricing points had moved somewhat “sideways”.  Typical with any market commodity, the investment values of valuable baseball cards likewise run in cycles, and the 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle card, dubbed the post-WWII “Holy Grail”, is now experiencing and amazing pricing surge for all grade levels that have re-written its overall value.  Synonymous with an uncontrollable brush fire, since mid-year 2013, the Topps Mantle rookie value has risen to an unprecedented level.  While all grading levels continue to rise, it is the high-grade specimens that are now realizing “off the chart” figures, exceeding prior 2013 values by over 500%!  “Seeing is believing”, and the most definitive case of this seemingly infinite escalation is evident with several PSA 7 and 8 sales.  In the spring/summer of 2015, several PSA 8 offerings achieved approximate $400K amounts, and just when the hobby assumed a PSA 8 Mantle had reached its ultimate level, another PSA 8 recently sold for $486K in the fall of 2015!  Now on to PSA 7 specimens that had previously never surpassed the $99K mark.  In the fall of 2015, incredible as it may seem, a PSA 7 ’52 Topps Mantle realized an incomprehensible $227K pricing point, a 128% increase over the previous $100K record price only realized in August of this same year.  While these miraculous pricing up-ticks are “jaw-dropping” to say the least, it was only a matter of time before this iconic baseball card achieved an “infinite-like” pricing surge.  Collectors surly need to consider that this “rare for the grade” PSA 7.5 offering has only been joined by 3 other copies, with a meager 3% of the nearly 1,300 PSA encapsulated specimens graded higher!  The breathtaking eye appeal is synonymous with Mantle’s magnificent legacy, starting with the classic bat over shoulder pose portraying a nearly un-improvable aqua-marine blue background that atypically reveals no “snow” whatsoever.  You can virtually feel Mickey’s curious nature as he gazes into the future with a youthful innocence that would eventually lead to his immortal Yankee standing.  Immaculate resolution, sparkling facial hues, a glistening obverse side surface, clean white borders, a super clean verso and strong right-angled corners consistent with the grade all contribute to the imposing aesthetics (it is our opinion that 3 of the 4 corners actually reflect “NM/MT 8 quality, with only the top right corner possibly falling somewhat short of the corner requirements for an “8” assessment).  The hallowed image does modestly slightly favor the right edge (approx. 60/40 or even slightly better centering left to right), but the near-perfect dead-on “top to bottom” centering coupled with the fine “side to side” positioning results in a brilliant eye pleasing specimen, especially considering most ’52 Topps Mantles exhibit skewed images.  No doubt, the recent tsunami-like pricing up-ticks coupled with this offering’s sensational attributes more than justify its world class standing.  The “Commerce Comet” redefined the confines of every ballpark, with his mammoth blasts besting even the furthest fences, and it is no surprise that his most heralded baseball card issue is currently experiencing a seemingly unbounded pricing surge with no apparent end in sight.  We have outlined specific pricing points for both PSA 8 and PSA 7 examples, so we will now let you, the sophisticated collector, ultimately decide the true value of this extremely “rare for the grade” PSA 7.5 marvel!

Historical Pricing for High-Grade ’52 Topps Mantle’s Over the Past 5 years (2011 – 2015)

 Had it not been for “truckloads” of 1952 Topps high-number vending cases being dumped into New York’s murky waters, the incredible mystique of the ‘52 Topps Mantle might have never been born.  Yet, the reality of this card standing tall as our hobby’s post-war “Holy Grail” shines forth today similar to an unparalleled beacon, with its uncontested popularity the driver of its unprecedented pricing surge over the past several years.  The most recent $486K sale for a PSA 8 example stands as a resounding exclamation point to the unlimited potential of this quintessential high-numbered Mantle, a staggering 585% increase over the highest price ($71K) realized only some 5 years ago in 2011!  The recent investment growth for high-grade ’52 Topps Mantles is quite obvious to say the least, substantiated by the following 5-year trend graph (2011-2015) whereby each year reports the highest value realized for the two chosen grades (PSA 7 & 8, to the best of our knowledge).  Due to the extreme rarity of this remarkable PSA 7.5 offering, it was virtually impossible to locate any “official” sales at this grade level, justifying why we chose to utilize the astonishing pricing value growth for both PSA 7 and 8 examples.  Also, with the 2015 calendar year experiencing significant pricing upticks within the same year, we have split 2015 into “January-August” and “September-November”:“A picture is worth a thousand words” and clearly this trend indicates the remarkable growth of several PSA 7 examples in 2015, as well as PSA 8 specimens from 2014 to the present.  Simple math tells us that the first 2015 record sale for a PSA 7 ($99K) reflects an 80% increase over 2014, with the $227K November 2015 sale representing a staggering 128% increase over the previous record breaking $99K pricing point only 3 months ago.

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