(LOT 84)
1960 Topps #350 Mickey Mantle (PSA Mint 9) - NONE Graded Higher!
After two successive issues ('58 & '59) of providing collectors with portrait-like Mantle images, Topps chose to put a bat back into "The Mick's" hands for his highly coveted 1960 #350 subject. In fact, Topps actually chose to use TWO Mantle batting poses, a magnificent colorized centerpiece illustration coupled with a left side black & white smaller image, with both hallowed poses portraying the Yankee legend in his left-handed batting stance. It is no secret that obtaining any PSA "Gem Mint 10" 1960 subject is a near-impossible chore, with many factory- issued print defect and centering issues residing as the primary culprits. In fact, of the 240,000+ encapsulated copies, less than .09% have managed to achieve cardboard perfection.

This explains why the most meticulous enthusiasts scramble to obtain any of the scarce PSA Mint 9 Mantle examples, with this magnificent offering not bested by a single specimen and a microscopic-like 0.5% achieving the stratospheric Mint 9 assessment! Indeed, not a sole PSA "Gem Mint 10" 1960 Topps Mantle subject exists, and considering the virtually infinite rise of his high-grade cardboard pricing points, we cannot even begin to estimate what this "best of the rest" offering could potentially realize. Mantle's breathtaking colorized batting pose is absolutely un-improvable, exhibiting relatively fine centering that modestly favors the lower left edges. The additional black & white batting pose near the left border is likewise pristine, with both the bold red and radiant yellow backgrounds reflecting their original factory-issued tints.

Snow white borders, razor sharp corner tips, and gleaming surfaces complete one of the finest 1960 Topps Mantles extant, with its "best of the rest" status worthy of the highest hobby accolades!

MIN BID $2,500
_