(LOT 421)
1954 Stahl-Meyer Mickey Mantle PSA 1 Poor
RARE MICK!!!... One of the rarest 1950's baseball card issues are the Stahl-Meyer Franks subjects distributed in packages of hot dogs by a New York based meat-company from 1953 thru 1955, with the scarcer 1954/1955 issues including yellow borders (as opposed to the 1953 issues that sported white borders). The 1953 set included 9 subjects while the 1954/"55 sets were increased to 12 players. As is the case with almost all post WWII cardboard issues, the most popular and valuable of the nine subjects is the iconic Mickey Mantle, with his 1954 "yellow-border" issue presented here in a PSA 1 holder.

Substantiating the notion that the 1954 "yellow border" Stahl-Meyer-Franks Mantles qualify as a significantly scarcer issue than the 1953 issue is PSA's "Pop" Chart indicating only 11 encapsulated 1954 Mantle's versus 49 encapsulated 1953 Mantle's (note: the 1954 Stahl-Meyer's are unquestionably the scarcest issue from all three years). Due to their package methodology, Stahl-Meyer subjects are ultra-condition sensitive, with most surviving examples exhibiting low technical assessments. Via his iconic 1952 Topps subject, Mantle personified the acceleration of the cardboard industry in the 1980's, and since that mystical period, his cardboard issues are held in the utmost esteem. Such is the case for this ultra -scarce PSA 1 Stahl Meyer offering that does reveal serious paper loss and soiling on both sides.

Fortunately, a majority of Mantle's classic portrait pose remains intact, with his good-natured boyish grin one of the legendary Mantle images from the early 1950's. Although a "beater" copy, PSA's population report does indicate that more than half the encapsulated 1954 Mantle examples reside in PSA 1 or "Authentic" holders, substantiating this issue's' previously mentioned extreme condition sensitivity. Certainly, this applies as a case for "the right to own a copy" with only ten other PSA encapsulated specimens available for the taking.

MIN BID $2,000
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