(LOT 50)
1957 Topps #95 Mickey Mantle PSA 9 MINT - Only ONE Example Graded Higher!
Any card of the great HOF Yankee centerfielder, Mickey Mantle, is considered a bona fide collectible in the baseball card circuit with his incredibly hot 1952 Topps Rookie paving the way for "The Mick's" other 1950s cardboard gems. Mantle's HOF credentials are seemingly countless including 536 home runs, three MVPs, 12 Pennants, seven World series victories, a record for World Series Home Runs (18), and a Triple Crown season in 1956. Following that "Cinderella" '56 campaign in which the Yankees also reclaimed the world championship, Topps issued one of "The Mick's" most popular cards in 1957, with one of this issue's most breathtaking specimens presented here in a miraculous PSA Mint 9 holder. Consider that of the nearly 6,800 encapsulated copies, only 0.3% of those specimens have achieved the sanctified "Mint 9" assessment with a SOLE copy graded higher! Indeed, only a single 1957 Topps PSA encapsulated #95 Mantle subject has ever achieved a "Gem Mint 10" grade, substantiating the utmost significance of finding an extremely obscure Mint 9 example.

The phrase "a sure thing" is seldom used in today's society. Yet, high-grade Mantle cards continue to escalate in value at a nearly alarming rate, once again substantiating the accepted notion that the "Commerce Comet" continues to be the foundation of the post-WWII card market (a PSA "Mint 9" '57 Topps Mantle fetched $84K last year). However Mantle secured this concept is still a mystery. Was it the mystique of his 1952 Topps rookie card, being the great Joe DiMaggio's successor or how about his long tape-measure home runs? Whatever the reason, his cards hold a special place next to the great turn of the century players such as Cobb, Wagner, Mathewson and Ruth, and this 1957 museum quality example just happens to be one of Mantle's finest. The card itself is magnificent in all aspects of condition sensitivity. Let's start with the super defined contrast of the classic Mantle batting image as he possibly clouts another one of his majestic long balls wearing the classic Yankee pinstripes.

Atypical for virtually all '57 Topps Mantles, the hallowed image is centered nearly dead-on 50/50 with no tilt, placing this offering as the arguable finest centered '57 Topps Mantle you will ever see. As most hobbyists surely realize, a majority of the '57 Topps Mantle's exhibit skewed images, and it is an excruciating chore to find ANY example revealing near-perfect centering, let alone of the premier specimens on the planet. Blinding white borders lead to a razor-sharp perimeter, bolstered by four unimprovable pinpoint corners. No glaring surface blemishes are evident, the sheer gloss is completely intact, and the reverse side red and blue typography reflects bold and vivid registration. This just happens to be one of the finest cards ever produced by any card manufacturer, immaculately preserved for nearly 64 years in its original "pack-fresh" condition and destined to become one of the centerpiece attractions in any world-class Mantle compilation!

MIN BID $20,000
_