(LOT 191)
1962 Topps #471 Mickey Mantle All-Star PSA 9 MINT
15X ALL-STAR YANKEE!!! The 1962 season represented Mickey Mantle's final World Series title, with the Yankees besting the San Francisco Giants in a grueling seven-game series. The Mick claimed his third and final American League MVP Award that season with his 30 round trippers, .321 batting average and league-leading 1.091 OPS. After teammate Roger Maris beat him in the 1961 Babe Ruth home run record race (Mantle bowed out due to injury), Mickey rebounded with the second-best season of his career behind his 1956 Triple Crown campaign. His .321 batting average was second in the league; he collected 121 hits and 89 RBIs; and his 122 walks, .486 on-base percentage and .605 slugging were tops in the AL.

Also in 1962, Topps utilized two classic Mantle portrait images for their ultra-condition-sensitive woodgrain bordered set. Topps issued a second All-Star Mantle subject, with this scarce for the grade PSA 9 MINT #471 All-Star offering seldom surfacing for the taking. Condition-sensitive without question, the woodgrain borders magnify even the slightest surface flaws, similar to the 1955 Bowman and 1971 Topps issues. It's no surprise that only eleven of the 3,440+ PSA encapsulated examples have achieved the coveted 9 MINT assessment, with not a single copy graded higher! His stoic portrait image depicts brilliant facial tints, with the classic pose well projected against an immaculate sky background. The excellent centering is only slightly compromised by an ever so slight favoritism towards the bottom edge. Pinpoint corners, super clean surfaces and atypical super clean woodgrain borders complete this time-defying keepsake that shares the spotlight with only ten other specimens as the finest of its kind!

MIN BID $5,000
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