Tim, I am deeply honored, my friend, but I am no master---far from it. It is true that I do have some choice gems in my collection, for which, as I said, I am humbled to have somehow tracked down and added to my collection. Nevertheless, I truly thank you for the praise and kind words; I'm not used to that. You are so correct; I love your 1960 Post Cereal Grape Nuts Flakes Sports Stars Mickey Mantle, one of the very, very best of all Mickey Mantle cards, in my opinion. I am happy for you that you were able to get one. Your other seldom seen Mantles are ALL beauties; I love 'em, bro!
Since I've only sold 38 hard copies of my E-book on a CD, you probably haven't heard my story about this card, included in my book. When I was six years old, I accompanied my mother to the A&P Grocery Store where we lived in Skokie, Illinois. I recall this occasion for a couple reasons. First, it was perhaps the first time my mom let me roam around the store on my own. A&Ps were really narrow stores with narrow aisles, so my mother could easily find me. Freedom--it was great! So, where would I go? Why, to the breakfast cereal aisle, since I had seen so many of their commercials on TV.
My eyes recognized many of the brands, especially Kellogg's, since they sponsored Huckleberry Hound, Yogi Bear, and Quick Draw McGraw!!! After looking around the cereals some more, I spotted something that caught my eye. A cereal box was turned around, and I saw this big beautiful picture of Mickey Mantle. He was maybe the only baseball player I knew of, since the kids at school would mention his name here and there. The picture on the box took up almost the entire backside, and even at age six, I thought it was beautiful. I was about to reach up and take the box to my mom for her to buy when all of a sudden, I heard her voice call me. She was leaving the store, and without another thought, I dashed down the aisle to join her. No way did I want her to leave without me.
Well, a couple weeks later, I went with my mother once again to the 'ol A&P. Leaving her and going to the cereal aisle again, I looked for the cereal boxes with the large pictures on the back, especially the one with Mickey Mantle. They were all gone, and it looked like some other promotion was in its place. Being six, I had no idea there was a time limit to when the Kellogg's Sports Stars promotion would end and those boxes disappear. They were indeed gone now. I was disappointed, but since I had not begun collecting any trading cards, it could never dawn on me what I had missed out on.
I next saw one in the 1981 Beckett 3 baseball card guide. Oh brother, was it beautiful, but man, oh man, was it ever expensive!!! Guys, it took me 38 long years to finally get a 1960 Kellogg's Sports Stars Mickey Mantle. Some collector in Illinois had one. It's 98% all there, and what's there is virtually pristine, at least good enough to please picky 'ol me. How much do I value it? Well, all I'll say is that I put it right in the middle of the cover of my book, NEVER CHEAPER BY THE DOZEN.
Oh, getting back to the OP somewhat. One fact unknown to many Mantle collectors, though it is by no means very important, is that the mesmerizing portrait of Mickey Mantle used on the Stahl-Meyer Franks cards was taken when he was a Yankee rookie. Proof of that came when I was looking at the 1951 Giant World Series program. The program had pictures of all the Yankees within, and the picture of Mickey is the exact same one that would eventually be used on the 1953-55 Stahl-Meyers. I could go on, but enough of my palabre. Again, if you've read this far, many thanks for listening.
I wish you all a happy and safe week, my fellow collecting warriors. --- Indiana Jones (Brian Powell)
Comments
Great story Brian, congrats on landing the card and the grade that it deserved! And that’s why we collect!
John
Tim, I am deeply honored, my friend, but I am no master---far from it. It is true that I do have some choice gems in my collection, for which, as I said, I am humbled to have somehow tracked down and added to my collection. Nevertheless, I truly thank you for the praise and kind words; I'm not used to that. You are so correct; I love your 1960 Post Cereal Grape Nuts Flakes Sports Stars Mickey Mantle, one of the very, very best of all Mickey Mantle cards, in my opinion. I am happy for you that you were able to get one. Your other seldom seen Mantles are ALL beauties; I love 'em, bro!
Since I've only sold 38 hard copies of my E-book on a CD, you probably haven't heard my story about this card, included in my book. When I was six years old, I accompanied my mother to the A&P Grocery Store where we lived in Skokie, Illinois. I recall this occasion for a couple reasons. First, it was perhaps the first time my mom let me roam around the store on my own. A&Ps were really narrow stores with narrow aisles, so my mother could easily find me. Freedom--it was great! So, where would I go? Why, to the breakfast cereal aisle, since I had seen so many of their commercials on TV.
My eyes recognized many of the brands, especially Kellogg's, since they sponsored Huckleberry Hound, Yogi Bear, and Quick Draw McGraw!!! After looking around the cereals some more, I spotted something that caught my eye. A cereal box was turned around, and I saw this big beautiful picture of Mickey Mantle. He was maybe the only baseball player I knew of, since the kids at school would mention his name here and there. The picture on the box took up almost the entire backside, and even at age six, I thought it was beautiful. I was about to reach up and take the box to my mom for her to buy when all of a sudden, I heard her voice call me. She was leaving the store, and without another thought, I dashed down the aisle to join her. No way did I want her to leave without me.
Well, a couple weeks later, I went with my mother once again to the 'ol A&P. Leaving her and going to the cereal aisle again, I looked for the cereal boxes with the large pictures on the back, especially the one with Mickey Mantle. They were all gone, and it looked like some other promotion was in its place. Being six, I had no idea there was a time limit to when the Kellogg's Sports Stars promotion would end and those boxes disappear. They were indeed gone now. I was disappointed, but since I had not begun collecting any trading cards, it could never dawn on me what I had missed out on.
I next saw one in the 1981 Beckett 3 baseball card guide. Oh brother, was it beautiful, but man, oh man, was it ever expensive!!! Guys, it took me 38 long years to finally get a 1960 Kellogg's Sports Stars Mickey Mantle. Some collector in Illinois had one. It's 98% all there, and what's there is virtually pristine, at least good enough to please picky 'ol me. How much do I value it? Well, all I'll say is that I put it right in the middle of the cover of my book, NEVER CHEAPER BY THE DOZEN.
Oh, getting back to the OP somewhat. One fact unknown to many Mantle collectors, though it is by no means very important, is that the mesmerizing portrait of Mickey Mantle used on the Stahl-Meyer Franks cards was taken when he was a Yankee rookie. Proof of that came when I was looking at the 1951 Giant World Series program. The program had pictures of all the Yankees within, and the picture of Mickey is the exact same one that would eventually be used on the 1953-55 Stahl-Meyers. I could go on, but enough of my palabre. Again, if you've read this far, many thanks for listening.
I wish you all a happy and safe week, my fellow collecting warriors. --- Indiana Jones (Brian Powell)