A Sick Mick Pick! (1968-70 Country Cookin’ Postcard - Batting - Mickey Mantle) NOW WITH PSA SCANS!

1951WheatiesPremium

If you follow the boards, you may recognize my handle and those here all the time know of my passion for the late, great Mickey Charles Mantle. I’ve collected Mickey’s cards, photos and other ephemera for a long, long time. As long as it’s from his playing days, I’m interested therefore 1951-1969 is the basic timeline and when you add up the gradable stuff, there’s about 400 items of varying scarcity (give or take) on this eponymous Master Set. A lot of the tougher items on the list were tangent to the Yankees. For example, the Mickey Mantle Holiday Inn in Joplin, MO produced a bunch of cool souvenir postcards and photocards…

UPDATE - adding the finished product to the first post

…and it was rumored that much of the souvenirs in Joplin were generated to prevent theft! Mickey saw it was still hard to keep the merchandise stocked so there was always a counter with apparel and souvenirs at just about every Mantle venture thereafter. As he neared retirement, Mantle opened a series of restaurants from 1968-1970 called Mickey Mantle’s Country Cookin’ with a down home menu and good food but a less than stellar business plan. However, the Yankees star did what he could to support his namesake franchises, appearing at their openings and other times in the off-season and upon retirement to sign for and greet fans at the eateries. It wasn’t enough but it did produce two highly coveted and rare collectibles. A 4x6 postcard that features a kneeling Mickey Mantle and an invitation to come on out and try the food on back and a second 5x7 one which documents via photo and then text on reverse one of the biggest moments of his storied career. Without further ado, I present for your consideration a beautiful signed copy of the 5x7 postcard.

1968-70 Mickey Mantle’s Country Cookin’ Postcard - Mickey Mantle (Batting)

There are presently four PSA graded copies of this postcard and once submitted, I do believe this has a really good chance to be the highest graded example.

Thanks for indulging me, CU. I always love to share a good grab with you good people.

JoeBanzai

Beautiful!

sayheywyo

Very nice. Did the Holiday Inn qualify under the Tall Boy category?

1951WheatiesPremium

@sayheywyo said:
Very nice. Did the Holiday Inn qualify under the Tall Boy category?

Yes, it did.

shagrotn77

It looks like Mickey did not provide the signature for the facsimile autograph on the Country Cookin postcard. It does not have the loops in the Ms like his true signature.

1951WheatiesPremium

@shagrotn77 said:
It looks like Mickey did not provide the signature for the facsimile autograph on the Country Cookin postcard. It does not have the loops in the Ms like his true signature.

Maybe?

Mickey’s signature evolved over time with about 5-7 recognizable and documented variations.

1951WheatiesPremium

...off to Newport Beach.

1951WheatiesPremium

Hit Research and ID today

threeofsix

Can’t wait to see grading!!!!

1951WheatiesPremium

I’ve been in grading for a couple of days now, just forgot to update. Since it’s PSA/DNA when done, it should take a touch longer than a normal card would, for anyone following along. While we wait?

I purchased this some years back. After tracking down and communicating with the seller, he said this was signed when he ate there on opening day; the front and the size are a perfect match…

1968-70 Mickey Mantle’s Country Cookin’ Postcard - Mickey Mantle (Kneeling)

…however, mine is blank on the back…

…whereas the officially recognized one has this postcard back…

(Image from old MEARS auction)

…and that is the back for the one that PSA grades. I’m not sure on whether or not they’d grade my example of the ‘ Kneeling’ variation and I’ve never asked.

I just figured since they’re not altogether common, having images of both in the same thread improves it as a resource for future collectors.

1951WheatiesPremium

Assembly yesterday!

threeofsix

I can hardly wait……

Justfishinjj

Hello there- since you are posting about Mick items, I figured I would share a few I picked up recently. Do any of you have this 1951-52 card/post card that his family supposedly created when he entered the league? Cool piece!

1951WheatiesPremium

@Justfishinjj said:



Hello there- since you are posting about Mick items, I figured I would share a few I picked up recently. Do any of you have this 1951-52 card/post card that his family supposedly created when he entered the league? Cool piece!

No but I’m interested!!!

Stone193

Wow Tim - yes I've been following you for some time now.

Looking forward to the PSA results.

I - too - collect Mantle stuff - mine is more oddball - items that he endorsed - can't remember if you have a thread where people are asked to contribute?

I won't hijack your thread with my items - BTW - I do have the '68 SI poster!

Thanx for sharing buddy.

Justfishinjj

I am currently trying to get it slabbed by PSA- they are researching it and determining if they will or not. SGC would not.

1951WheatiesPremium

@Stone193 said:
Wow Tim - yes I've been following you for some time now.

Looking forward to the PSA results.

I - too - collect Mantle stuff - mine is more oddball - items that he endorsed - can't remember if you have a thread where people are asked to contribute?

I won't hijack your thread with my items - BTW - I do have the '68 SI poster!

Thanx for sharing buddy.

https://forums.collectors.com/discussion/1057338/the-commerce-comet-mickey-charles-mantle#latest

Mike,

The above is a good spot to put everything and anything Mickey. I love any time someone bumps it with their cool stuff.

1951WheatiesPremium

Hit QA2 yesterday.

Getting pumped…

1951WheatiesPremium

I’m hoping today’s the day for poppage! We’ll see…

Anyhow, this (below) is the current Top Pop signed one…it almost looks like the original recipients were next to each other in line, so similar are the ink, greeting, signatures and placement!

1951WheatiesPremium

The results are in:

What a way to start the weekend!

🎈🎉🎊🍾
😁😁😁😁😁😁😁😁😁😁😁😁😁😁

(I’ll get the PSA/DNA scans up tomorrow)

threeofsix

@1951WheatiesPremium said:
The results are in:

What a way to start the weekend!

🎈🎉🎊🍾
😁😁😁😁😁😁😁😁😁😁😁😁😁😁

(I’ll get the PSA/DNA scans up tomorrow)

FANTASTIC!!!!!!

Awesome item!!!!!

Thanks for sharing the journey with us!!!!

1951WheatiesPremium