1961 Topps Dice Game Mickey Mantle
koby
Posts: 1,699 ✭✭
1961 Dice Game Mantle
Does anyone know anything about these cards? Mastro describes the card as follows: "The card has been hand-cut to the full dimension of 2-1/2" x 3-1/2", and has since been handled very responsibly. It is unsuited for professional evaluation as the right border's cut is perceptibly inexact."
When I look at the population report, I see that PSA has, in fact, graded cards from this set. Are all of those handcut from uncut sheets?
Does anyone know anything about these cards? Mastro describes the card as follows: "The card has been hand-cut to the full dimension of 2-1/2" x 3-1/2", and has since been handled very responsibly. It is unsuited for professional evaluation as the right border's cut is perceptibly inexact."
When I look at the population report, I see that PSA has, in fact, graded cards from this set. Are all of those handcut from uncut sheets?
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Comments
No one may know because so few have ever surfaced.
If you call mastronet, they may be able to tell you.
Wish I could tell you, but I can't.
There are too few known to make any reasonable qualifications. I am sure that PSA or anyone else would at the very least authenticate it. I do not believe that the other cards from this set are obviously hand cut - but that does not mean that they are factory cut. It is a very difficult question - as no one truly knows more about this issue. It is thought to never have actually been distributed - and there do not seem to be more than 3 or 4 copies of *any* card from the set known to exist. So how does one make any reasonable judgment? You cannot. Certainly a sloppy cut or a trim job can be detected - but who's to really judge? It is just as easy to suggest that all the PSA graded examples were contemporaneously cut from a sheet - but that is somewhat unlikely - given what is known about the cards.
I certainly can say that I have not seen many other 1961 Dice Game cards with a sloppy cut.
If Mastro is right that there are only two known copies (I am too much of a neophyte to confirm or deny this) - the other copy has a very apparent pinhole in the middle of the card, and was sold for, I believe, in excess of $15,000 in an Alan Rosen auction in 2001.
If you're a Mantle or a Dice Game collector - at the end of the day, you truly have to pick your battles. All things considered - this is not one worth battling over. The card is real. Getting picky once you have a "real" example is a luxury not afforded by Mantle or Dice Game collectors.
I think that the one that had the pinhole went for just about the same amount as where this one currently resides. Price is a bit of a weird topic on a card like this. If there are only two or three known - how can you properly even value the card? Sure it's handcut - but at least it doesn't have a freaking pinhole!
Plus - Mantle collectors tend to be somewhat synonymous with rich people. FWIW - a 1885 Trade Dollar Proof coin, of which there are five known examples, just went up at auction for something like $860,000+. There is a lot less competition in the sportscard market for sure.
<< <i>FWIW - a 1885 Trade Dollar Proof coin, of which there are five known examples, just went up at auction for something like $860,000+. >>
That certainly put things in perspective. Whenever I hear about prices paid for other collectibles such as coins or books, I realise that even the most impressive card collectors are but large fish in a very small pond. There is only one sportscard that exceeded one million dollars, while there are at least a dozen numismatic that far exceed that amount. There are even more books than that; in fact I believe there are that many bibles that exceed that amount. And that is not even mentioning more expensive hobbies such as paintings and sculptures and old historic pieces. Selling an old chinese vase would enable the seller to easily purchase the best t206 set complete with the Wagner. Selling a single piece from a top artist would enable the seller to buy out the top ten sportscard collections without difficulty.
<< <i>There is a lot less competition in the sportscard market for sure >>
Check the prices in rare art auctions. Where bidding in the millions is not out of the realm...jay
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