Anyone ever see this Mantle before?

PSASAP

In the last PWCC auction, a 1954 SI preview card of Mickey Mantle sold for a surprisingly low figure. I've never seen this issue before, and I've been collecting for a fairly long time. Anybody have the 411 on it?

link to Ebay auction

Sean1125

That does seem like a steal for a 1954 mantle in that kind of shape, I don't care what brand.

PSASAP

Reading the text, it is doubtful this issue was released in 1954. The way the writer describes Mantle as the most powerful switch hitter to ever play the game would most likely have been stated after his career was over.

JoeBanzai

Cool that it shows him bunting! I am surprised as well that anything Mantle in good condition goes that cheap. Are these easy to find?

He was a stud, I think it was pretty obvious right from the beginning that he was a very special ballplayer.

Joe

fkw

its not even a card, its an image cut from a vintage magazine

the 1st 2 issues of SI had these images of cards inside. if they are still in their intact sheet they do have some value, but singles cut from these "sheets" are just like any cut magazine picture, very little value in reality.

and it may not even be vintage as there are a ton of fakes too as the magazine and single "cards" has been reprinted as well

ie
1954 Yankees Sports Illustrated Reprint Mickey Mantle

the sad part is you can often buy the complete "real" magazine for less than $155, and it has all the pseudocards still inside in its original form (the form thats valuable)



PS I almost forgot the "in reality, Mantle kinda sucked" line, sorry
Mr "whiff/I cant run out a double*" doesnt deserve to be on the pedestal above far superior players like Aaron, Mays, FRobinson, Killebrew, Clemente, etc. etc.

*(the slowest player in the history of baseball Bengie Molina had more Doubles per162 games played than Mr. "I can play CF but dont want to hustle on basepaths" Mantle)

Sean1125

So.... What year is this card actually from then?

fkw

Sean, its NOT a "card"


here is more info...

the issue this Mantle "card image" was cut from is the August 23, 1954 issue of Sports Illustrated (2nd issue ever)

the complete magazine with the foldout intact has value, the cut singles "card images" from it do not have collector value (and shouldnt).... thats why they are not listed singlely in the price guides because they are really just "magazine cuts".

the complete magazine is listed under "Sports Illustrated" in any "good" price guide, ie the SCD Standard Catalog, and has a value of $350 NRMT, $175 EX, $100 VG but often sells for less than book value. But if people see this auction Im sure many will start to cut their magazines up and sell these things individually with the same "I dont know about this issue" line


inside this magazine it had a foldout section with 27 of these "card images" printed on the normal magazine paper stock. ......all the players are New York Yankees

15 of the players "card images" were based on the normal Topps cards from that year (1954) while the other 12 had fantasy cards designed after the 1954 Topps cards (ie this Mantle, Slaughter, etc) because they DID NOT have cards issued by Topps that year.

the magazine is often found for as little as $50, and when you find one that cheap its often got a worn beat up cover but the card image sheet inside is usually not bad.

the winner of this auction could have bought a nice complete magazine with all 27 "card images" inside for less $$ than what he will pay for the single cut "card image"


SI had 4 issues total with these "card images" in them, 2 in 1954 and 2 in 1955

swartz1

it is difficult to state that the image/card/photo whatever, has very little value, when it sold for $150...

just sayin...

MBMiller25

If I remember correctly, a board member won this card.

WinPitcher

In the item specifics it claims it's graded and that PSA graded it.

Maybe someone here can speak about this?

bishop

Paper versions of Topps cards did appear in two issues of SI in both 54 and 55. The inserts first appeared in the first edition of SI and that magazine in good shape and in tact brings a nice premium. BUT, it has been reprinted by SI and one needs to be cautious in trying to get an original. The 2 1955 issues featured 1955 Topps "cards". The second time the cards appeared in SI's 1954 magazine, the 2nd issue, Topps included several paper versions of Yankee "cards" that were not in the actual 54 set. To an avid Yankee fan those Topp's "cards" that never were are a nice item. But I agree any collector would be best off going for the magazine .

The 4 issues are:

August 16, 1954...first issue...watch out for reprints by SI...27 cards...color

August 23, 1954...paper versions of 12 actual Topps Yankee cards along with 12 B&W "cards" that did not appear in the Topps 1954 issue...Cover-- Golf Bags

April 11, 1955 Durocher and Mays on cove...8 cards in color

April 18, 1955 Al Rosen on cover...8 cards in color

As for grading by PSA, as Steve knows, I know nothing

KbKards

The cutouts from the SI are paper thin. Cut out from a magazine that can be bought for as little as $50, the individual card cutouts have little to no value. They were also reprinted by Larry Fritsch on a heavier card stock and find their way back on Ebay with interesting descriptions and stories. http://www.ebay.com/itm/1954-Yankees-Sports-Illustrated-Reprint-Mickey-Mantle-/200402088172

mlbfan2

<< <i>*(the slowest player in the history of baseball Bengie Molina had more Doubles per162 games played than Mr. "I can play CF but dont want to hustle on basepaths" Mantle) >>



Well, he did lead the league once in triples (11), and he had another year with 12. Also, doubles were quite a bit harder to hit back in Mantle's day. In 1956, there were 2.70 doubles per game in MLB. In 2006, there were 3.76.

ezyshooter

PSA does grade the 1954 SI. Just knowbody has sent any in. I was thinking about cutting mine up but my book is mint so i decided not to. I verified that they graded this issue a couple years ago.
Steve

fkw

here is the Yogi Berra (single) from the same magazine as the B&W Mantle.

The Berra is based on the Topps card while the Mantle was a B&W fantasy design.



the image quality of the front is inferior compared to the Topps cards, while the back is much clearer.

I got all 27 of these about 20 years ago in a large collection I bought, this is the only one I kept (because Berra is the best player from the 1954 Yankees)
I sold the others for $1 each to $10 for the Mantle, all were vintage cut like this Berra



PS for those that doubt Berra being baseball best pure hitting catcher.....
Yogi Berra hit more HOMERUNS than STRIKEOUTS in 5 different seasons during his career, its only been done 2 times in last 40 years (1 season by Brett, 1 season by Bonds)
best season was 1950 with 28 HRs and only 12 SOs (656 plate appearances)