This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 3/10/2017
If you took a survey of vintage collectors and asked what they thought was the most popular baseball card of the post-war era, but they couldn't choose a rookie card, the most likely winner would be the 1956 Topps card of Mickey Mantle. First off there's the sheer importance within the history of the game; released the same year that "The Commerce Comet" pulled off a Triple Crown performance in leading the New York Yankees to a thrilling 7-game World Series victory of the Brooklyn Dodgers. But in addition to that, well, it's just a great looking card. Blessed with an abundance of contrasting colors - the red and yellow nameplates as well as the blue Yankees cap, uniform white and flesh tones of the Mantle close-up portrait, the thing that seals the deal is the fantastic action shot of the Mick shown robbing an opponent of a sure home run with a spectacular grab, propelling his body above the wall with glove outstretched. Even the cartoon on the reverse, which suggests that Mantle is so fast that his shadow can't keep up with him, appealed to collectors who seemed to believe that the idea wasn't too far from reality. The featured card is one of the fortunate few that has survived to earn a grade of PSA 9, one of less than 1% of all PSA submissions that reside at the MINT level. And there's really no mystery to this one; it's essentially a GEM MINT example that has been placed in a MINT holder due to the slight mild positioning toward the left horizontal side. Even under close examination with a loupe designed for stamps, which carries a far greater magnification than grading companies use to make their determinations, there's nothing that detracts from this incredible specimen save for a tiny print dot on the bottom border of the reverse, which simply wouldn't keep this card out of a GEM MINT holder on its own. This is one of the few examples that can not only define the superiority of a PSA Set Registry ranked 1956 Topps set, Hall of Famer collection or other themed assemblage, but stands on it's own as a centerpiece for advanced card hunters that relish the chase of tracking down the most notable issues ever produced by the Topps company.