This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 12/20/2013
When Topps released their landmark 1952 set, little did people realize this issue would eventually define the post World War II baseball card hobby. Furthermore, even after a myriad of the high numbered series unreleased factory boxes found their way to the bottom of the ocean, no one could have possibly predicted that subject #311, the incomparable Mickey Mantle Topps rookie card, would ultimately be categorized as one of the foremost cornerstones of the card market. However this mystique was established, no one will argue that Mantle’s 1952 Topps image will forever be embedded in hobby folklore, and is one of the few post WWII cards that supersedes almost all of the high-end pre-WWII cards.. Housed in an alternative holder, this behemoth of a collectible beams out to all enthusiasts, to be judged on its own resounding merits. Four staggeringly sharp corners frame a wonderful countenance of the young slugger who is enveloped in a mesmerizing glaucous shade of blue, the central image of Mantle is a wonderful presentation of captivating flesh tones capped off by the steel blue of his Yankee hat. An attention-commanding lemon yellow bat slung over the Oklahoman's right shoulder, laid on top of the slate gray of the New York road jersey, acts as a befitting and luminescent spectacle of grandeur. The surface of this stirring keepsake presents as a jewel with a prideful dollop of scintillating gloss that overwhelms the palette, seemingly elevating this mere piece of cardboard into electrifying baby boomer art. Yet despite the many seductions of this collectible, it is the vivid magnetic gaze of Mantle that strikes a chord. As if the young pinstriped batsman could ultimately look past the mere appearance on this cherished pasteboard, onto the future admiration and fame he would ultimately recognize. The centering, although astute for the opined grade, does lean favorably to the left, assuring all of us that even in the fanciful flight of our star-studded imagination that all can not be perfect. The reverse displays a daunting first-hand witness to Mantle's spectacularly awaited arrival by trumpeting that the slugger was to be the great Joe DiMaggio's successor, as well as his overwhelming minor league statistics. All of this is done in a red and black inked commencement laid upon a sullen gray stock. An American masterpiece offered in a somewhat forgotten assessment, that we have judged to be in prideful NM/MT condition.