Spring Premium Live and Catalog Auction 2018 Closing May 5
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 5/6/2018
Graded 50 VG/EX 4 by SGC. Hall of Famer, in his cherished "Rookie Card" depiction. Mickey Mantle is still considered by many to be the last true baseball hero. The young outfielder accepted the torch passed by the great DiMaggio, who had similarly followed in the path of Lou Gehrig. The 1951 season was Mantle's first in pinstripes and, despite being sent back down to the minors for more seasoning, Bowman issued this card in that year's final, key series. Bowman's first vision of future greatness takes the form of this mini-artwork, rendered as a horizontal image set against the brightest skies. Only in carefully preserved specimens, like this one, does the design's true magnificence reveal itself. This example features clean white borders culminating in sharp corners that are only minimally affected by traces of wear. Centering ever-so-slightly tends toward the right side, and vestiges of two factory print lines bring about very little distraction from the card's favorable manner of presentation. The reverse is perfectly legible, with a faint reminder of the item's original wax-wrapper packaging at the top edge. A superbly appealing card, in Very Good to Excellent condition.