2017 Great American Trading Card Auction Ending April 1
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 4/1/2017
Encapsulated and assessed "Authentic - Altered" by PSA, one of just seven examples of this depiction recorded in PSA's census reporting. Hall of Famer, in an early career appearance. Presented is one of the most sought-after and elusive bread-end labels in the hobby. This is the thin-paper jewel bearing the likeness of Mickey Mantle (in just his second year with the Yankees) from Tip Top's ambitious baseball series of 1952. The almost impossibly delicate, 2-3/4"-square collectible flatters its subject with a deep red, starry surround and a clearly detailed, black-and-white portrait photograph. Originally available only by quite literally ripping open the seal of a bread loaf, labels such as this one were made subject to condition pitfalls that are unheard-of in "standard" card collecting. Printed features of this example display crisply. Superficial thinning on the reverse, a phenomenon virtually always present in such items as a consequence of their factory placement, is confined on this piece to a few small and localized areas at the edges, with no spots of full breakthrough readily apparent. An irregular cut is apparent at the bottom edge. This is an extremely presentable specimen of a very challenging collectible.