A Mickey Mantle 1952 Topps card promoting for large {dollars} just isn’t information below most circumstances, however this one’s a special story.
As we reported at first of December, a signed model of the famed baseball card that includes Mick’s autograph went up for bids. PSA graded the cardboard 3, whereas the signature garnered a ten from the main assessor.
At public sale with Goldin, the distinctive card bought for almost $800,000 on the block and, extra impressively, acquired 23 bids.
Spectacular? Completely. Remoted? Not fairly. It’s the alternative. The marketplace for personally-signed, high-dollar playing cards is growing in dimension. Collectors who as soon as shied from getting worthwhile rookie playing cards or different older, high-dollar playing cards at the moment are selecting up the observe, a lot in order that athletes have gotten more and more conscious of the market.
All Classic Playing cards author Vinie Rullo recognized certainly one of these circumstances in June 2024. “(Joe) Montana was among the many first gamers to extend the price of signing his rookie playing cards. He was asking round $700 to $800 for rookie card signatures, and now he’s asking for as a lot as $1,000+ by some web sites and signings,” Rullo reported.
A Sordid Previous
Having a participant signal a high-dollar card was as soon as thought of a non-starter. The notion, merely put, despatched shivers down the backbone of a 90s or 2000s collector.
Why? The impression was that the signature was defacing the cardboard. Any ink was forbidden, as Simply Accumulate described in a debate weblog. “In case you owned a 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle rookie card, would you draw a mustache on the Mick? In all probability not; that doing so would really decrease the worth of the cardboard,” the corporate argued. “So if Mickey Mantle determined to jot down his identify on the cardboard, technically there is no such thing as a distinction between his identify and your mustache.”
Nonetheless, that perspective started to alter amid low instances within the interest.
In 2012, between the controversy and the recognition spike, PSA and its Sports activities Market Report spoke with collector Mike Navarro about his behavior of getting older rookie playing cards signed. Navarro, who can now be referred to as a pioneer of this widespread observe, justified the bizarre process:
I simply assume signed rookie playing cards have nice crossover attraction between autograph collectors and card collectors. That’s what I’m, they usually have nice attraction to me.
I believe having a card signed by the participant goes hand-in-hand. It’s a card that was really held by the participant—they really had an interplay with it. The signature represents a second or two of that participant’s life. To me, that connects it to that participant in a approach that makes it far more particular than simply being a card. I see increasingly more individuals turning into fascinated with signed rookie playing cards, and I believe it’s a style of the interest that’s nonetheless very a lot in its infancy.
Nonetheless Soaked in Controversy
However has the observe been fully accepted, and is now the brand new sizzling development within the sports activities card world? Maybe not. There are extra shades of gray if you evaluate the Mantle to a second Goldin lot, one that’s fairly presumably much more spectacular.
In December 2024, Goldin featured the famed 1985-86 Fleer Basketball set, nearly utterly signed. Solely two playing cards between the bottom set and insert stickers, one being the guidelines, weren’t autographed. That spectacular set contains the rookie playing cards of Charles Barkley, Hakeem Olajuwon, Karl Malone, and Michael Jordan, amongst others. All of those playing cards had been signed, with Beckett certification guaranteeing their authenticity.
That lot reached $45,000 with a day to go. In the end, it bought for greater than $123,000, however the close to triple bidding coming in simply the final 24-plus hours exhibits there’s hesitation within the market.
What Are They Value?
The Mantle card actually hit a mark that specialists would forecast it to achieve, however the Fleer set is a little bit of a special animal.
It will probably simply be said that Mantle is a rarity, even when he signed some playing cards throughout his profession. He was a prolific signer, primarily within the 80s and 90s, which tells you that few of those playing cards can be signed.
To that time, the finite variety of such playing cards drives its reputation, as it could for any participant who handed away amid the “no-sign” period. The identical, for instance, could possibly be utilized to Maurice Richard or Joe DiMaggio.
So there’s no query that these playing cards carry substantial worth, however what about trendy gamers or dwelling legends? The reply right here could also be within the Fleer set.
As famous above, the Fleer set had a mammoth enhance in bids over the waning time of its itemizing. The Jordan card alone, theoretically, ought to command greater than $100,000 if the city legend of an Higher Deck settlement forbidding MJ from signing his rookie card any longer is true. Most different huge names should not solely dwelling however prolific signers, which means getting a rookie card signed by them is definitely attainable.
Suppose you might be pondering getting your valued rookie card signed as an funding. In that case, the very best recommendation is first to think about the inhabitants rely—pursue an athlete later of their years who will probably not be signing a lot (for one purpose or one other). In case you intend to do the identical with a contemporary participant, know you received’t be alone, and getting an excellent ROI shall be more difficult.
Jon Waldman is a Winnipeg-based author. He has written for Beckett, Go GTS, Canadian Sports activities Collector, and a number of other different interest shops over his 20 years within the interest. His expertise additionally contains two books on sports activities playing cards and memorabilia. Join with Jon on Twitter at @jonwaldman.
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