THE MOST IMPORTANT POST-WAR CARD IN THE HOBBY

This fresh to the hobby example of 1952 Topps No. 311 has been in the collection of the original owner since it was first pulled from a pack over seven decades ago. Graded and authenticated by PSA with a 1 designation, the card features strong centering and clean back.

With the 1952 series, Topps set the standard for what would become the modern trading card.  Featuring full team logos and colorized black-and-white photography along with facsimile signatures of the players, Topps cards also featured the statistics and biographical information that would connect their target demographic, children, with their favorite players.  The 1952 Topps set was produced in six series. Later series cards, which would be released as children returned to school and the baseball season came to a close, were produced in smaller quantities as a cost-saving measure; as a result, the Mickey Mantle card, #311 in the 407-card set, was produced in a smaller quantity than earlier cards in the series.  According to Sy Berger, co-designer of the 1952 Topps series, the firm was unable to sell later-series cards even at a steep discount, and, needing space in their warehouse, they dumped pallets of unwanted higher-series cards in the Hudson River, leaving even fewer in existence.  

In 1952, when Topps first entered the sports card market, Mickey Mantle was playing his second season in the major leagues with the New York Yankees.  Following Joe DiMaggio's retirement following the 1951 season, Mickey Mantle was moved to center field, a position he would play full-time for the Yankees until 1965 when he was moved to left field.  Mantle ultimately played 18 seasons in the major leagues, all for the Yankees, where he tallied three MVPs, seven World Series rings, and a Triple Crown, among other accolades. Mantle symbolized the American dream, making the improbable journey from Oklahoma's dust bowl to New York's Yankee Stadium, where he followed in the footsteps of legends Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, and Joe DiMaggio.


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