When Mickey Mantle made his debut with the Yankees, writer Leonard Schecter said of him, “He has a face as open as the part of America that he came from.” So there he was, a kid of nineteen, already heralded as the second coming of Babe Ruth, or at the very least the legitimate successor to Joe DiMaggio. “When he hits the ball, it even sounds different,” they said about him. “He’s got it in his body to be great,” added grizzled manager Casey Stengel, who had been around long enough to qualify as an expert. Such expectations are hard to measure up to, but Mantle did and then some.

At the time of this cards release in 1952, however, Mantle’s future was uncertain. He started slowly with the Yankees, even finding himself farmed to Kansas City for fine tuning at one point a year earlier. By the mid-1950’s, Mantle’s destiny had taken shape as tape-measure homers boomed off his bat and his stats began to accumulate at an all-time level. Today, Mantle’s 1952 Topps issue is royalty in the field of card collecting, and one pristine copy currently stands as the all-time king of prices realized for any sports card. It is the most recognized and coveted post-war issued baseball card, and next to the T206 Honus Wagner, stands as the icon of the hobby.

The offered specimen has been graded EX 5 by the experts at PSA. The skyward portrait of the young slugger maintains outstanding color and clarity, with just a slight print defect on the slugger's Yankees cap. Clean borders, a smooth and crease-free surface, and evenly soft corners combine for a wonderful overall appearance. Front centering appears 65/35 horizontally and 60/40 vertically. The back is unblemished with ideal print quality. An exciting opportunity to add a truly excellent copy of this iconic card to your collection.