Mickey Mantle signed this beautiful example of his 1953 Topps #82 card in bold blue marker, with ideal positioning below his left-turning face and above his printed name and the famed Yankees logo. Autograph aside, '53 Topps is one of Mantle's most popular and artistic cardboard issues. Renowned illustrator Gary Dvorak was commissioned by Topps to do the artistic renditions of players in the '53 set and the results were truly stunning. Classic images of hardball legends like The Mick in striking portrait poses, incorporating light and shadows in a delicate manner, will continue to garner admiration from collectors new and old as decades pass.

Dual-graded Mantle autographed cards, especially those from the 1950's, are a hot commodity in the hobby these days, a trend that will only continue. This example marked his second Topps issue and dates to his third season in the majors. Evaluated as GD+ 2.5 for card condition by PSA, key visual elements such as near-perfect centering, vibrant colors, sharp print registration, and a super clean back give it great aesthetic appeal despite some corner and edge wear. PSA/DNA has fairly graded the autograph a solid 8. If not for Mantle's blue pen apparently running a bit low on ink, we'd easily be looking at a Mint 9 auto. Overall, eye appeal is utterly fantastic. The fact that only 51 dual-grade versions exist in PSA's pop report -- with nearly 5,100 unsigned copies -- shows just how special it is to own one. Among these 51, the highest card grade is EX+ 5.5, with only thirteen higher than this one.