Mickey Mantle and the 1956 Topps White and Gray Backs

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I published an article the other day about the 1939 Play Ball baseball set, emphasizing the three Ted Williams Rookie Cards. I thought I would do something similar in my analysis of the 1956 Topps White and Gray back cards by focusing on the Mickey Mantle cards (the last Mantle card to use artwork instead of photographs).

1956 Topps #135 Mickey Mantle Gray Back – Front
1956 Topps #135 Mickey Mantle Gray Back – Reverse

First, some 1956 Topps baseball basics. 1956 marked the beginning of the Topps monopoly as they had just purchased Bowman. So, while 1954 and 1955 Topps didn’t have Mickey Mantle cards since he was signed exclusively with Bowman, he was back in the Topps lineup in 1956 (along with many other players). 

The 1956 Topps set has 340 numbered cards and two unnumbered checklists, marking the first year that checklists (and team cards) appeared in a set. The set came out in four series: series one is cards 1-100, series two is 101-180, series three is 181-260, and series four is cards 261-340. Also, the cards measure 3-3/4’’x 2-5/8″ and were the last oversized cards.

While the fronts of the cards have the same design format, what’s most interesting to me about the 1956 Topps baseball set are the printing variations due to the card stock Topps used; cards 1-180 have either white or gray backs, while the last 160 cards all have gray backs. More specifically, cards 1-100 have more white backs, while the second series, 101-180, has more gray-back examples. 

1956 Topps #33 Roberto Clemente – Gray Back
1956 Topps #33 Roberto Clemente – White Back

Some collectors don’t think the back color impacts prices much, but the white-backed series two cards definitely carry a premium, and some 1956 collectors have argued the series one gray backs have a 10% premium over white backs. Unfortunately, PSA only started differentiating the back around October 2008, so the pop report on the gray vs. white backs isn’t super accurate in guiding our analysis.

1956 Topps #130 Willie Mays – Gray Back
1956 Topps #130 Willie Mays – White Back

I read a write-up from a collector with three fully graded 1956 Topps sets. He said that for cards 1-100, the white backs are much more common (4 or 5:1) but have a negligible premium since there are still so many gray backs (Topps always seemed to print more first series cards across all their sets as baseball cards were hot when they first hit the market in the spring). However, for cards 101-180, he said the gray backs are significantly more common (12 to 15:1), so the white backs carry a hefty premium, especially at higher grades (PSA 7+) since the white-backed cards seem to be more brittle, too. Another collector added that the white backs have at least a 50% premium and that putting together an all-white back run in decent condition would be almost impossible today.

You may already have gathered that Mikey Mantle’s card (#135) happens to fall in the second series. While I mentioned that PSA’s population report won’t ever be completely accurate, with the high prices that Mantle cards command, it behooves a collector with a white back card to get the card re-slabbed with the correct designation.

The following table shows that PSA has graded over 9,500 1956 Topps Mickey Mantle cards (as of October 16th, 2024), with about a 9.5:1 ratio of gray vs. white-backed cards. Also, the average gray-back grade looks to be between four and five, while the average white-back grade appears to be closer to three.

PSA’s 1956 Topps Mickey Population Table

It’s tough to compare high-grade prices since so few exist and so few move publicly around the market. However, the white backs sell for more than the gray backs when you find examples from similar periods; here’s a summary of PSA 5-10 sales.

1956 Topps #135 Mickey Mantle Gray Back Sales

  • PSA 10: $360k in May 2017
  • PSA 9: $148.7k in Jan 2022, $137k in Oct 2021, $150k in Oct 2021, and $175k in August 2021
  • PSA 8: $19k in Oct 2024, $19.6k in Aug 2024, and $15.9k in Feb 2024
  • PSA 7: $5.8k in Aug 2024, $5.7k in July 2024, and $5.8k in May 2024
  • PSA 6: $4.2k in Oct 2024, $3.5k in Sept 2024, and $4.2k in Sept 2024
  • PSA 5: $2.5k in Oct 2024, $2.8k in Sept 2024, and $3.2k in Aug 2024
1956 Topps #135 Mickey Mantle Gray Back – Front
1956 Topps #135 Mickey Mantle Gray Back – Reverse

1956 Topps #135 Mickey Mantle White Back Sales

  • PSA 10: No sales
  • PSA 9: None Exist
  • PSA 8: $20.2k in Sept 2017
  • PSA 7: $19.8k in Apr 2022 and $3.4k in Aug 2018
  • PSA 6: $5k in Aug 2024, $5.2k in Mar 2022, $3.5k in Oct 2020
  • PSA 5: $2.8k in Aug 2024, $3.3k in Aug 2024, and $2.5k in May 2024
1956 Topps #135 Mickey Mantle White Back – Front
1956 Topps #135 Mickey Mantle White Back – Reverse

If you’re a 1956 Topps baseball collector looking to complete a master set, I wish you the best of luck, particularly in getting those second-series white-backed cards; happy collecting!

36 1959 Topps Football Cello Packs

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PSA has slabbed 141 1959 Topps Football Cello Packs; I have to presume a few of them are crossovers from when Mastro sold this lot of 36 GAI-graded 2nd-Series examples in August 2004.

The Global Authentication encapsulated slabs included seven Mint 9s, two NM-MT 8.5s, two NM-MT 8s, 19 NM+ 7.5s, and six NM 7s. A bunch of stars were visible on the top or bottom, including Kramer, Mitchell, Parker, Jones, Tittle, Robustelli, Lebaron, and Taylor.

The lot also included the fully intact display box, advertised as in Ex/Mt condition.

These days, most individually PSA-slabbed 1959 Topps Football cello packs have settled at a base price of ~$1500 (despite their high pop) but can sell for much more with stars showing or a touch less if they’re in rough shape.

The 1939 Play Ball Baseball Set and its Three Ted Williams Rookie Card Variations

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While I focus this blog on post-war cards, I also write about pre-war cards from time to time and collect them. So, I thought looking at one of the last pre-war issues, the 1939 Play Ball set (WW2 officially started on September 1, 1939), would be interesting. In trying to find an interesting niche in the set to write about and tie together its composition, the iconic Ted Williams rookie card (#92) and its three variations stood out. The Williams rookie is a “big deal”; for example, Joe Orlando included the 1939 Play Ball Williams in his list of the Top 250 sports cards in the hobby.

The three 1939 Play Ball #92 Ted Williams variations are the reverse with his name in mixed case letters, the reverse with his name in all uppercase letters, and the stamped sample copy used to drum up interest in the set.

1939 Play Ball #92 Ted Williams – Mixed Letters
1939 Play Ball #92 Ted Williams – Uppercase Letters
1939 Play Ball #92 Ted Williams – Sample

The sample cards were distributed (no one recalls the exact distribution method, but one guess is that Gum Inc. inserted them in packs of other products) a few months before the release of the 1939 Play Ball set to get orders and estimate how many the company should print. The entire low-number series of the set (cards 1-115), with names in all upper case letters on the back, have samples. We know this because Goldin auctioned off a complete set of samples in October 2013. The number made and that have survived is incredibly small, so sample cards command huge premiums. 

Each sample’s stamp reads, “FREE SAMPLE CARD GET YOUR PICTURES OF LEADING BASEBALL PLAYERS THREE PICTURE CARDS PACKED IN EACH PACKAGE OF “PLAY BALL AMERICA” BUBBLE GUM AT YOUR CANDY STORE 1C”.

1939 Play Ball #92 Ted Williams – Sample

Looking at the population report for the 1939 Play Ball set, you can see that PSA has graded almost 1,300 (as of October 15th, 2024) regular Ted Williams cards (they don’t differentiate between all upper-case and mixed-letter backs), while they have only encapsulated nine sample cards.

1939 Play Ball Ted Williams PSA Population

For the Ted Williams card, PSA’s APR shows that a PSA 4 graded sample sold for almost $16k in July 2015, while the last regular PSA 4 sold for $6,216 in February 2024.

Now, when it comes to the other two non-sample versions of the Ted Williams back, the all-uppercase and mixed letter, while it appears that the mixed letter card is a bit rarer, they don’t really command a premium price right now. It’s believed that the mixed letter cards are rarer because Gum Inc. inserted them (mixed case low series cards) into their second series release (cards 116-162), which were short-printed (and generally sell for a premium over the low series). The second series was all printed with mixed case lettering on the back. Also, we know Gum Inc. printed the upper case cards first because 12 of the low series’ mixed case cards correct typos from their all upper case versions.

Now, as a hobby, we may be off a bit here, but folks have done a lot of research, and the overall makeup of a 1939 Play Ball set appears to break down as follows:

  • There are 161 cards in the set.
  • Cards 1-115 all have uppercase names and samples.
  • Cards 116-162 have mixed case names; card 126 was never issued.
  • Seventy-three cards from 1-115 were also printed with mixed case names, leaving 42 with only upper case backs.
  • While the bottom of the backs of the cards indicated a series of 250 pictures, only the two previously mentioned series were released. Presumably, Gum Inc. intended to print a third series covering cards 163-250.

While some hobbyists may consider the black-and-white fronts a little boring, it’s hard to argue about the significance of the set’s key card, the Ted Williams rookie card. That specific card is now one of the most important in the vintage card market. So adding any of the three variations (regardless of perceived scarcity between the upper case and mixed case copies) to a collection is a big deal if you can afford it. Happy collecting! 

1977 Tucson Toros Baseball Cards

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Before Cramer Sports Productions became Pacific Trading Cards, it competed with TCMA in the 1970s to produce minor league sets; I ran across this ad for a set they made for the Tucson Toros in the September 1977 issue of The Trader Speaks.

The 24-card set was available directly from the team for $3. Here’s the front and back of outfielder Keathel Chauncey’s card.

Notice the awesome orange border and the C.S.P. (Cramer Sports Productions) copyright on the back.

You can still pick up complete sets for around the same price as when they were issued, $3, but nowadays, you’ll probably have to add $5 for shipping, so $8 total.

More interestingly, and it wasn’t advertised as an available item from the team, is the following 24-card uncut sheet of the then Texas Rangers affiliated Triple-A team. I saw it listed on eBay in August 2024 for $80.99.

One more Cramer-related fun fact about this set that a collector shared on TCDB, Rick Stelmaszek’s card, features Cheryl Cramer sitting in the background (the wife of Mike Cramer).

1951 Bowman Baseball Unopened Products

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I came across a 1951 Bowman Baseball one-cent display box in Ron Oser Enterprises’ April 2001 catalog, which inspired me to revive posts on the blog highlighting complete unopened product runs from various sets. This time, instead of dedicated pages, I’ll be sharing them as blog posts with a bit of added commentary.

1951 Bowman Wax Pack

With a certification that starts with 104, I’d be apprehensive about the authenticity of this pack without getting my hands on it or without a word from an expert in the hobby, like Steve Hart, who authenticates packs for PSA. Memory Lane Inc. sold it for $6,848 in May 2017.

Mile High Card Co. resold the pack for $4,672 in May 2020.

I’ve been unable to find any photos of 1951 Bowman five-cent wax packs.

1951 Bowman Wax Wrappers

Heritage sold this one-cent wrapper for $1,260 in September 2022, which seems unusually high because Collect Auctions sold the second example for just $196 in August 2020.

Heritage has also sold a five-cent wrapper before; the following one went for $1,260 in September 2022.

And years ago, in August 2016, Huggins and Scott sold the following pair of 1951 Bowman wrappers for $768.

1951 Bowman Wax Boxes

Display boxes are exceedingly rare and highly desirable. I’m also unaware of any full boxes. Memory Lane sold the following one-cent display box for just over $1k in December 2009.

Lelands also sold one of these one-cent display boxes, also quite a few years ago, in November 2008, for $437.

Memory Lane also sold a five-cent display box in the same auction as the one-cent box for $1,214 in December 2009.

1977 Tom Daniels Burleigh Grimes Baseball Cards

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Another incredible set I learned about by flipping through an old copy of The Trader Speaks (Sept. 1977) was the 1977 Tom Daniels Burleigh Grimes release. Grimes was the last pitcher allowed to throw to throw the spitball!

Tom Daniels partnered with Grimes (who was in his 80s at the time) to print the 16-card set in 1977. You can see a complete checklist on The Trading Card Database, but here’s a photo of each card from a set I found on eBay.

What’s super cool is that each set included one card autographed by Grimes for $3.49. I’ve seen a few complete sets of signed cards sold at various auctions over the past few years, usually going for between $75 and $100, but one of the most unique ones is available on eBay right now (August 2024) for $575, but it contains a few extra signatures for a total of 22. The additional signatures include Edd Roush, Joe McCarthy, Van Lingle Mungo, Leo Durocher, Robin Roberts, and Luke Appling.

There are also 18 PSA/DNA slabbed cards on the market from the set, including these two.

The Bender and Grimes card sold for $36 at Collect Auctions in April 2023.

Tom Daniels also offered autographed uncut sheets for $6.49 in 1977; Heritage sold this one for $31 in April 2007.

I’d love to get my hands on one of these uncut sheets. Let me know if you have one for sale and happy collecting!

1970 Topps Super Baseball Assortment Of 429 Cards

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Continuing what seems to be a “hobby hoarding” series dedicated to REA’s July 2000 auction is this lot of 429 1970 Topps Super baseball cards.

That same REA auction included a find of 768 1952-55 Red Man Tobacco cards and 661 unassembled 1971 Mild Duds boxes.

REA described the Topps Super cards conditions as 95% Nr/Mt and 5% Vg to Vg-Ex/Ex.

The highlights included #3 Aparicio (1), #5 Seaver (1), #8 Bench (8), #11 Brock (7), #12 Clemente (7), #13 McCovey (7), #15 Niekro (18), #18 Mays (15), #19 Stargell (5), #24 Aaron (15), #28 R. Jackson (16), #29 Yastrzemski (17), #33 Gibson (22), #34 Rose (21), #37 F. Robinson (5), #40 B. Williams (8), #41 Staub (8) with the number in parenthesis being the quantity.

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