Just before the 2024 National, there was a lot of noise across the hobby about a PSA 9 graded 1953 Stahl-Meyer Franks Mickey Mantle hitting the market; imagine if this printer’s proof set came up for sale now, too!
First, Sports Collectors Daily has a nice overview if you want to read more about the PSA 9 Mantle, which has an asking price north of $2.5M. Also, here’s a link to the site the card’s owner made to help market it.
Mastro offered the printer’s proof set in their April 2006 Sports Auction catalog.
Here’s the lot’s description:
Here’s one of the rarest of all early 1950’s regional card productions, featuring a selection of the period’s biggest stars from the three New York teams. Stahl-Meyer collectibles were issued only with that single brand of hot dogs (just one card per package) and only in the New York area. When finished Stahl-Meyer cards were created, they were specially cut with rounded corners, and they were covered with a thick wax coating to protect the cards from being ruined by the hot dogs with which the pieces were packed. The bright and clean full set of nine Stahl-Meyer cards here offered was dearly spared any time spent in proximity to meat products. These items have been carefully hand-cut from a proof sheet and were never publicly distributed; with a single exception, they exhibit square corners and carry no protective wax coating. This unique set emanates from a special “find” of nearly 25 years ago, when a small but significant hoard of survivors from Milprint the Wisconsin printer who produced many of the most popular regional issues of the 1950’s yielded groups of treasures from the Stah-Meyer, Dan Dee, Hunter’s, Johnston Cookies and Briggs releases. Described without reference to the hand-cut nature of the items, these proof cards and their respective presentation quality include: Bauer (GD/VG), Campanella (VG), Hodges (GD/VG), Irvin (VG/EX), Mantle (EX/MT), Rizzuto (GD/VG), Snider (VG) and Thomson (VG). The ninth card Lockman, the only waxed, final-process card held in quantity by the printer grades VG/EX. A verifiably peerless complete printer’s proof set, this offering represents an especially glamorous potential addition to one of the industry’s most important collections.
Happy collecting!