The Truth About the Iconic 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle Baseball Card

The 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle baseball card is arguably the most popular sports card in history.
Yet, there’s one thing so many get wrong about it.
1952 Topps is NOT Mickey Mantle’s rookie card.
Mickey Mantle’s rookie card arrived a year before in 1951 Bowman.
Even though the 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle is his most popular card it’s not deserving of the rookie card designation.
For years, the sports card hobby had very specific criteria for a card to called a rookie card.
- The first card to feature a player in their MLB uniform.
- The card comes after they have made their Major League debut.
- The card has to be widely distributed.
- The card is licensed by MLB.
The 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle hits just two of those four criteria as it was widely distributed and licensed by MLB, but Mantle’s1951 Bowman hits all four.
In 1951, Topps had created its first baseball card set, but the cards were considered a game. It wasn’t until a year later that 1952 Topps came on the scene and is considered one of the first modern-day trading card releases.
So, how did the 1952 Topps card become more popular than his actual rookie card?
1952 Topps was a revolutionary set. It was the precursor to what we see on cards today. The cards featured photography, a facsimile autograph, and stats on the back!
And, of course, there is the legend of what happened to many of the 1952 Topps Mantle cards.
Mantle is on card No. 311, which is considered part of the high-number series. This series came out later in the season.
The legend goes that the 1952 Topps high-number series was not selling well, so a Topps executive dumped cases upon cases of it into the water.
Topps was located in Brooklyn at the time. It could have been the bay, the Atlantic Ocean or the Long Island Sound. Either way, the story grew and grew and the idea that there are fewer Mantle cards out there than others made the cards all the more collectible.
It didn’t hurt that Mantle is one of the most collectible and popular sports figures in history.
The three-time MVP and seven-time World Series champion was among the best in baseball on the most popular team, the New York Yankees.
The 1952 Topps card is so popular and collectible that an SGC 9.5 copy of the sold for $12.6 million in August 2022.
While rookie cards tend to be the most chased after cards, they’re not always the most valuable.
Just like the 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle not-Rookie Card.