Mickey Mantle's rookie card for $25! A vintage price guide
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There's a saying in the Hobby, not to mention life in general, that when it's too good to be true it probably is. Spot a 1951 Bowman Mickey Mantle rookie card on eBay today for $25 and the chances are 99.9999% it's a fake. Of course, that wasn't always the case. On the contrary there was a time when die-hard collectors would look at that price tag and think, "No way I'm paying that much!"
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The year was 1978, and the Hobby was in a very different place. Unlike today where collectors buy in to breaks or expensive "hobby boxes" in hopes of a six-figure hit, the most expensive card you could pull from a pack back then might have fetched you ten cents on the school yard. It was a time when your buddy would happily trade you the Eddie Murray rookie he had doubles of for the "common" he needed to complete his set. Oh, and it was a time when rookie cards were about as exciting as manager cards and team checklists, no matter who was on them.
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As for the vintage market, well, first off the word "market" is too strong a term. Yes, there was great interest in "old cardboard" among a cadre of Hobby die-hards who seemed to all know each other, but you could also count on one hand the number of cards thought to be worth triple digits. If you guessed the 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle might be one of them, guess again. All you needed for that Hobby Grail was $75 and a self-addressed stamped envelope. Matter of fact, $167.50 could get you the Mick's entire 1950s run!
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As you might imagine, these bargain prices extended well beyond the Mick. As long as you're writing a check and burning a stamp or two, why not also scoop up a Hank Aaron rookie for $14 and a Roberto Clemente rookie for $4? And can you really pass up the Bob Gibson rookie for $1.25?
Flip through the rest of the Collectors Castle price list, and here is just a sampling of the card prices you'd see.
- 1955 Topps Sandy Koufax RC - $5
- 1951 Bowman Willie Mays RC - $22.50
- 1952 Topps Willie Mays - $12
- 1948 Bowman Stan Musial RC - $5
- 1953 Bowman Pee Wee Reese - $3.50
- 1957 Topps Frank Robinson RC - $2.50
- 1949 Bowman Jackie Robinson RC - $7.50
Today, of course, these prices are largely meaningless, at least for collectors who have not yet mastered time travel. At the same time, there is a lot to learn about the history of the Hobby from price lists like this. Here are just a handful of the surprises hiding in plain sight.
- For several players (e.g., Whitey Ford, Duke Snider, Carl Yastrzemski), their rookie cards had no markup over their other early cards.
- The 1953 Bowman Reese card, a near grail today, carried no premium at all over Pee Wee's other early 1950s cardboard.
- Nowhere in the entire price list is there any mention of condition!
Without a doubt, the Hobby was in a very different place in 1978, one which many of today's vintage collectors wish they experienced. Still, careful what you wish for. Sure, maybe you might have been the one buying that Mantle rookie for $25. On the other hand, you might just as easily have been the fellow who sold it!
Jason A. Schwartz is a collectibles expert whose work can be found regularly at SABR Baseball Cards, Hobby News Daily, and 1939Bruins.com. His collection of Hank Aaron baseball cards and memorabilia is currently on exhibit at the Atlanta History Center, and his collectibles-themed artwork is on display at the Honus Wagner Museum and PNC Park.