If you’ve ever wanted to own a complete run of Mickey Mantle baseball cards in high grade, your time has come. Memory Lane Inc. is proud to present at auction The Bruce Griggs Mickey Mantle Basic Set Collection. Thirty-three of the finest regular-issue Mickey Mantle cards ever to enter the sports card market will be sold during Memory Lane’s upcoming Winter Extravaganza Rarities Auction opening November 21 and closing December 13.
A ten-year accumulation of Mantle cards, the collection is symmetrical in condition; every card a stunning NM-MT PSA 8. It ranks among the finest Mantle Basic Collection sets on the PSA Set Registry. The complete run of Topps and Bowman issues represents Mantle’s arrival on the baseball scene in 1951 through his farewell in the spring of 1969.
Griggs, a Virginia resident and former minor league pitcher for the Kansas City Royals, is a lifelong Mantle fan who began collecting cards in The Mick’s heyday.
“My father took me to several Yankee/White Sox games in 1960-1969 while we lived in Chicago,” he recalled. “I remember Mickey Mantle hitting a home run over the upper deck stands in right field where we sat. What a thrill! My first baseball glove my father gave me was a Rawlings Mantle outfielder’s mitt.”
Griggs began piecing together his run of PSA 8 Mantles in 1998 and a number of the cards in the collection are among the finest in existence.
“I chose to collect PSA 8 because it represented a high end grade that was still achievable at a modest price,” he said.
The Griggs Basic Collection includes:
52 Topps Mantle PSA 8
51 Bowman Mantle PSA 8
52 Bowman Mantle PSA 8
53 Topps Mantle PSA 8
53 Bowman Color Berra, Bauer, Mantle PSA 8
53 Bowman Color Mantle PSA 8
54 Bowman Mantle PSA 8
54 Dan Dee Mantle PSA 8
55 Bowman Mantle PSA 8
56 Topps Mantle PSA 8
57 Topps Mantle PSA 8
57 Topps Yankees Power Hitters Mantle & Berra PSA 8
58 Topps Mantle PSA8
58 Topps Series Batting Foes Mantle & Aaron PSA 8
59 Topps Mantle PSA 8
59 Topps AS Mantle PSA 8
60 Topps Mantle PSA 8
60 Topps Mantle All Star PSA 8
61 Topps Mantle PSA 8
61 Topps Mantle All Star PSA 8
62 Topps Managers’ Dream Mantle & Mays PSA 8
62 Topps Mantle PSA 8
62 Topps Mantle The Switch Hitter Connects PSA 8
62 Topps AS Mantle PSA 8
63 Topps Mantle PSA 8
64 Topps Mantle PSA 8
64 Topps Stand Up Mantle PSA 8
65 Topps Mantle PSA 8
66 Topps Mantle PSA 8
67 Topps Mantle PSA 8
68 Topps Mantle PSA 8
69 Topps Mantle Yellow Letters PSA 8
69 Topps Mantle White Letters PSA 8
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Some of the cards have few peers. There are only ten 1951 Bowman #253 graded higher than the Griggs card and just eleven 1952 Topps. His 1954 Dan Dee, 1957 Topps #407, 1962 Topps #471 and 1969 Topps white letter #500 all rank among the top ten of all-time for each card.
It’s not a collection that’s easy to part with but Griggs hopes his eye for quality will please Mantle fans and collectors.
“I decided to sell at this point in time to give others in my generation the opportunity to own high-end cards of a true baseball icon. I enjoyed this collection and displayed them proudly but now it’s time to let go.”
He’s anxiously awaiting the auction results, but confident he’ll be rewarded by choosing Memory Lane, which is known for achieving record-setting results for some of the finest vintage baseball cards in existence.
“The entire staff of Memory Lane, of which I’ve met, is a first class, professional organization that strives for customer satisfaction.”
Hundreds of other pieces of rare sports memorabilia and vintage sports cards will be sold in the auction, with bids being accepted by phone 877-606-5263 or fax 714-730-0602. You may also bid via the company’s website at: www.memorylaneinc.com. Registration is now underway.
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