1952 was a breakthrough season for budding Yankees centerfielder Mickey Mantle, both on the field and for the future growth of the hobby. On the diamond it was Mickey’s first full season in the big leagues during which he batted .311 with 23 homers and 87 RBI. Quite an impressive statline for the 20-year-old "Oklahoma Kid" as he was then nicknamed. In doing so, Mantle earned his first American League All-Star nod and helped lead New York to its fourth straight World Series crown.
While Mantle’s acclaimed 1952 Topps card remains a holy grail for collectors, his 1952 Bowman issue is certainly an underrated gem in its own right. Card #101 from this classic Bowman set depicts Mickey looking regal in Yankee pinstripes, perhaps pondering the high expectations ahead of him in supplanting the recently retired Joe DiMaggio as the new face of the storied Yankee franchise. We all know Mickey delivered -- to put it lightly -- on those expectations, just as this card will continue to deliver cardboard gold to future generations of collectors.
Featured here is a sensational dual-graded example of Mantle's 1952 Bowman, which received a GD 2 card grade from PSA. But the real prize here is Mickey’s flawless (yeah, we said it!) signature perfectly placed in between his face and printed cursive name. For whatever reason, PSA/DNA only gave the bold black marker stroke a 9 auto grade. We beg to differ. At any rate, the '52 Bowman remains one of the rarest of all signed Mantle cards, with just 23 total in PSA's consensus. By comparison, there are nearly 3,700 unsigned copies in the PSA pop. Only four duals have earned a superior card grade than this one. In 2021, a comparable signed '52 Bowman Mantle graded PSA GD+ 2.5 sold for $69,000 at auction. It earned a 10 auto grade, but you can make the case that this autograph is better. The eyes don't lie.