1951 Bowman Mickey Mantle #253

The flaws on this Mantle RC land with grace to my cycloptic eye, as opposed to a thud. If only humans could harmonize as well as this card's beauty does with its wear. The two flaws assigned the most weight are the lower right corner and the whitening in the nameplate. A case of the whole being more than the mere sum of the parts. Well chosen, my human friend.

Killer!!! A little staining and corner wear keep this from god tier. A Mantle collector should love this copy

Centering looks great. Surface wear and creasing hold it back.

The flaws are there, white on the name box, some surface issues on Mick’s hat, corner wear (especially noticeable on the bottom right) and a small crease. That said so is elite centering, very solid focus and a healthy dose of eye appeal. Bonus points for no roller marks.

I'm likely to be a little higher than most on this one. Obviously a low technical grade but the attractive centering & registration make this a worthy example IMO.

I see the scuffing and the corners, but rest of the card speaks to me.

Great centering, soft corners and snow on the nameplate and hat.

Good amount of scuffing on the card but it just looks so good can't give it any lower of a grade.

The Centering is amazing and that pulls the card up. The card is ok but many opportunities but the centering is really good(not perfect) and the border sizes are nice

Normally this degree of wear would cap the proceedings in the C Tier, yet I am going with much higher eye appeal here, because that centering and registration combo really please my eye; the obvious wear on the cap and name plate dampen the eye appeal more than the corners to me. The wrinkles are faint and would not bother me much. That centering is just so very rare for this card. A really cool copy.