1951 Bowman Mickey Mantle #253

Wow, the first thing that strikes me here is the registration. His image is so crisp and clear. Then I notice the centering is truly as good as I have ever seen. Only then does the top stain tug at my eye. The pinholes are really kind of an afterthought for me because I keep staring at him and that centering.

Pretty nice card considering the pinholes. The staining isn’t great but for a card that’s surely a 1, this is a good example.

Very interesting card. His cap and the overall image are just gorgeous on this card. For me, the pinholes are not a problem, but the staining on the right border and top border are. The question for me is how much to they take down the eye appeal. I just did a test for about a minute and found my eye is holding on the face and cap. It's the perfect centering that keeps my eye locked onto Mick.

Great centering but quite a bit of staining or toning on the surface borders, and edges in addition to the pinholes.

Very nice centering and registration but the staining and pinholes detract for me. Without those flaws this would be in the A range for me.

This centering and registration is fantastic. As the instructions above say, the flaws just do not bother my eye so I am not factoring them in. Top tier all the way.

As someone for whom centering is key, this is my jam. The card just hits my eye well. That Yankee logo is crispy and focused, there is no ghosting of the image, and the back is a total non factor for me. The pinholes, I barely notice. Staining in the top border does grab my eye.

This is what I'm trying to find in a 51 Bowman Mantle, a little dirty and perfectly centered. Great image too, if I saw this in the wild, I'd be a buyer.

Actually the front is better looking than the slab. IT has staining and discoloration but it has nice sized borders and good (not perfect centering) and the colors and image shows well. The back is not something I would like to have and normally backs do not bother me unless it is bad and to me it is bad

Excellent centering and very nice color and registration. Has obvious issues but doesn't detract a lot from the eye-appeal.