No baseball card has been more representative of the post-pandemic hobby boom than the 1952 Topps #311 Mickey Mantle.  Its popularity continues to skyrocket, continuing a northward trajectory that has seen its value in the lowest grade increase tenfold over the past decade.  In any grade, the card continues to be an example of an excellent long-term investment and a hobby icon that remains on the want list of virtually every collector.  The card's beauty, its familiar image, and of course the popularity of its subject remain unparalleled in postwar vintage collecting.

In today's hobby, a 1952 Topps Mantle in any grade is a significant investment.  The demand is so great that it will always surpass the supply, regardless of condition.  As a result, even as lower-grade examples sell for astronomical prices, those with stronger visual appeal are highly sought-after.  This example, graded PR 1 by SGC, is among the finer examples we have seen at that level.  Though the card does have all the attributes of a POOR-graded card, the color is strong, as is print registration and centering.  The primary condition flaw relates to heavy staining and resultant discoloration at the top border, along with heavy creasing throughout, which largely falls outside the image area.  Aa small speck of paper loss is visible on Mantle's mouth, but aside from that, the image is largely unblemished, unaffected by the creasing throughout the card.  Close observation reveals some light discoloration elsewhere, particularly at the bottom-left, and some additional areas where the creasing has broken the surface of the card.  Still, one of the finer examples we have found at the lowest end of the grading scale.  A highly-desirable card in any grade.