PLEASE NOTE: The thin, white line visible in the upper-left quadrant of the card, in the blue background, is a very thin scratch on the PSA holder.  It is NOT on the card.

Easily the most popular and significant postwar baseball card, the 1952 Topps #311 Mickey Mantle goes beyond the now-overused term "iconic," moving into the stuff of legend.  Atop the want list of thousands of collectors, experienced and novice alike, it is often stated that the 1952 Mantle, along with the T206 Honus Wagner, are the best-recognized cards in the hobby.  Certainly owning any 1952 Topps Mantle is a badge of collecting honor, but an example of this quality is a truly desirable item destined to be the centerpiece of any collection.  

Crease-free and colorful, with spectacular image clarity dominated by rich, bright blues, this is a truly spectacular specimen.  A card that so often appears with severe centering issues, this example is only slightly oriented to the top right, enough to be noticeable but not enough to distract from the wonderful eye appeal.  The corners are square but with slight softness well within the parameters of the grade.  This is a card that should be chased not for its grade but for its appearance within the grade - typically a card in this condition will exhibit a noticeable flaw, and softer corners and centering (consistent with the grade) aside, there is no such issue with this example.

A 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle remains one of those baseball cards that transcends the hobby - one that people outside the hobby recognize at a glance.  Still one of the game's most widely-recognized names, Mickey Mantle remains one of the most revered figures in sports, and despite not being his official  "rookie" card, the 1952 card is certainly his most popular and sought after.  

Completing the 1952 Topps set remains a monumental collecting achievement, partially due to the difficulty of obtaining the more scarce high number cards but mostly due to this - postwar collecting's most treasured card.  Truly spectacular, a wonderfully colorful and clean specimen.