I want to report that the drawings are getting easier the more I do them, much like I want to report that the Detroit Lions will finally appear in and win the Super Bowl this year. Hope springs eternal, right?

I mean, sure, I’ll find little tricks here and there to save me time or make something look a bit more realistic, but every drawing also presents its own unique challenges. All that said, I do love finding out about cards I’ve never seen before (like this week’s) and hope I’m able to produce something each collector can enjoy.

In other news, due to family commitments, next week’s newsletter may be delayed, but I have every intention to try and make the Monday publication date.

In this issue you'll find:

• A Q&A with Jason of Everyday Card Collector

• Mickey Mantle keeps on keeping on during the 1950s

• Highlights from current auctions

• News in the hobby

• Recent Vintage Card Voyage videos

Let’s get into it.

Mickey Mantle makes his mark again, nabbing eight of the top spots, one for every year except for his rookie year. And for the sets he didn’t finish #1, he still finished in the top 5 - and his lowest finish was #4 for his iconic card in the 1952 Topps set, one of the most expensive cards in history, so, you know, understandable. Meanwhile, the lack of rookie cards is pretty notable, with just Sandy Koufax’s making an appearance - and while it’s Satchel Paige’s first Topps card, it’s not his rookie card, which was the 1948 Leaf card. The low number of rookie cards presumably has to do with the high price tags on a lot of those cards during the decade.

And here’s the top 10 list by total cards graded:

Mickey Mantle occupies half the spots in this list (and five of the top six), and we finally have a second rookie making an appearance, but I’ll be honest, Harmon Killebrew was not the one I expected to make the top 10. Affordability may have played a part in that, as the Koufax from the same year tends to be about 10x more expensive then the Killebrew across most grades.

Some other observations:

• Not surprisingly, Willie Mays, Hank Aaron and Roberto Clemente show up in the lists every year they have a regular card, much like in the 1960s. Ted Williams also shows up in the top 10 every year he has a card, with the exception of 1952 (when the cards he did have were Berk Ross and Red Man Tobacco) and 1959 (when Fleer devoted an entire set to him). Meanwhile, players like Sandy Koufax, Stan Musial, and Ernie Banks come close, each missing the top 10 list one year during the decade while they were playing.

• There are three non-Hall of Famers within all the top 10 lists: Roger Maris and his 1958 rookie card, along with two cards from the famous 1952 Topps set - Andy Pafko (the first card in the set) and Billy Martin (his rookie card).

• There was a pretty big disparity between the year with the most cards graded and the fewest cards graded. 1958 Topps came in with the most at 69,507, while 1950 Bowman clocked in at 10,169. As far as I know, print runs weren’t made public, but something tells me that they had something to do with the disparity. I should also note that Bowman had lower totals than Topps each of the years (1952-55) when both were being produced, and the gap between the two increased each year.

Some Current Auction Highlights

Listed in order by closing date (with bid prices as of Sunday evening PT):

Sterling Sports Auctions (closing September 25)

1909-1911 T206 Ty Cobb, Red Portrait, Polar Bear PSA 2.5 - $4,400

1930s Wheaties Lot of (9) w/ Mel Ott - $200

1952 Topps Lot of (41) w/ Rizzuto - $80

Heritage Auctions (closing September 27)

1984 Star Co. Chicago Bulls Team Set (12) - In Original Sealed Bag With Jordan on Front! - $27,000

1953 Topps Satchel Paige #220 SGC 4 - $825

1959 Topps Bobby Layne #40 PSA 9 - $65

Hunt Auctions (Personal Collection of Willie Mays) (closing September 27-28)

Set of Willie Mays Autographed Topps Porcelain Baseball Cards PSA/DNA 10 - $743

Lot of (5) 2001 Topps Archives Willie Mays Autographed Baseball Cards PSA/DNA 8 - $495

Willie Mays Autographed Baseball Immortals Porcelain Baseball Card PSA/DNA 7 - $45

News Briefs

Shoeless Joe Jackson to Get His First Topps Card

Soon-to-Be-Retired Clayton Kershaw Cards Worth Collecting

Some Vintage Card Bargains to Keep an Eye On

Basketball Cards Rule the Roost This Year

Unclaimed Items Auction in Illinois Include Some Nice Sports Cards (link here)

Vintage Card Voyage: Recent Videos

This week’s videos included a two-part interview with Dave, a Star Basketball specialist - and for those who don’t know, Star is the company that produced sets that included, among other notable cards, a Michael Jordan rookie card (see the Auction Highlights section above), during the gap between the 1981 Topps cards and the 1986 Fleer cards.

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