| Sports Illustrated Blog # 157 on Our Way to 200 – 1956 Sports Ilustrated Mickey Mantle – CGC 9.6 – #2. Welcome to my Sports Illustrated/TIME magazine blog – Your collector’s guide to the latest hobby updates and insight into what’s trending now. In antiquity, there has been one, and only one, Sports Illustrated 1956 First Cover, Mickey Mantle, CGC 9.6 in existence. Then ONE became TWO. And according to the CGC POP report, two has become THREE. I, “Sportsillustrated98”, am now the proud owner of the second CGC 9.6 and thought acknowledging this fact would help hobbyists make the most sense between the two POP reports (CGC and PSA). I only know the whereabouts of one PSA 9.6 (POP report lists two) and two CGC 9.6’s. I’m curious if there are crossovers involved or if there are actually new entries into the POP reports. If anyone can shed light on this, please feel free to drop me a note. As I have always been upfront regarding my position as a seller, not a collector, I will of course, be selling this piece at the right time and place as determined by the market. It is truly an honor to be a member of this extremely small, select group of owners. I have included a picture below (slight camera reflection, front, bottom left) that illustrates what you are up against with condition of this issue. It’s a trip that would make a search for the Holy Grail feel like a Carnival Cruise. First of all, this issue is 70 years old this year. That means it has probably moved several times and changed owners over that period – a killer for preserving condition. Solid color backgrounds are crazy susceptible to shelf wear, scratching, finger prints and all the stuff that keeps we hobbyists up at night. You’ll need to avoid all but the most minimal binding stress as graders will be using magnifiers and are extremely focused on this area of the piece. This one has a nice clean binding which would be hard to duplicate right off the printing press. The back must be free of dirt, stains and scratches which tend to accumulate, especially on white covers. And if you can defeat all these dream busters, you’ll have to also survive the notorious, early SI printing irregularities and material inferiorities which equate to “centering” in the card hobby. I realize by illustrating my cover here, I’m subjecting myself to every novice/self-proclaimed expert grader out there, but no worries, this one stands up. Goes to show everyone, there’s always hope. Best of luck in your search for that diamond in the rough. My Ebay handle is “sportsillustrated9.8” and sportsillustrated98.com on the internet, not to be confused with other similar tags. If you’re interested in one or more of my ebay auctions and you would like to purchase, email me at wylliejohn@yahoo.com to save on taxes, and shipping. Thanks for your loyal following. My readers always receive “first among equals” pricing/service. Many thanks for your continued support and patronage. On the web – Sportsillustrated98.com |
