The SGC 9.5 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle has entered uncharted territory. Bidding at Heritage Auctions crossed the $6.7 million threshold over the weekend with the buyer’s premium factored in. That beats the $6.6 million paid for the SGC 3 T206 Honus Wagner nearly a year ago.
The Mantle could bring $10 million or more by the time bidding ends on August 27.
Al Rosen called it the best of the best from his original purchase of several thousand 1952 Topps cards that famously took place in 1986.
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The sheer value of cards at the National this year was staggering, although not all of it was for sale. Collectable had the 1914 Babe Ruth rookie card on display at its booth.
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PSA had Ken Kendrick’s PSA 10 ’52 Mantle, among others. Goldin had a T206 Wagner that’ll be up for auction later this summer.
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A couple of big pack rips took place on Saturday. Just Collect sold spots in a 1952 Bowman Baseball break for $6,000. The hope was for a second year Mickey Mantle or Willie Mays card or perhaps another Hall of Famer.
The pack held some sharp cornered, bright colored cards that were outside of their waxy tomb for the first time in 70 years, but the best card in the pack was Brooklyn Dodgers pitcher Preacher Roe. Joe Astroth, Walt Dropo, Bobby Avila, Bobby Adams and Saul Rogovin rounded out the pack.
Meanwhile, Just Rip It offered a 1961-62 Fleer Basketball break that was conducted on the main stage. Hall of Famer Sam Jones was the best of the six-card lot that also held Bailey Howell, Tom Gola, Richie Guerin and In-Action cards of Cliff Hagan and Walter Dukes.
The odds of finding Hall of Famers are pretty good in the ’61-62 Fleer set with nearly two-thirds of the players on the checklist enshrined in Springfield, MA.
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Guests at Panini’s annual VIP party Saturday night included Joe Montanta, Allen Iverson, Emmitt Smith and Michael Irvin.
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A video crew from MLB Network was at the show and is planning a future segment.
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Our photo gallery has tons of images from the show and you can see a few more inside this story from the Press of Atlantic City.
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Among the former athletes who were actually on the show floor conducting some business…Grant Williams of the Boston Celtics who stopped by the CSG booth to have some Pokemon cards graded.

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Olympic diving champion and four-time gold medalist Greg Louganis has consigned his memorabilia to Goldin Auctions and was at the company’s booth on Saturday.
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Fanatics boss Michael Rubin was in attendance for part of the event, talking business with Gary V.
Michael Rubin getting into it pic.twitter.com/71aA55mrQR
— Gary Vaynerchuk (@garyvee) July 29, 2022
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While the show was going on, there was money being spent on baseball memorabilia elsewhere. The ball Shohei Ohtani hit for a single to open the 2022 All-Star Game in Los Angeles sold via MLB Auctions for $20,150. Ohtani’s American League batting helmet from the game did even better–$30,020.
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Considering the thousands of dollars it costs to set up at the show, kudos to the dealers who find room for 10-cent and quarter boxes.
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While the NSCC was going on, the Panini National Treasures 1/1 Jalen Green RPA was pulled in a break and apparently “Logoman” in Chinese is still “Logoman.”
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The 2023 National is set for the Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont, IL July 26-30. It’s expected Cleveland will host the 2024 event but a location hasn’t yet been announced.