How Much Is Mickey Mantle Baseball Card

Front Blueprint

In 1955, Topps released its start set with a horizontal layout but Mantle was noticeably absent from the set as he had a contractual obligation to Bowman instead.

However, Topps would over again use a horizontal layout in 1956 and fortunately for collectors Mantle was included this fourth dimension effectually as the company bought out Bowman.

And this carte did not disappoint...information technology is visually stunning and hands one of Drapery'southward best-looking cards in the hobby.

Everything about this card is perfect: the head shot of Mantle with a beaming smile on the correct side, an image of Drape making a leaping grab in the background, the facsimile signature in the lower-left corner...

Heck, even the nameplate in the upper-left corner actually pops with the red and yellow color scheme.

Dorsum Design

The reverse of the card was besides printed with a horizontal layout and contained the usual personal information and statistics typical of nearly baseball cards.

Nevertheless, the three cartoons in the middle are some of the very all-time of any baseball carte in being.

The kickoff panel pays tribute to Mantle's ability as a spectator follows one of his towering homers via telescope.

The middle console celebrates the g slam that he belted in the 1953 World Series.

And the final panel speaks to just how fast Mantle was as a cartoon epitome of him is shown outpacing his own shadow.

As I mentioned earlier, the backs can also come in ane of two color variations: gray or white.

Here you can encounter the difference:

The white back variations are considerably more than rare.

Equally of this writing, PSA has graded 6,083 grey back variations compared to 473 white dorsum variations.

Condition Issues

The well-nigh common print consequence with this card is poor centering.

In fact, all 1956 Topps cards are commonly found off-centered left to right, summit to bottom, or both.

Take a await at this example below that was graded PSA 8 Near-Mint condition.

You can conspicuously see the image favors the right and bottom sides of the menu.

These "rough cuts" were due to lower-quality cutting methods used by Topps back so and both PSA and hobbyists are well aware of these cutting methods that affected many vintage sets.

And both PSA and hobbyists are forgiving of rough cuts since they are not considered normal wearable and tear from handling over the years.

If cards do display those sings of wear and tear, like the small bends and rounded corners that you'll come across in this PSA 3 instance below, then the grades (and value) will be negatively affected.

Value

So what are these cards worth?

The value of a 1956 Topps Mickey Mantle bill of fare volition depend on its condition and can range between $225 to $15,000 or more.

The post-obit table and graph display estimated toll levels (at the time of this writing) at diverse condition grades:

As you tin can see, the white back variations can command a premium over the gray dorsum versions, particularly in higher grades.

That's because they're more scarce.

Again, every bit of this writing, PSA has graded 6,083 gray dorsum variations compared to 473 white dorsum variations.