1968 Topps Mickey Mantle #280 PSA Gem Mint 10....

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Population eleven!

1968 Topps Mickey Mantle #280 PSA Gem Mint 10. A $12.6 million result in Heritage Auctions' August 2022 Platinum Night auction made the mighty Mick's 1952 Topps the most expensive cardboard in sports collectibles history, and here we present an effectively pristine example from the opposite end of Mantle's Hall of Fame career, one of only eleven to earn PSA's highest accolade. While this 1968 edition from the Topps company was not hampered by the mismanagement that sent most of the third series of the 1952 debut set to the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean, it was an aesthetic choice made by this issue's design team that has left the upper reaches of the PSA population so barren.

Like the 1962 set before it and the 1971 after it, the 1968 Topps Baseball issue utilized a "full bleed" design, bringing color all the way to every edge and corner rather than the standard white borders of the overwhelming bulk of its production. Much like the Greek god Narcissus, the card's resulting beauty is likewise its downfall, amplifying the slightest bit of wear far beyond that which would be apparent with standard white borders. Virtually every 1968 Topps Baseball card has white spots at the corners at a minimum.

But this virginal specimen has somehow managed to evade not only this nearly ubiquitous condition fault, but also any stumbles at the Topps plant regarding colors, registration or centering. Just over 17,000 examples of this card have been submitted to the expert graders at PSA and this is one of eleven to achieve a grade of PSA Gem Mint 10, placing the probability of achieving this assessment at less than a thousand to one, even longer odds than the same grade for the historic 1952 model. Our Heritage record price for this card came in February 2023 at $510,000.