Mickey Mantle Auto's are a dime a dozen!

[matfanofold]

I've been thinking about this for a while now. Is there any real return potential on Mantle autos? Mantle was possibly the origonator of the 'show signer', signing like mad at any and every show he could for like 25 years! And he was a great signer for the most part all throughout his carear. He also inked for card companies like UD and Score. Point being, there is no lack of Mantle auto's out there.

Now, dont get me wrong, I know there are lots of fakes as well, but I'd be willing to bet a authentic Mantle graph is more common than a 1988 Topps base set common card, by a large factor even! And I'm not talking a auto'd iconic card like the UD Mantle auto, or any other circumstance in which makes his auto 'limited' based on the form of delivery, but rather simply his generic auto.

I just can not see how his auto can possibly go up any more than what they are now, besides general inflation. And if you buy one for $200 now and sell it for $250 10 years from now, I would not consider that a 'return'. Infact, I think they have no where to go but down!

My theory on this is that most who saw him play and are now wanting to relive there childhood are in there 60's and beyond. They have allready made there money and have enough to splurge a bit on a auto of there childhood hero, like Mantle. To them, its a real part of there past and worth the money despite abundance. In another 20 years, I just can not see the same kind of monitary demand for his auto from collectors not emotionally tied like the ones who grew up watching him play, who will not be around anymore.

Now, before you start to make the argument that Christy Matthewson auto's are worth tons more and no one is around anymore that watched him play, please take in to consideration that the main factor is supply here. If there were only a few dozen, or a couple hundred of Mantle auto's in circulation, I would not have the same opinion(s). However, I believe the supply of Mantle auto's out there will one day, and inevidable outweigh the demand and prices will eventually fall.

Anyway, what are your thoughts on this?

 

[matfanofold]

As a conservative estimate....

Lets say he signed 500 auto's per show, did 20 shows per year, and did it for 20 years. Not taking in to account a single other auto he signed throughout his carear, or in any other circumstance, this equates to...

200,000 alone!

I would bet it's colser, and possibly more than 1 million!

 

[All The Hype]

I don't think you realize how many 1 million truly is. There is no way...he probably hasn't even written his name 1,000,000 times in his entire life.

 

[Therion]

I said between 500,000 and 1,000,000 but I wouldn't be shocked if it was more.

Do a search for his auto on eBay and you'll see that you are correct about over saturation. I think over time the price will drop, bottom out, and then steadily rise over time.

 

[George K]

Between the real autos (and fake ones), there must be some where over a mil. Nolan Ryan is another one who seems to be an autograph machine; he'll be in Bob Feller territory soon.

 

[matfanofold]

I don't think you realize how many 1 million truly is. There is no way...he probably hasn't even written his name 1,000,000 times in his entire life.

I know just how many 1,000,000 is, being an electronics engineer, but do you realise he did this for a living for 20 years? How many auto's could you sign if it were your job for 20 years?

 

[matfanofold]

I said between 500,000 and 1,000,000 but I wouldn't be shocked if it was more.

Do a search for his auto on eBay and you'll see that you are correct about over saturation. I think over time the price will drop, bottom out, and then steadily rise over time.

I think I agree with this. I too believe the bottom will drop, and almost all value will be gone, at which point the novice collector will regain interest at a cheap entery level price.

 

[George K]

As a conservative estimate....

Lets say he signed 500 auto's per show, did 20 shows per year, and did it for 20 years. Not taking in to account a single other auto he signed throughout his carear, or in any other circumstance, this equates to...

200,000 alone!

I would bet it's colser, and possibly more than 1 million!

Actually, guys like Joe D, Mick, and Ted Williams were signing a 1000 per day at shows in the early 1990s - without any problems selling their auto tickets in the Tri-State area. I was at a Joe D Show where I was like number 900-something. Those were some crazy days. I even missed out on Mick a few times because 1000 auto tickets were the limit for his day.

 

[AKA Coastal]

Do you guys realize how many a million is? If you lived until 80 years old you would have to sign something 34 times a day from the time you came out of womb until the day you died.

 

[matfanofold]

As a conservative estimate....

Lets say he signed 500 auto's per show, did 20 shows per year, and did it for 20 years. Not taking in to account a single other auto he signed throughout his carear, or in any other circumstance, this equates to...

200,000 alone!

I would bet it's colser, and possibly more than 1 million!

Actually, guys like Joe D, Mick, and Ted Williams were signing a 1000 per day at shows in the early 1990s - without any problems selling their auto tickets in the Tri-State area. I was at a Joe D Show where I was like number 900-something. Those were some crazy days. I even missed out on Mick a few times because 1000 auto tickets were the limit for his day.

Oh, I know! I was just trying to be conservative in my estimates. I can remember when Mantle would sign anything for $15 a pop, at every show that came up!

 

[matfanofold]

Do you guys realize how many a million is? If you lived until 80 years old you would have to sign something 34 times a day from the time you came out of womb.

Try 1000 a day at 20 - 50 shows per year, for 20 years or so....

Can you do the math?

 

[matfanofold]

Looking at the poll results thus far, I am curious as to who voted for less than 10,000?? The Mick signed that many per week...

 

[Therion]

Do you guys realize how many a million is? If you lived until 80 years old you would have to sign something 34 times a day from the time you came out of womb until the day you died.

At my job I sign my name about 100 times per shift. It doesn't even phase me. If I were to keep this job for 20 years, I would sign roughly 520,000 times. It isn't that hard to imagine someone who is signing for money could surpass 1,000,000.

 

[George K]

As a conservative estimate....

Lets say he signed 500 auto's per show, did 20 shows per year, and did it for 20 years. Not taking in to account a single other auto he signed throughout his carear, or in any other circumstance, this equates to...

200,000 alone!

I would bet it's colser, and possibly more than 1 million!

Actually, guys like Joe D, Mick, and Ted Williams were signing a 1000 per day at shows in the early 1990s - without any problems selling their auto tickets in the Tri-State area. I was at a Joe D Show where I was like number 900-something. Those were some crazy days. I even missed out on Mick a few times because 1000 auto tickets were the limit for his day.

Oh, I know! I was just trying to be conservative in my estimates. I can remember when Mantle would sign anything for $15 a pop, at every show that came up!

A lot of people don't realize that Mantle spent his last 25 years signing autos - that was his new career. He's the reason autographing became a hobby. Everybody wanted his autograph, and in return he made a nice living and traveled the country, over and over again. Also, when he worked for Bally Casinos, he was a greeter there and paid well to sign autographs again for customers and promote the place. I've no doubt that there isn't more than a half million Mantle autos out there.

 

[thenumberonemetfan]

Looking at the poll results thus far, I am curious as to who voted for less than 10,000?? The Mick signed that many per week...

If he did sign 10,000 a week he would have 10,500,000 autos over 20 years

I would put him at about 750,000-1,000,000

 

[hofautos]

a lot of autos few would pay much for, but some are classics and highly desired.
If you just want any auto without consideration as to the piece it is on, there are hundreds of thousands, but if you are picky, (like me for one), I rarely see one that I would be willing to pay the bucks for. A lot of people don't want baseballs, oversized cards (perez) or 8x10s, and some people that is all they want. A lot of people want baseball cards, but not just any baseball card will do.

I would say that there will ALWAYS be less "desirable autos" than there is demand for...

 

[matfanofold]

Looking at the poll results thus far, I am curious as to who voted for less than 10,000?? The Mick signed that many per week...

If he did sign 10,000 a week he would have 10,500,000 autos over 20 years

I would put him at about 750,000-1,000,000

Yeah, I was overstating my point with the 10,000 per week comment. I think your estimate is pretty close to mine.

By the way, doing a quick e-bay search, there is over 160 Mantle auto's up right now.

 

[matfanofold]

a lot of autos few would pay much for, but some are classics and highly desired.
If you just want any auto without consideration as to the piece it is on, there are hundreds of thousands, but if you are picky, (like me for one), I rarely see one that I would be willing to pay the bucks for. A lot of people don't want baseballs, oversized cards (perez) or 8x10s, and some people that is all they want. A lot of people want baseball cards, but not just any baseball card will do.

I would say that there will ALWAYS be less "desirable autos" than there is demand for...

All good points!

 

[hofautos]

By the way, doing a quick e-bay search, there is over 160 Mantle auto's up right now.

And probably less than 10 that I would even consider putting in my collection...but this psa/dna for $275 is pretty sweet.

 

[Big Mac McGwire]

who knows,

just buy the 1 that appeals most to you. And because his autograph can easily faked, Go get one done by UDA.

thats what i did. And im loving it already...