Unbelievable Ruth and Mantle Cards; Card Show Recap #14 Part #3

As far as Red Sox fans go, I sure do collect a ton of Yankees players, leading to my collection having more Yankees cards than one would expect from a fan of the arch-rival team.

Whether it's old-time players like Whitey Ford and Yogi Berra or recent Yankees stars like Derek Jeter and Mark Teixeira, I've always had some degree of respect for their organization and the standards they continuously set, and that's something exhibited through their players on and off the field.

With 27 World Championships, something I feel we're constantly reminded of, it's difficult to deny the Yankees' impact on the sport of baseball as a whole. However, I never really thought I'd ever invest a lot into Yankees cards or at least, not before seeing other options, whether online or at the show.

With that being said, Sunday's GBSCC show at Shriners Auditorium was an exception to this notion. The first 2 purchases, a mix of cards ranging from 10 cents to around 2 dollars each, guaranteed I'd be bringing home a wide selection of cards. However, it was time to look for something special to find at this once-a-year card show, and I'm proud to say I was successful.

Never before had I seen a Babe Ruth printing plate in-person, let alone thought about purchasing one. With printing plates typically being expensive and Babe Ruth being a highly sought-after player, I always assumed it'd cost me hundreds just to get one. However, I was proven wrong and at a loss for words at the same time at Sunday's show.

Since the 2016 Leaf Babe Ruth Collection set consists of, well, all Babe Ruth cards, more Babe Ruth printing plates finally became available a couple years ago. Given how many cards were in this set, the prices fell just enough for them to be in my price range while also still having a fair value to them.

But wait, there's more?

Not only did these immaculate printing plates catch my eye, a hard thing to do at such a large sports card show, but they also happened to be for sale at a vendor's booth from the show I typically attend. More on that later. Both of these plates say "original Yankee stadium seat" at the very bottom, leading me to believe these were printing plates used to make the actual stadium seat relics from this set. 

If I'm, in fact, not mistaken, then these printing plates are even cooler than I once thought they were.

And if the first 2 weren't enough, try a printing plate of one of the Career Achievements inserts, 2,213 RBI, and finally, I was sold on these 2016 Leaf Babe Ruth Collection plates. I knew I wanted to add these to my collection, double my number of printing plate cards, and cap off my dad's birthday weekend all in 1. 

I had never seen anything like these cards before. I mean, how often do you see 1/1 cards of the greatest player in baseball history? However, the half sticker price, which the dealer always offers customers, was still a bit more than I wanted to pay. Just for the hell of it, I asked him what he was willing to do for all the plates. His response?

Well, let's just say I ended up paying less than the price of a blaster box of cards per plate, easily one of the best deals if not the best deal I've ever gotten on such special baseball cards in my life. 

Just like that, I was able to add 4 incredibly unique, collectible, well-priced, and just downright awesome cards to my collection for a price I couldn't believe. With the purchase of these 4 cards, the number of printing plates in my collection rose from 3 all the way up to 7.

But somehow, the next card, pulled out of a pack, was the best Yankees card of the day. Although it wasn't a 1/1 or even numbered like the Babe Ruth plates, the title of this post implies this final special card is going to be one of Mickey Mantle. Here it is, a card already up there with the best pulls of my life.

If I was speechless about the Babe Ruth printing plates and their prices, I don't think there's a word in the English language to describe how I felt after pulling this Mickey Mantle warm-up jacket relic from a pack of 2010 Topps 206, hands shaking as I saw the name at the bottom of the card.

Quick backstory; we saw a box of 2010 Topps 206, a base set we're trying to build, at the same time as the Babe Ruth printing plates for an exceptional price. Since the set was still fresh in my mind and the 300-card base set was still fairly far away from being completed, we decided to cap off what had already been an unbelievable and fabulous show with 1 final major treat.

Around 7 packs in, I pulled what will likely go down as a top 5 hit ever pulled by me or my Dad despite the card not being numbered. A quick eBay search determined the card is going for around $75 which is quite a lot for a non-numbered card. Then again, it's Mickey Mantle, so it makes sense.

As a baseball card collector, having these 5 new cards in my possession is something I would never expect. Even as a die-hard Red Sox fan, it would be extremely difficult to give these cards up and sell them. In the case of the Mantle card, I pulled it myself out of a pack. As for the Babe Ruth cards, the story behind finding them at the show is one to remember.

And while I probably shouldn't spend a dime on cards 'till Christmas after this insane show, I wouldn't have it any other way.