Close your eyes and try to imagine another figure in baseball history who so completely combines the unassailable statistical legacy with a mythical quality that rivals any of the figures from ancient literature. Babe Ruth would match Ty Cobb in that regard, continuing a real-life rivalry that helped to define their careers, but probably no one else would nudge up alongside Tyrus Raymond Cobb. Not even that other baseball giant who was even more of a Cobb contemporary than The Babe: Honus Wagner.

The mysteries of Topps’ eccentric photo choices in its 1969 Baseball set, listed here several issues ago (June 4), hinge on a fact that few people outside the company (and only a couple in it) know: Topps did not take any new photos of major league players in 1968.

The adage is, “You can’t judge a book by its cover.” Or maybe, “Don’t judge a book by its dust cover.” In any event, when it comes to collecting books on Mickey Mantle, front covers and/or dust jackets are usually very important.
A professionally designed cover or jacket usually is an indicator as to how much time, money, and promotional work the publisher has put into the project.
As a collector of books that focus on Mickey, I can tell you there are several things that I deem to be very important. I look at the quality of the photographs used in the book, the amount of color used in the production, and the quality of the paper, that is used in the printing process. My favorite books are those that use photos of Mickey that I have never seen before. So many books use the same photos over and over and I am always a little bit disappointed when this occurs. Yes, it is true that I would still buy the book, even if none of the above criteria were met, but it doesn’t hurt if the publisher goes the extra mile. As for the adage, “A picture is worth a thousand words,” I wholeheartedly agree.
In this edition of “The Complete Mickey Mantle Collectibles Guide,” I’ll be highlighting all of the Mickey Mantle biographies known to exist. I’ll also be including books that were written about Mickey by himself or with the help of others. Books that include him on the cover by name or with his picture will also be included. This is a mammoth undertaking that has over 100 entries and SCD space limitations will require that it be done in multiple sections.

In this edition of “The Complete Mickey Mantle Collectibles Guide,” I’ll be highlighting an additional several dozen of the Mickey Mantle biographies known to exist. I’ll also be including books that were written about Mickey by himself or with the help of others. Books that include him on the cover by name or with his picture will also be included. This is a mammoth undertaking that has more than 140 entries and SCD space limitations will require that it be done in multiple sections, likely to be in four total parts. This is the second installment of the books section; the first appeared in the March 5 issue of SCD.

If you are thinking of collecting books about Mickey Mantle, you better have a large bookcase with lots of room. I knew when I started this project that there were quite a few biographies, autobiographies, and other books with his likeness or name on the front cover, but I never knew that the total would be more than 125. A lot of players would be happy with just one book to preserve their memories. Also included in this second part are the various booklets and pamphlets where Mickey’s picture appeared. Finally, a comprehensive listing of every comic book with Mickey on the front cover appears for the first time in print and who knows how many new books will be written paying the ultimate tribute to the Great No. 7.
Well, as Casey Kasem always says, “Let’s get back to the countdown.”

If you are thinking of collecting books about Mickey Mantle, you better have a large bookcase with lots of room. I knew when I started this project that there were quite a few biographies, autobiographies and other books with his likeness or name on the front cover, but I never knew that the total would be more than 125.
Also included in this final section of the four parts covering books are the various booklets and pamphlets where Mickey’s picture appeared. Finally, a comprehensive listing of every comic book with Mickey on the front cover appears for the first time in print and who knows how many new books will be written paying the ultimate tribute to the Great No. 7.

Thank God for TCMA. If it wouldn’t have been for The Card Memorabilia Associates, the 1970’s and 80’s would have been boring. It was a dormant time period from a standpoint of collecting Mickey Mantle baseball cards. As we all know, Mickey’s last real card from Topps was issued in 1969, even though he never played during that centennial year of Major League Baseball.
Mickey’s next major card didn’t come about until six years later, when Topps did a special subset of former Most Valuable Player cards in their colorful 1975 set. Other than those three cards, “The Mick” wouldn’t appear in a nationally produced card set until 1986, when Sportsflics produced a 3D flicker set called Decade Greats.
It would not be until five years later in 1991 that Score would emerge on the collecting scene to produce a special seven-card set that would highlight his storied career. Pinnacle, a division of Score, would also join the club with an exclusive 30 card set. 
Upper Deck wouldn’t produce Mantle cards until 1993 and Topps would have to wait until 1996 to produce the first of many Mantle cards that are still being produced today.
With that all being said, Mike Aronstein and Tom Collier decided to form TCMA and compete against rival Topps by producing minor league cards, independent sets and special collector sets. It was these special collector sets that featured many different Mickey Mantle cards.
Other companies and individuals followed suit and produced numerous “oddball” sets and cards that still are being sought after by many advanced collectors today.
Bill Hongach of Renata Galasso Inc., one of the major hobby card dealers in the country in the 1980s, also collaborated with TCMA to produce a number of special collector sets that featured Mantle. 
In this installment of Mickey Mantle: The Complete Collectibles Guide, I will focus on the cards and postcards that were issued by TCMA and Renata Galasso Inc. in the 1970’s and early 1980’s.

I can remember as a youngster when I started reading voraciously about baseball history being awed by the status accorded to Roy Campanella. Here was a man playing on the same team as the legendary Jackie Robinson, and teammates’ and sportswriters’ accounts seemed to suggest that Campanella was even more important to the staggering success of the 1950s Brooklyn Dodgers as his more famous teammate.

   So, consider Sy Berger, the man who helped to conjure up designs for some of the most revered baseball cards extant. The man who captained a barge loaded with hundreds of cases of 1952 Topps high-numbers destined for the floor of the Atlantic Ocean and a much-reviewed page in the sports collecting history book. Sy Berger, friend and confidant of hundreds of ballplayers, the man whose job was (in part) comprised every young man’s dream: hanging around in major-league dugouts and befriending the greats of the game. The man who rose through the ranks at Topps from a summer internship to vice president of licensing has always been the first to concede that he may have had the very best job in the world.

It was about three questions into his first press conference in Milwaukee that members of the Brewers media knew they were in the presence of a very special player. Sporting a cool confidence that bordered on arrogance, the Brewers’ top pick in the 2005 draft stepped up to the mic and answered each question with the same calm, yet focused, demeanor those in the Brew City have now become accustomed to.