The decade of the 1950s was a boom time for America. World War 2 had been won, and the Baby Boomers were young kids. It truly was the era that made up Mom, Baseball, and Apple Pie. It was also a new age for baseball card collectors with Bowman entering the 1950s as the leader in cards and Topps getting its game on with the introduction of the prized 1952 baseball set.

One factor that drives interest among true collectors is scarcity of the super-star cards. There are some 1950s cards featuring super-star players that were not as mass produced or just did not survive the test of time like the sets from Topps and Bowman.

Mickey Mantle rookie cards sell for astronomical prices from the 1952 Topps and the 1951 Bowman sets, but the 1954 Dan-Dee Potato Chips card of Mickey Mantle has fewer PSA and SGC graded examples of all the most sought after Mantle cards.

Collectors Dashboard evaluates collectibles as an alternative class. That scarcity has collectors and investors competing to own the exact same asset. There just are not enough 1954 Dan-Dee Mantles to go around versus how many Mickey Mantle collectors exist. No investor can be guaranteed a profit in stocks or bonds. While that means there should never be assumptions of assured profits from vintage baseball cards, the supply/demand metrics favor those who own the 1954 Dan-Dee card versus those seeking to own this card.

The 1954 Dan-Dee Potato Chips card of Mickey Mantle features a young smiling Mickey. This was first of two years where there were large runs of Bowman Mantle cards with no Topps Mantle cards having been released.

Mantle cards can be hard enough to find in top condition from Bowman, but the Dan-Dee card of Mantle came with the challenges that were much greater. Avoiding grease stains due to being inside bags full of potato chips brought a fate far more difficult for card conditions than a shadow from the gum on the back of a card.

Dan-Dee also apparently did not break the bank on the quality of printing for its regional set issue. The card is known to have, on top of those grease stains, a very rough edge cut and one that frequently comes with perforations that can greatly lower the eye appeal desired by collectors. Another weakness for this card’s condition is that the card is known for rather poor overall centering.

The Dan-Dee Potato Chips set was a mere 29 unnumbered cards. It mostly featured players from the New York teams and from the Indians and Pirates. Mantle is not the only Hall of Fame member in the set, but like most sets before 1954 he is the set’s anchor card.

The population reports show only 3,565 graded cards by PSA for all of the 29-card set versus 77,554 total graded cards from the total 1954 Bowman set. There were a total of 448 PSA graded Mantle Dan-Dee cards versus a much larger 4,285 PSA graded 1954 Bowman Mickey Mantle cards. PSA’s population reports also have over 70% of their cards with grades of Authentic to PSA 4.

SGC’s population report shows only 1,079 graded examples of all 29 cards in the set and just 156 graded Mantle cards, with 92 of them graded A to SGC 3.

As of June 22, 2021 there was a PSA 1 Dan-Dee Mantle for sale at $3,499 or best offer via PWCC (eBay) and another eBay offering was seen for $13,727.00 was out for a PSA 7 example of the card. An SGC 1.5 grade with heavy staining was up for grabs at $3,999.99 or Best Offer and there was an SGC 70 (5.5) for sale at $6,499.99 on eBay.

Recent sales of the 1954 Dan-Dee Mantle cards were seen as follows:

• PSA 1 for $1,200 (or Best Offer) on May 13, 2021
• Ungraded for $1,257.15 on May 10, 2021
• SGC Auth. for $2,495.00 on May 2, 2021
• PSA 5 for $4,450.00 on June 14, 2021
• PSA 7 for $10,211.00 on April 13
• PSA 8 for $21,792.00 on April 3, 2021

eBay showed prior sales of the 1954 Bowman Mantle card as follows:

• Ungraded for $118.50 on June 20, 2021
• Ungraded for $356.00 on June 18, 2021
• PSA 1 for $410.00 on June 19, 2021
• SGC 3 for $770.00 on June 20, 2021
• PSA 4 for $830.00 on June 18, 2021
• PSA 5 for $1,826.00 on June 20, 2021
• PSA 8 for $8,850.00 on June 14, 2021

For collectors and collectibles investors who thrive on scarcity among the top super-stars and Hall of Famers, the regionally issued 1952 Berk Ross Mickey Mantle card (featuring a poor overexposed photo that was used for the same painting as the true rookie 1951 Bowman pose) can be an even tougher card to come by for a host of different reasons.