Mantle's last hurrah

I'm not sure when, if ever, I'll get to the point financially where I'll allow myself to look for a vintage Mickey Mantle that is in acceptable condition.

I've trained myself to hold these cards on such a high pedestal. They are cards for when I'm a grownup.

But you know what? I'm a grownup now, damnit. And I still have the collecting mindset of 12-year-old me. Part of me likes that. I like remembering the cards whose pictures I memorized in my childhood Becketts, held up as an unattainable collecting goal for one day in the very distant future.

I now have a good job and a bank account of my very own, yet I still can't seem to pull the trigger on a card like this that that isn't beat up or creased. That's the only way I can own those cards, in my head. They are for bigger collectors. The serious guys. The pro's.

I'm not sure why I won't allow myself to venture out of this way of thinking. Maybe it's me holding onto that last piece of childhood me. Maybe deep down it's because I know that I have to be responsible with my cash, as two little lives depend on me to provide for their needs.

Anyhow, I did indeed pick up the beat up 1969 Topps Mickey Mantle pictured above. Some little punk who is now in his 50s or 60s wrote on this card when he was young. In pen. For some reason.

It's beat up, but at the end of the day, it's the final Topps base card of The Mick, not counting the 489 Topps base cards of his since he retired. But this is the last from his playing days. He is at 536 HRs on the back of this card, which means he never hit another one. It says he played 1B, but we all know he was a great OFer.

I still like this card, and am thankful for adding another vintage Mantle to my collection. It still shocks me that I can have one, even beat up, and now I have this and a 1967 base card.

Maybe one day I'll let myself shop in the regular aisles and not the clearance section, but for now, this will do.