Adam, I have often thought about this topic since i was a kid in the early 1980s going to baseball card shows and first noticed the disparity in Mantle card prices compared to other hall of famers. My dad, like yours,, was also a Brooklyn Dodgers fan and hated everything about the Yankees. I remember him telling me why would I pay a premium for a player I did not like and thought was overrated who played on a team I hate. I do think that the runup in Mantle prices that seems endless may slow down once all of the boomers are dead or no longer collecting. However, since at least the early 1980s, people were collecting Mantles like they were the gold standard of 1950s and 1960s cards, and that has become so ingrained in the hobby that I am not certain that it will ever change dramatically price wise. I hope it does, as I am a Gen Xer and would like to finish some set that I do not have Mantles for, because I still hear my dad's words in my head every time I think about buying one.
I think you’re onto something. As I argued, the hobby iconography includes mantle and at least the 1952T has transcended rational thinking on value.
Adam, I have often thought about this topic since i was a kid in the early 1980s going to baseball card shows and first noticed the disparity in Mantle card prices compared to other hall of famers. My dad, like yours,, was also a Brooklyn Dodgers fan and hated everything about the Yankees. I remember him telling me why would I pay a premium for a player I did not like and thought was overrated who played on a team I hate. I do think that the runup in Mantle prices that seems endless may slow down once all of the boomers are dead or no longer collecting. However, since at least the early 1980s, people were collecting Mantles like they were the gold standard of 1950s and 1960s cards, and that has become so ingrained in the hobby that I am not certain that it will ever change dramatically price wise. I hope it does, as I am a Gen Xer and would like to finish some set that I do not have Mantles for, because I still hear my dad's words in my head every time I think about buying one.