Fifty-eight signed photographs of Mickey Mantle with every single one of them being dual-signed with another Hall of Famer or superstar! Complete breakdown of the other athletes that signed with Mantle: Aaron (3), Mays (4), Berra (7), Musial (5), Martin (4) Mathews (2), Ford (11), Mattingly (2), Steinbrenner, Snider (2), Larsen (2), Reese, Dickey, Rose, Hunter, R. Jackson and more. All measure 8x10" and are mint photos. Seven photos have bleeding Mantle signatures and the signatures rate overall 8/10. Some of the photos are also vintage. The following four have been graded perfect 10's by PSA: Mantle & Berra, Mantle & Ford, Mantle & Martin (2). Comes from the incredible collection of over 300+ signed Mantle photographs, bats, jerseys, cards and more from a true die-hard Mantle super-collector.
My father Ed Kubina began going to card shows for autographs in the mid to late 1970s.
The first one I remember was at Hofstra University in Long Island, NY, where Mickey
Mantle was signing. My father brought my entire Girl Scout troop, paying their way, and
gave them pictures for Mickey Mantle to sign. He told them if Mr. Mantle asked them
who to personalize it to, tell him to sign “To Ed”. After eighteen Girl Scouts and I went
through the line, Mickey looked up at my Dad when he finally made it through and said,
“Hi Ed”.
Over the years we went to every card show Mickey signed at in the Northeast. These
were our family vacations. My dad went to well over 100 shows through the years in his
quest for the signatures of players like Ted Williams, Joe DiMaggio, Billy Martin, and Whitey Ford. We also went to Induction Weekend
at Cooperstown every year beginning in the 1980s. This is where we met and got autographs from Roger Maris along with dozens of
other retired players.
After Mickey Mantle’s death, my dad took a trip with my brother to Commerce, Oklahoma, where Mickey Mantle was born, and took
pictures. He even took a small piece off the side of the barn wall that Mantle used to practice hitting balls against when growing up.
That was obsessive.
- Deirdre Leary, November 2018