I was doing some research on this card the other day and came across an interesting story. This exact card was sold on eBay as raw (ungraded) and somehow managed to pull in about $3.7k. Seller made the claim he found it in a box and just wanted to unload it as fast as possible and pretty much acted ignorant to its graded value. He also went to great lengths to try to prove its authenticity, but most collectors weren’t buying the story or the attempts.
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Grading this *authentic* 1952 Mickey Mantle in nearly any condition would cost anywhere from $250-$1k and would result in a markup of (at the very least) $7k-$10k (on top of the $3.7k). Nearly every collector in the discussion claimed the card was fake and the story highly unlikely. .

It’s believed the seller bought a reproduction, ‘aged’ the card with coffee stains, bending and creasing, then lied of his knowledge of its actual history. He then pushed the story on eBay and secured a quick $3.7k flip. No one had any sympathy for the buyer….’he should have known better’.
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Everyone in the discussion stated the importance of grading and the importance of third party verification.
In any case – the same will apply with shoes in the near future thanks to Shoemetrics 💯 .