Rare set of Mascot Dog Food cards featured in Mile High Card Co. auction

Castle Rock, Colo. -- A recent find of 1954 Mascot Dog Food cards of Mickey Mantle and Yogi Berra sent shockwaves throughout the hobby as the first and only known specimens from the mysterious regional issue. Both cards received minimal 1.5 grades and were sold with the Mantle fetching nearly $25,000.

Now, Mile High Card Company is announcing the discovery of a near-complete set, including the membership card and an 8x10 photo premium that were only available through a mail-in offer.

“Other than the previous sale of the Mantle and Berra, these are the only Mascot Dog Food cards known and they are spectacular,” Mile High Card Company said. “The cards all have a NM to NM/MT appearance, and the technical grades do not adequately reflect the factory-fresh nature of these unique specimens.”

Missing only the card of Bucky Harris, the other 10 cards in the series as well as the oversized premium of Robin Roberts are represented, answering questions as to who is in the Mascot Dog Food lineup but posing others as to why.

Legends like Mantle (PSA 5), Berra (PSA 6.5), Gil Hodges (PSA 5.5), and Eddie Mathews (PSA AUTHENTIC) are understandable, and Al Rosen (PSA 5.5), Eddie Lopat (PSA 6), Roberts (PSA 5.5), Monte Irvin (PSA 4), and Don Newcombe (PSA 5.5) make sense given the set’s roots in the northeastern United States, but the final card, George “Specs” Toporcer (PSA 5), a St. Louis Cardinals infielder who retired in 1928, is more of a mystery. 

It is thought that they all may have had the same agent, who had input in the production of the series, but that isn’t confirmed. Also of interest is the Mathews card, graded AUTHENTIC due to its slightly smaller size and nameplate at the top rather than the bottom.

It’s also now known from the information on the back of the cards that the set was originally a group of eight, then revised to 11 with the addition of Mantle, Newcombe, and Hodges at some point after. These cards are the only examples on record at PSA, came fresh out of the original envelope in which they were housed and sat untouched for virtually their entire existence with the family that received them from the company nearly 70 years ago.

This amazing discovery will be of great interest for type collectors and especially Mickey Mantle aficionados that have a chance to secure an example of “The Commerce Comet” that appears to be even more scarce than his enigmatic 1961 Topps Dice Game card.

This collection, being sold as individual cards in the December auction from Nov. 23 to Dec. 10, is juis just the start of an incredible event that will close out the 2020 year. For future consignments or information on this December auction, call MHCC at (303) 840-2784 or visit www.milehighcardco.com.