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1965 Mickey
Mantle Bat Master |
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Item Details |
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CIRCA
- 1965
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MANUFACTURER
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Barrett Mfg. co.
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SIZE
- 7
1/2" x 18 3/4"
x 3
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GAME PIECES -
Tension suspended
ball, Autograph
Photo (No Boarders), Batting
Average computer
Dial
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PRICE GUIDE
- $150.00 - $250.00
Very Good
- Excellent Condition
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Glen Barnett, coach of an
American Legion team in Stingler,
Oklahoma, put together a device
designed to help his son and other
aspiring big-leaguers improve their
hitting abilities. Barnett's first
attempt in 1965 had safety issues, and
after producing a number of kits,
production was abandoned. After some
adjustments made to the method in
anchoring the tension-suspended ball,
in 1969
the
second version of the Bat Master
was produced. This version did make it
to the market. The bat master was
placed on the shelves of all TG&Y
Family Centers, complete with an
endorsement from Mickey Mantle.
There are two different versions of
the Mickey Mantle Bat Master and each
has a variation.
This is the first Bat Master version with
the Red-white-and-blue Box manufactured in 1965. These Bat
Master Kits produced by the Barrett
Manufacturing Co. were never marketed
because the government felt that they
were unsafe. Years later, around 1994,
the games were discovered in storage
and sold as a collectible. A sticker
was placed on the inside cover of a
cache of kits that was discovered in
Oklahoma that reads: "This BAT-MASTER
is sold strictly as a collectors item,
and is not intended for actual use or
play"
The 1965 Bat Master Kit featured here
came complete with a; "Patented tension
suspended ball with anchoring parts, a
Mickey Mantle 4.25x6.25" photo with
boarders, facsimile autograph and
personalized inscription that reads,
"Hi Team-mate Thanks for trying
Bat-Master. I hope it helps your
hitting. Mickey Mantle," a
Batting Average Computer Dial, and
Mickey Mantle's 12 page booklet "The
Secrets of Power Hitting" All
three inserted into plastic pockets
stapled to the cover of the box
The cover of the red-white-and-blue
Box is centered by "BAT MASTER" in
large block white print lettering, and
in black print "A TENSION SUSPENDED
BALL FOR PRACTICE BATTING" below. To
the right is the list of contents. On
the left is a large white & red
stitched baseball that reads in blue
print "MICKEY MANTLE'S" to the right of
an illustration of Mickey Mantle in
pinstripes, with a bat, on one knee.
There is a box variation
that has an illustration of Mickey
Mantle with a Red Cap, sleeves, and
stirrups. It is otherwise exactly the
same. Because this game was never
marketed, the kit must be in Excellent
- Near Mint condition with all three
inserts, to command top collectors
value.
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MORE PHOTOS |
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| Mickey Mantle Batting Average Computer Dial |
1965 Mickey Mantle
Bat Master Photo |
Mickey Mantle Bat Master Secrets of Hitting instruction Book |
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Mickey Mantle Bat Master
Box Side Panel |
Bat Master front & Back
box panels |
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Mickey Mantle
Bat Master Ball |
1965 Mickey Mantle
Bat Master Kit |
Mickey Mantle 1969 Bat Master Variations |
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1965 Bat Master Red Cap Variation |
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KEYMAN COLLECTIBLES
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