This
is a vintage 1951 Wheaties Test Issue Mickey Mantle Rookie Card. In 1951, after a 10 year absence in issuing baseball cards (the last Wheaties set issued was in 1941), the General Mills Corporation were planning on issuing baseball cards once again. A set of 8
(baseball) Photographic cards measuring 5" x 7" were test marketed and issued in 1951 as a "test issue" set in a sample market to determine public popularity. However, after only a few weeks in production, the set was pulled from the market because General Mills were not able to come to terms with two of its players, Cleveland Indians outfielder Al Rosen and a brash young 20-year old rookie from the
New York Yankees named Mickey Mantle. As a result, the 'Test Set' is probably one of the Rarest sets made. Wheaties were able to secure agreements with Stan Musial, Roy Campanella, Bob Feller, Bob Lemon, Yogi Berra and Richie Ashburn and would go on to use those Exact photos from the 1951 Test Set and issued a set of cards on
the backs of cereal boxes later in 1951 and 1952. There were no Wheaties cards of
Mickey Mantle or Al Rosen ever produced in those years.
Each Pictue had a small Alpha-numeric identifier in the
lower right corner.
1951
Wheaties 8 Players Baseball Test Set - Price
Guide Click
on Player Link for Photo
