What was filed
Cardsmiths, LLC v. Mantle I.P. Holdings, Ltd., Major League Alumni Marketing, Inc., Danny Mantle, William Mantle, MM7 Management, L.L.C., Dorothy M. Weber, and Herbsman Hafer Weber & Frisch, LLP, No. 1:26-cv-09427 (S.D.N.Y.), was filed October 28, 2026. Cardsmiths says it is a Florida limited liability company with its principal place of business in Gilberts, Illinois. It describes Mantle I.P. Holdings as a Texas limited partnership based in Plano, Texas, that holds itself out as the owner of certain Mickey Mantle and The Mick registrations; Danny Mantle, William Mantle, and MM7 Management, L.L.C. as its principals; Major League Alumni Marketing as a Colorado Springs, Colorado corporation that holds itself out as the licensing agent for Mantle I.P. Holdings; and Dorothy M. Weber as a New York attorney who signed the cease-and-desist letters at issue on the letterhead of her firm, defendant Herbsman Hafer Weber & Frisch, LLP. It says the action is related to Mantle I.P. Holdings, Ltd. et al. v. Cardsmiths, LLC et al., No. 1:26-cv-08344 (S.D.N.Y.), and the docket shows a statement of relatedness filed with the complaint. (Compl. caption; paras. 6 to 11, 15 to 16.)
What the complaint alleges
Cardsmiths alleges the dispute centers on Currency Series 5 trading card number 118, an artist-rendered depiction of the 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle card. It alleges defendants sent cease-and-desist letters to its retailers, including national retailers, before and after Mantle I.P. Holdings filed the related suit, demanding that they stop selling Cardsmiths products and threatening litigation, disgorgement, and litigation holds. It alleges the letters asserted trademark and publicity rights that do not reach the card, including word-mark registrations that it says cover books and magazines about baseball trading cards and trading card albums rather than the cards themselves, and that the letters cost Cardsmiths millions of dollars in cancellations, returns, and lost sales. (Compl. paras. 1 to 5, 33 to 41.)
The counts and relief
Count I alleges tortious interference with contract against all defendants. Count II alleges tortious interference with prospective business relations against all defendants. Count III seeks a declaratory judgment against Mantle I.P. Holdings and Major League Alumni Marketing of non-infringement, non-dilution, no right-of-publicity violation, and First Amendment protection for the card. The prayer seeks compensatory, consequential, and punitive damages of not less than several million dollars, an injunction barring further retailer communications asserting those rights except through judicial process, the requested declaration, costs and fees, and a jury trial. (Compl. Counts I to III; Prayer.)
Related Mantle suit
Our News item on the related suit, No. 1:26-cv-08344, covers the September 24, 2026 complaint by Mantle I.P. Holdings and Major League Alumni Marketing against Cardsmiths over the same Currency Series 5 card. This complaint is Cardsmiths' own suit arising from that dispute.