53 Bowman Color or 53 Topps?

[hunterdutchess]

1953 Bowman Color or 1953 Topps? All things being equal (all cards graded NM 7) what set would you prefer? I would have to go with the Bowman Color after debating with a friend of mine but it would be a hard choice. I thought that it was a good question to ponder, great sets!

[Chris Counts]

I'd take the Bowman's in a heartbeat. I've never seen a set with better photos ...

[vintagetoppsguy]

Originally Posted by Chris Counts

I'd take the Bowman's in a heartbeat. I've never seen a set with better photos ...

+1

I wouldn't even have to think about it.

[benchod]

To paraphrase Chris Berman
Bowman all the way
Super photos over paintings for me

[Griffins]

Bowman, not even close.

[Kawika]

Blondes or brunettes? Love 'em all.

[ALR-bishop]

I am a die hard Topps collector and like my 1953 set, but I am also a Cardinals fan and the 1953 Bowman set and that great Musial are something special.

[scmavl]

Wow, this is one of the few true toss-up sets for me. I love the Bowman photos, some of the best poses were captured (PeeWee!). However, I think the Topps art is the best they've ever had. Satchel Paige, Dom DiMaggio, Mantle... heck, even Sherm Lollar's card looks great!

I'd take either.

[Beatles Guy]

Easy one, '53 Bowman in a landslide.

[39special]

I'd go '53 Bowman

[novakjr]

Originally Posted by scmavl

Wow, this is one of the few true toss-up sets for me. I love the Bowman photos, some of the best poses were captured (PeeWee!). However, I think the Topps art is the best they've ever had. Satchel Paige, Dom DiMaggio, Mantle... heck, even Sherm Lollar's card looks great!

I'd take either.

I'd have to agree with this statement 100%. '53 is one of the most classically beautiful Topps sets, plus it has an unbelievable selection of players, and the '53 Bowman set is equally as classic. Too tough to call. Satchel and Jackie may put Topps over the top for me though.

[Orioles1954]

I'll go with 1953 Topps. Great player selection, nice Kodachrome accentings, great reverses AND the player is identified on the front.

James

[Volod]

Interesting question. I recall opening wax packs of both sets as a kid, and then as now, the stunning photographic impact of the Bowmans was hard to resist. The '53 Topps were more plentiful in my area, but the drawings - ok, paintings - seemed like a pale imitation of earlier Bowman issues. I recall other schoolyard collectors felt the same way, placing a higher value on the photo images. I've always thought that Topps was still somewhat unsure of itself in the card industry at that time, and the boardroom decison was to go with something closer to what their successful competitor was doing. And then, the Bowman designers outflanked them by producing a set of beautiful photographs instead of line-drawings. The irony of course is that the cost undid Bowman and paved the way for its exit from the field.

[U240robert]

The Bowman in a heartbeat.
I sold a partial set 125/160
in the very early 90's.
Its a gorgeous set.
If the Bowman set had all the stars of the day
it'd be the best set ever.

The Topps is nice but the Bowman is just much better

[Exhibitman]

Bowman; I never cared for the art on the 1953 Topps cards, though this is one of my favorite baseball cards from the era:

[Doug]

Originally Posted by Chris Counts

I'd take the Bowman's in a heartbeat. I've never seen a set with better photos ...

I'm a Topps diehard too, but I was never really a fan of the '53 Topps set. The artwork is great, but I just prefer photos on a baseball card as opposed to paintings so I would begrudgingly have to go with the '53 Bowman set on this one.

[darrend505]

This is a bit of a toss up for me as well! I am also a Topps collector, but over the last 2 years have been working on putting together the 1954 Topps set and I have picked up singles from both of these sets along the way. Both sets are beautiful in there own way, though I do not think that I could pick one over the other, as I would like to have a set of each at some point!

[almostdone]

In my opinion its the '53 Topps Paige verses the '53 Bowman Pee Wee Reese. My two favorite cards in my personal collection. Other than that I'll probably take the Bowman but definatly the closest between the two companies in any one year.

Drew

[cwazzy]

Great topic! Both are great sets but I prefer the Topps. I love the Bowman photography but I like the brighter colors on the Topps paintings. All of the cards look great in that set IMO (with the possible exception of the Whitey Ford card that makes him look like he's fighting the worst case of constipation ever experienced). And I do like being able to tell who the player is without having to look at the back of the card.

Chris