1952 Bowman Baseball Project

[PowderedH2O]

Over the past forty years I've bought and sold so many things I can't even remember it all. I'm close to completing quite a few raw sets (wrapping up 1960 Topps baseball and 1956 Topps football probably by the end of the year in ex-mt). I had a fairly large collection of PSA graded football cards from the 40's, 50's, and 60's that I sold last year to pay for a wedding and honeymoon.

I've decided to put together some graded sets to go along with my raw ones. I love the old Bowman and Play Ball cards. So, I think I am going to tackle those. Now, that could take quite a long time, considering how many cards this is. But, I am going to give it a shot. I've decided the way to go about this is to grab good deals as I see them, but to concentrate on one set as my main focus. That set will be the 1952 Bowman baseball set.

Why 1952? Well, several reasons. For many of you, 1952 was a time when you were buying cards from packs. Not me. I was born in 1965, so I didn't start buying cards until 1972. For me, this story goes back to 1986. During the years 1982-1986 I was buying packs of cards to complete my Topps, Fleer, and Donruss sets. I kept all the extra stars and put them away. By the summer of 1986, I had thousands of stars. Eventually, I took this large group of stars to my local card shop (Lake Worth World of Baseball Cards in Lake Worth, Florida). The owner was a really awesome guy named Scott Winslow who gave me a good price in trade for the cards. Kids wanted current stars and Scott knew they would sell quickly. But, what I got in trade was about 65% of the 1952 Bowman set in Vg-Ex condition, including the Willie Mays.

Eventually, I had to sell those cards (ironically, back to Scott), but I never forgot how much I loved looking at them. I decided to tackle this project by starting with the ones I remember as a young man. The 1952 set is also manageable with a reasonable number of cards, and no super expensive rookies to chase. The high numbers are not too terribly expensive or hard to track down. The set is full of gorgeous artwork and lots of stars: Mays, Mantle, Musial, Campanella, Feller, and many more.

I am a high school chemistry teacher. I can't go after these cards in high grade. So, I'm going to go after the Vg-Ex cards that I had many years ago. I figure cards in the PSA 4-6 range will be about right. Of course, I'll be looking for cards that have appeal to me, so the numbers aren't really that important. I would like them all to stay in the same company, so I have decided to stick with PSA since there are a lot more cards on the market to choose from.

So, I decided to create a thread in which I will update this undertaking. This isn't something that I'll finish in six months. It will take me some time to get this done. I've purchased 17 cards so far. I'll start scanning soon, and I'll update as I go. Hopefully I can make some regular progress. Thanks for reading. Here we go....

[whodey14]

Good luck I'm a little past half way on my psa 5 1953 bowman set. I hope to see a finished set from us both sooner rather than later.

[PowderedH2O]

Good luck! I've picked up a handful of 53's along the way. It is a gorgeous set! It might be the next set I chase after the 52's. Mine will be in that 4-6 range again. I'm sure your 5's have got to be nice!

[Volod]

I can really relate to your enthusiasm for the '52 set, Sam. It was the first set I ripped out of packs as a seven-year-old, and I never forgot some of the cards. Thirty years later, when I began recollecting, seeing those images again got me hooked again, and bad...or obsessive/compulsive. It's still like returning to a warm spring day in 1952 for me, whenever I pull out the set and examine it. Mine are all ungraded, though, so that the visceral feel and smell of the pasteboards is right there in the old memory banks. I wish you luck in your quest.

[jb67]

Good luck and keep us updated. It is always fun and much cheaper to live vicariously thru others.

[PowderedH2O]

I figured I would show the progress of this quest in the actual order it happened. So, my first two cards were purchased on June 21st for $13. They are #36 Cass Michaels and #159 Dutch Leonard. I figured the price wasn't too bad for a couple of decent PSA graded cards, even if they are only a 5 and a 4.

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[PowderedH2O]

On June 22nd, I picked up a PSA 6 Monte Kennedy #213. At $12.99, it seemed like a fair price for a nice card.

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[PowderedH2O]

On June 25th I made my first purchases of star cards for the set. Now, admittedly, these are both PSA 4's, but I just thought that the cards were nice no matter what the grade was. These two stars are #4 Robin Roberts for $26.99 and #156 Warren Spahn for $43.12. When I see the prices that higher grade star cards from the 50's and 60's get, to grab these two for $70 seems like a solid purchase. I absolutely adore the Spahn. It looks better in hand than the scan indicates.

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[PowderedH2O]

On June 26th I snagged three more cards. I got a PSA 4.5 #115 Larry Doby for $28. I also got a couple of PSA 6's with #158 Bucky Harris ($21.99) and #170 Joe Astroth ($13.99). At this point I have 8 of 252 (3.17%).

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[cdn_collector]

The first card I purchased when I got back into collecting some 12 years ago was a 1952 Bowman Bob Lemon. I no longer have the card, but will almost certainly go after this set one day.

Good luck with this challenge; I look forward to following your progress.

Cheers,

Richard.

[the 'stache]

Good luck, Sam. I absolutely love the 1952 Bowman set. Of course, the '53 Bowman Color set is my all-time favorite vintage set.

Bowman got it right. All you need is a picture of the player, maybe their signature. Put all the other info/stats on the back. Bowman figured out that simplicity is beautiful, and while I really like a lot of the sets that Topps has produced, nothing they've done could ever top the early 50s sets by Bowman.

I will be a frequent viewer of your collection as it grows. I'm looking forward to seeing your cards!

[the 'stache]

Well, I've had a chance to look at some of your first cards, Sam. Let me start out by saying I love your Spahnie and Stan Musial! Warren Spahn and Stan the Man are two of my all-time favorite players. I have to get those cards!

I'm a pretty big Pirates fan, too (they're my second favorite baseball team behind the Brewers). So, you know I'm going to love every Pirate you pick up. That Vern Law is really nice. And I can't wait to see your Ralph Kiner!

By the way, it strikes me how a couple of these guys remind me of a few actors.

Lloyd Merriman reminds me of Jerry O'Connell (remember him from Jerry Maguire? Kusch man...Kusch man...

And Ned Garver reminds me of Clint Howard, Ron Howard's brother. You know, the guy that ends up in every movie Ron makes. LOL

I have to buy some of these cards. You've sold me. They're just gorgeous. I really love the color photography used in the '53 set. It was the first set to do that. But the '52 set (and the '51 before it) are incredible in their own ways. The '51 Bowman Ted Williams is one of my all-time favorites!

This is going to be a fun thread. Keep the cards coming!!

[the 'stache]

One last comment, Sam. Don't worry about the grades on the slab. "Buy the card". These cards you've been getting, 4s, 5s, 6...they're all gorgeous. If you like the card, we will, too.

Carry on, good sir!

[PowderedH2O]

Thanks for your kind words. To be honest, I played the ratings game a while back while putting together a 1954 Bowman football set. I was down to the last four or five cards and I was straight 8's. And I couldn't find them for anything. Then, a 6 came available. And I resisted, because my set was all 8's, but the card was beautiful. So I bought it. And I ended up buying more 6's and 7's and selling off some 8's before I eventually sold the whole set. I'll finish it again pretty soon in raw 4-6 form. But, I have found that I actually like a handled card. I don't want one that is destroyed, but if it has a decent photo, no major creases, and reasonably decent centering, the rest doesn't bug me. Even an ink mark here or there is ok. I bought some T218's last year that all have a number written on the back in ink. I got them for almost nothing because of that. The 52's I am trying to get graded, but it might be the only set I do that way.

There is something about this set that attracts me. Maybe it is the simplicity. Maybe it is the colors. I'm not sure. BTW, I had a PSA Kiner a couple of years ago and sold it off when I sold the rest of my collection. I'm looking forward to replacing it soon. But, my budget isn't large, so it will be a slow process.

[Vintageloz]

Hey Sam
Love the 52 Bowman set. I just finished it myself about a year ago and have been working on upgrading ever since. Same thing as you, targeting PSA5. Most of the set can be picked up pretty reasonably with the exception of course or Mantle and Mays. The Mantle is close to a grand in PSA5 and the Mays lagging behind that. I was lucky enough to get a nice Mays but my current
mantle is a BVG1, that's the last big star I need to upgrade. The highs can be tough in a 5, but certainly can be had.

Good luck with the set, enjoying reading about your journey!
Chris

[darkhorse9]

I've been debating whether to try and complete a 1952 Bowman set, or go for a low number 1952 Topps. I know the Topps is iconic, but it will always bug me that it's not totally complete. Some advice would be appreciated.

[almostdone]

Originally Posted by darkhorse9

I've been debating whether to try and complete a 1952 Bowman set, or go for a low number 1952 Topps. I know the Topps is iconic, but it will always bug me that it's not totally complete. Some advice would be appreciated.

In my opinion the Bowman set would be the one to go for. I completely understand the Topps set and it's significance in the hobbies history but just comparing apples to apples Bowman would always be my choice.
Drew