[Phil68]

Obviously, Jacob Bowman issued sets from '48-'55 upon his return after WW2. He issued them--not as Play Ball--which was wildly successful--but under his name that were relatively poorly received. Most folks had no idea that Bowman WAS Philadelphia-based Gum, Inc.
Today, we adore them. However, back in 1952, the market shifted back to Topps Gum. Jacob Bowman eventually would sell to Topps in 1956.

In 2018, my company issued a 1942 Play Ball set. It's scaled back considerably from the actual '41 set. We figured war-time rations would have scaled back production quite a bit, so color was abandoned with exception to the pale flag on the reverse. But we designed them as they likely would have looked back in the spring of' 42.

Today, my company is producing a retro-set of 1952 Play Ball cards that would have gone toe-to-toe with Topps in the spring of '52. They are larger and using full color oil and crude air brush along with inconsistent color plates. The result is like the 49's & 51's had an oversized baby. Topps made a HUGE departure from their inaugural '51 issue. Dry and air-brush colorization of photos added a life-like feel and the close-ups of player's faces helped make them more popular...had Bowman made such a departure (their 52's are quite similar to their '51's--although beautiful), they may have looked like our retro-set.

In the end, Bowman would have still sold to Topps, eventually, but it's fun to think about a Play Ball set. I'm a huge collector of post-war Bowman's, and I'm having a blast with this '52 set. It is scheduled for 132 cards and will debut in March.

Finally, I enjoy when people do "cards that never were" with existing formats. I get it. But, for me, SETS that never were are my favorite.
I'd love to see everyone's original card designs. Please share them here.