Quote:
Originally Posted by toppcat
Two 96 subject half sheets does make some sense. 224 (not 244, suspect a typo in the Lemke piece) not so much. Topps went from 100 to 110 card arrays in 1955 and 1956 but I believe they used Lord Baltimore Press where Bowman probably had theirs printed by Zabel Brothers, right in Philly. I think the divisors have to make some sense and 96/192 does, although as noted, they may not have done the half sheet shenanigans like Topps did.
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The Bowman US Navy series has 48 unique cards. I don't think this is the sheet I recalled, but I did find one that sold recently showing 112 cards (i.e., half the cards are double prints if this is complete). It's possible the sheet was larger and it's not a border torn off at right. I don't know if they used half sheets, I have never seen what I am confident is a truly complete Bowman sheet of any set.
One thing that makes Bowman harder to me is that they don't seem to have had unofficial 'rules' like Topps did that we can make some deductions from (like a row remaining constant). This 1954 sheet is an example; the rows aren't a constant though there is some sequencing. Things seem to change a lot between issues and years.
The 'series' of Bowman's are, for many sets and years, deduced from availability, as far as I can tell. Like the divide into 4 series of 32 in the 1954 Football issue, and the 1-64, 65-160 blocks of 1955 Bowman Football. This 1955 Baseball array might suggest these were 1 series at issue, and 'shenanigans' produce the rarity discrepancy, not divides between series'.
I believe Topps was using 100 card half sheets in 1955 for both Football and Baseball. I'm pretty sure the numerous 1955 Topps football SP's are completely imaginary. 1955 Topps Baseball Series 1 measures 1-90, 101-110. I think 91-100, 111-210 (minus the 4 non-existent, + the 4 extra DP's) are probably 2 series where each card was DP'd on each half sheet, but I haven't come across a sheet from the later run(s). 1956 is fairly well known I think; I have made no headway on 1954 Topps baseball at all besides that 1-50 is possibly a series.