Touring (backwards) through the sets of the '50s

[cardsagain74]

1951 Bowman

This is the last one (as the journey with my '52 Topps is covered in a neighbor thread).

I went back and forth on whether or not to fool with this one. At times I'd wish for it, but then my focus would return to the the '52 T. And as that went on last year, I kept watch on a very low grade set offered by maybe the most trusted dealer in the business.

It's actually in worse shape than the lowest grade Topps ones mentioned above (should have specified at the time that I was only referring to the Topps run before). So while the price wasn't too horrible, it was still higher than the set's intrinsic value. At least early in the the year, that is.

Then the Mantle and Mays just kept going up. While the price didn't.

This entire set was raw. Mick would probably grade a PSA 1, though I hope for a 1.5. You'll see much worse for that card. Willie is really rough, but I could live with that. And while most everything else is pretty bad, the (very) distant next key cards (Whitey Ford's rookie and Ted Williams) were a nice looking 2.5ish. Hey, it all helps!

Anyway....during the first six months of covid, the Mantle doubled in value. And it was still there. At that point, I was justified in pulling the trigger (and did).

And I know what you're thinking: buying that set without the keys being graded? It's something I never would've done, had it not been such an impeccably trusted industry figure selling it. Naturally the big boys were full size and passed all reprint/fake tests, both in the scans and in hand.

But there was another added (raw) bonus that I hadn't thought of: a chance to actually hold the true rookie cards of Mickey Mantle and Willie Mays. Especially since the '51 Bowmans are so small. I'd had a few of them raw before, but the small size just doesn't register as much until you see those two specific cards. Maybe it's the contrast between that and how big those cards' stature is in the hobby.

So, I'm glad I got the chance to do so before getting them graded. The Mays is obviously a 1, and as mentioned, Mantle will probably get a 1 too. But that's alright.

I'm just happy to have them

324/324

Avg condition: 1.79

Top 10 cards w/ grade:

253 Mickey Mantle (R): 1.25
305 Willie Mays (R): 1
1 Whitey Ford (R): 2.5
165 Ted Williams: 2.5
2 Yogi Berra: 1
31 Roy Campanella: 1
232 Nellie Fox (R): 1
32 Duke Snider: 1
30 Bob Feller: 1
134 Warren Spahn: 1