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Go Back   Net54baseball.com Forums > Net54baseball Postwar Sportscard Forums > Postwar Baseball Cards Forum (Pre-1980)

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  #1  
Old 01-13-2021, 12:22 PM
ASF123 ASF123 is offline
Andrew
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Default Why are 1953 Bowman color so awesome?

Lately I've been struck by how amazing the 1953 Bowman color set looks. The photos are just incredible - the colors and the contrast are orders of magnitude more vivid and lifelike than other sets of the era, and even (I dare say) going up through the '60s and '70s.

The Richie Ashburn, for example - it's like you're standing next to him in the dugout.

Can anyone shed any light on why they are head and shoulders above everything else? Something in the technique or technology that was used in taking or processing the photos, or the printing?

I have a feeling I may have found my next collecting project after I make some more progress on my HOFers...
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  #2  
Old 01-13-2021, 12:52 PM
Tere1071 Tere1071 is offline
Phil
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ASF123 View Post
Lately I've been struck by how amazing the 1953 Bowman color set looks. The photos are just incredible - the colors and the contrast are orders of magnitude more vivid and lifelike than other sets of the era, and even (I dare say) going up through the '60s and '70s.

The Richie Ashburn, for example - it's like you're standing next to him in the dugout.

Can anyone shed any light on why they are head and shoulders above everything else? Something in the technique or technology that was used in taking or processing the photos, or the printing?

I have a feeling I may have found my next collecting project after I make some more progress on my HOFers...
At the time the photos were taken using Kodachrome which provided vivid colors. Another example of that era was the images that appeared in Sport magazine, also shot in Kodachrome. People used to take those images out of the magazine to have them autographed or framed.

I love my set, but there are a number of cards that weren't shot or produced well, particularly in the higher numbers. There are a number of 53 Bowman color collectors on this board, let's share your input about this set.
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  #3  
Old 01-13-2021, 12:56 PM
ASF123 ASF123 is offline
Andrew
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Quote:
At the time the photos were taken using Kodachrome which provided vivid colors. Another example of that era was the images that appeared in Sport magazine, also shot in Kodachrome.
They give us those nice bright colors
They give us the greens of summers
Makes you think all the world's a sunny day, oh yeah

Now that's going to be stuck in my head all day...at least it's a good (and apparently accurate) song.

Last edited by ASF123; 01-13-2021 at 12:57 PM.
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  #4  
Old 01-13-2021, 01:15 PM
brian1961 brian1961 is offline
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The Paul Simon song immediately came to my mind, too. The Bowman company HAD TO DO SOMETHING, to deal with Topps, since their monster cards of '52 virtually captured the card market in one year. At least Bowman vastly increased the size of their football cards for fall '52, unveiling what would come to be considered the finest football cards ever made.

Back to the OP, Bowman's use of Kodachrome was an inspiration. As I ponder what Bowman did, it would seem they used a much better printing method to capture the fineness of detail the Kodachrome offered, for their image resolution is off the charts!

--- Brian Powell
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  #5  
Old 01-13-2021, 03:25 PM
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riggs336 riggs336 is offline
�tis J�hns�n
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Bowman definitely covered all the bases in 1953. If you didn't like beautiful cards you could buy their black and white sister set.
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  #6  
Old 01-13-2021, 05:28 PM
cornhusker cornhusker is offline
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A great visual set because of the ability of the photographers. No out of focus snapshots from across the field in this set. Fantastic composition that captures the moment - and, the designers purposely kept the cards clean and simple w/no detracting banners, headers, or logos. A perfect example of how less is more. Of course I love the '72 topps set as well
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  #7  
Old 01-14-2021, 01:35 PM
Volod Volod is offline
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Default Imho

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Originally Posted by riggs336 View Post
Bowman definitely covered all the bases in 1953. If you didn't like beautiful cards you could buy their black and white sister set.
I believe that the Black & White "set" is actually the last two series of the entire 1953 Bowman set. The company simply ran out of funds to print those last two series in Kodachrome. But every other detail of those 64 cards seems to match the first 160 color cards. It's kind of a shame that Bowman invested so much in the endorsement by Joe DiMaggio of the set. But since his contract apparently only covered the "color" cards, Bowman resorted to the later austerity strategy. Here's a second series sheet of 32 cards.
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File Type: jpg 1953 Bowman Color 2nd Series Sheet.jpg (82.5 KB, 117 views)
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  #8  
Old 01-17-2021, 05:57 AM
Tere1071 Tere1071 is offline
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My 53 Bowman collection doesn't quite reach the heights of the cards that have been posted, but I'm doing so to keep the discussion going in general.
Attached Images
File Type: jpg 53gai6berrabauermantle.jpg (74.2 KB, 69 views)
File Type: jpg 53psa4mantle.jpg (75.5 KB, 69 views)
File Type: jpg 53psa4snider.jpg (73.8 KB, 69 views)
File Type: jpg 53psa5ford.jpg (77.2 KB, 69 views)
File Type: jpg 53sgc4.5musial.jpg (69.7 KB, 69 views)
File Type: jpg 53sg5cberra.jpg (76.7 KB, 69 views)
File Type: jpg reese.jpg (62.1 KB, 69 views)

Last edited by Tere1071; 01-17-2021 at 06:03 AM.
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