Mays Rookie 51 Bowman

[Snapolit1]

Houston we have lift off.

PSA 8

Feb. 2020 - 48k at Heritage

Last night - 103k at Memory Lane

[Casey2296]

I come from a working class background and we never had much money, Dad always working, yada yada...
The one and only memory I have of my Dad and I in this hobby was when he took the time out to drive to an out of town card dealer, I must have been 11 or 12. I was in heaven when I walked in that store, my Dad was patient. 52 Mantles were going for 2500 bucks. He said I could choose one card, I chose a 51 Bowman Willie Mays. It cost him $225 for that card and I knew he was stretching the budget to get it for me.

I still have that raw card today, I told my Son when I go, put that card in my casket, you can have everything else.

[pokerplyr80]

I suppose it was only a matter of time with what's been going on with modern cards. Mantle has been pretty hot too. Nothing compared to what's going on with Jackie Robison though.

[Mark17]

I still have that raw card today, I told my Son when I go, put that card in my casket, you can have everything else.

I'm just curious, where do you plan to be buried?

[Casey2296]

I'm just curious, where do you plan to be buried?
Haha! Harry Hooper is buried 2 blocks from my house, I'm thinking my kid can spread my ashes, along with Willie's around Hoopers above ground crypt.

[samosa4u]

I still have that raw card today, I told my Son when I go, put that card in my casket, you can have everything else.

I hope your son will be smart enough to NOT do that! :)

Anyways, let me tell you guys my Mays story. When I started getting into baseball - I'm Canadian and hockey is my first love - I decided to do some online research. I came across "Baseball's 100 Greatest Players" list by The Sporting News and I was surprised to see Mays in second place (just behind Ruth). I never knew he was THAT good! Heck, Mantle sat in seventeenth! I always thought that Mantle was the best of the best. I mean, wasn't that why his cards were so damn expensive? But nope, I had it all wrong.

So, I decided to look up some Mays rookies on eBay, and again, I was surprised how cheap they were considering how high he ranked as a player. I eventually made a deal on the BST section over here. I found an old thread, like all the way on page number 5, and the guy told me that his PSA-graded Mays rookie was still available. His price was pretty fair, and so this means that all of you folks on here weren't willing to pay it! :p We made the deal and I still have the card today. It's worth double now - SAY HEY! ;)

[ajjohnsonsoxfan]

Love mine...with all bowman's it's about centering, lack of print lines, registration/color/clarity and lack of back wax.

[Snapolit1]

Dang that’s nice.

[Pack The Ripper]

I suppose it was only a matter of time with what's been going on with modern cards. Mantle has been pretty hot too. Nothing compared to what's going on with Jackie Robison though.

I pieced together a 1950 Bowman set back in 91-92. Back then, the centerpiece card was the Ted Williams. The Robinson card was a close second, at least according to early 90s Becketts. Now the Robinson card seems to be the #1 card in the set.

Back then I bought a Williams PSA7 for 1,100 and a PSA8 Robinson for 1,200.