1953 Bowman Color Print Lines
 

One last thing about the 53 Bowman Color cards...print lines. I have read it is a fairly common bug with this set. I recently traded some really nice 1960-62 Topps including 3 very nice Mantle cards for 9 Topps 1952 and 19 Bowman color, including Mantle and Reese. Believe you me, they are all as authentic as they can be. But there are print lines on both the Mantle and leaping Reese. I was aware of this before I made the trade, but this is the only set I know of with this anomaly. It is only on the front, not the back. Are there specific cards affected, or is it random? Doesn't stop me from loving these cards, I must say.

Sorry to say that most, if not all, Bowman sets do show print lines and other nagging defects. I believe that the '53 Color set actually has a lot fewer than, for example, the '51's and '52's, probably because of the use of photography instead of line drawings. If you ever get into those two sets, you will see what I mean.