48 Bowman Set [Probstein]
 

Saw this last night. Don't see entire sets of anything roll around very often these days, so it caught my eye (but not my bid). What do people think of the price? I find the set sort of bland, but certainly is a meaningful set.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/1948-Bowman...rdt=true&rt=nc

Please note: any replies along the lines of "Probstein is dead to me," "I would never consider one of his auctions," "I sent him cards once and never heard back," or "I met him at the National once and he was a really odd guy" are already on the record. You have a standing objection to Probstein and need not interpose the same objection at this time.

Relatively speaking I think that was a good buy for the buyer, in today's market.

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Item no longer available?

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Sold last evening.

In our current climate, I have noted many buyers are incorporating the fact that the TPG plastic cost and time to obtain them are considerable and these "costs" are being factored in to the buy.

If you figure that there is $1200-1500 worth of plastic and time in this auction, the complete set at $6500 seems CHEAP actually.

Dave

Good point.

As Yogi Berra might say, "the TPGs are so backed up with orders that no one is using them anymore."

Good one!

I always liked the set, but wasnt crazy about them until I saw the Uncle Jimmy cards. Those were so clean and crisp, they were psa 5-7s but looked way better. I bought the whole set except the Rizzuto, just missed that one. Went for about the price of this one. Thought I got a great deal. Here is the Musial again.

(Damn, sideways again! Will try to fix but it happens randomly when i upload my photos!)

We actually broke a '48 Bowman set a few auctions ago because most of it was EX/MT - NM/MT but the Musial was only Fair. Have another one now that I'm trying to decide how to proceed. Pretty uniform EX/MT. Also just got in a bunch of pre 1960 sets that are quite nice. We sell vintage complete sets fairly regularly, hard to predict, sometimes they kill and other times I think they slip through the cracks a little.

I agree with the original sentiment. I find it hard to get excited about this set. Something about it is really underwhelming. I like the 39 Play Ball set just fine so it's not that it's black and white.

I think that this was a good buy given the market direction The graded Hall of Fame Rookie Card premium makes it a set with considerable upside. Also, it's not like there are a lot of nice 48 Bowmans out there that will tilt the supply once they get graded.... This could/will impact the newer rookies that are selling at higher prices everyday especially those from the "wax junk era" -- many many more of them are getting graded as we speak.< Check out prices on 1988 Fleer John Smoltz >

Okay that's my "investor" schtick... As a collector these cards are not very appealing although they have a certain minimalist appeal. Bowman was just starting out and didn't include very many subjects and not every team is represented. Moreover, they did not include the two biggest names available at the time: Ted WIilliams and Joe Dimaggio. Nor does it include the most important newcomer: Jackie Robinson.

Agree with brian and leon ,,but still a steal

It does seem like the buyer got a good deal. And the seller did no favors by not listing the grades of the HOF rookies, which could have easily been done as the sub-heading instead of "SUPER HIGH END," but at least in the description.
People have posted about B&W cards being less desirable in a few places, but I really enjoy B&W photography and cards, and I think some individual B&W cards can be more appealing than individual colorized cards (whether based off a B&W photo or an artist's rendition). The 48 Bowman Musial is striking to me, and continues to be a good deal even in this market.
And on another note, nice disclaimer at the end of the first post to keep things on topic for the conversation!

Amazing. I bought this set in VG-EX condition back around 1990 - before TPGs - and still have it and spent under $200 on it. Not the most appealing set, agreed, but historically important.

Probstein sucks. :D:rolleyes: (sorry, I couldn't resist Steve).

Ha. Knew someone couldn’t resist.

I'm just surprised it took 15 posts to get there!

I actually pulled the trigger on a number of SGC graded '33 Goudeys that I'd been considering the day that SGC made the announcement of the fee increase. It did change the economics for me, especially for graded commons. I, of course, hope for grading deals to come along soon, but I'm not counting on it. The price increase has dampened my enthusiasm for buying graded cards to crossover and for buying ungraded cards as well (for '33 Goudey in particular, I'm still perfectly happy with PSA and ungraded cards elsewhere). I still think that SGC is shooting themselves in the foot by disincentivizing the grading of commons, and missed a great opportunity to capture market share by remaining at $15 when PSA increased their fees, but they surely know their business better than I do.

I'm so glad I showed restraint. (but he does deserve it!)

1948 Bowman set
 

My three favorite guys in this set......

https://photos.imageevent.com/tedzan...nYogiBerra.jpg . https://photos.imageevent.com/tedzan...StanMusial.jpg . https://photos.imageevent.com/tedzan...manJoePage.jpg


When I was a kid, our local Candy store never had these BOWMAN's. We rode our bikes to a pharmacy a mile away to buy them. I put down a Quarter
and purchased 25 cards. When I opened one of the 1-cent wax-packs and found Yogi, I was thrilled.

Regarding the topic here, that is a lot of $$$$ for this set. Including approx. $1600 for 48 pieces of plastic adds insult to injury.

In 2001, I sold my 2nd set (condition similar to my 3 samples shown here) for $400. Perhaps, I should have kept that set :)


Showing-off here some more goodies in my collection.

1948 Bowman 1-cent wrapper
http://www.oldcardboard.com/r/r406-1/wrapper-sm.jpg----http://photos.imageevent.com/tedzan7...manbbsheet.jpg


TED Z

T206 Reference
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It's the only year, besides the 1949 that I don't own 1-example of (also, the 53 B&W). I could care less. Learned to appreciate the 50-55 Bowman's a little more in recent years however.

Thanks Ted, your posts here are just wonderful! I really like the Musial too. He looks so young!

Ted, your collection amazes me. The other card I really like in this set is Spahn.

"rode our bikes to a pharmacy a mile away" I love it, Ted.

I rode my bike along the road on which I lived on Saturday mornings, eyes on the ditches looking for Coke bottles. People would buy cold drinks on Friday nights and toss the bottles as they left town. I'd gather them Saturday's, then go home and hose them off so they weren't nasty or muddy. Coke bottles got 4 cents back; Pepsi and RC stuff brought a 3 cent deposit. Then I'd buy as many wax packs of Topps cards as I could afford.

Thank you to the baseball card gods for allowing us bicycles.

Hi Frank

Great to hear from you.

In 1948 there were three of us avid BB dudes (ages 8 - 9). Joe, Johnny, and me with our Schwinn bikes. We rode
them all over our area. Our 1st adventurous trip was to the Newark Bears (International Lge.) Stadium to catch a
game. That trip was a 24-mile round-trip hike.

A couple of years later, the 3 of us upgraded our "wheels" to 3-speed English Racers. With these bikes we became
more adventurous, like peddling our buts to Ebbets Field in Brooklyn. This trip entailed a boat ride across the Hud-
son River on the Staten Island ferry over to Brooklyn. Our round-trip that day was 60 miles. We were smart not to
tell our parents, otherwise we would have been "grounded" for a week (or two).

We were quite fortunate to live in NJ (near NYC) back then (1947 - 1956). Needless to say, there's where most of
the exciting BB was happening.

Incidentally, in our neighborhood, Coke, Pepsi bottles returned got us 2-cents. Large soda bottles were 5-cents.


TED Z
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Nice story, Ted. Thanks for sharing.

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