My latest pickup… Hammerin’ Hank!
 

Hi all,

Excited to share what is my most recent pickup and probably will be for the foreseeable future. It’s Hank’s 1955 Bowman graded BVG 2.5!

After going back to work and squirreling away some fun money from my birthday, I had enough to land a somewhat big purchase for myself. Being the Peyton Manning fan that I am, I looked at his rookie cards and although I could now afford some of them, I couldn’t really justify paying current prices when the same card could’ve been had for half or a third of its current price just two years ago. I began looking at past auctions and couldn’t help feeling that I had missed the boat “so to speak.” The same went for many of my other favorite players like Griffey and Greinke. All the while, I began to have a change of heart in regards to modern cards, even those of my personal favorite athletes. Here I was looking at fancy parallels and low numbered cards when I realized, I am paying a ridiculous amount for what amounts in my eyes, to be a slight change in the design of the card.The other things that bothered me was the sheer amount of cards printed for each player in this day and age. This is when I decided to go back to basics save for a few super special or eye catching cards and stick with base cards of my favorite guys (that’s how I found a Manning RC that I was happy with for $5.)

Keep in mind, some of this money going towards my hobby funds was made up of gifts received from my birthday. One such person who was kind enough to celebrate my birthday with me and has done so for the last 22 years is my Grampa and it is from my Mom’s side of the family and him that I get my love of baseball. I remembered him telling me that Hammerin’ Hank was his favorite player growing up in the 50s. In my search for my next big card, I began looking at guys like Hank, Jackie and Satxhel Paige but found that even cards printed in the later years of their careers had gone up quite a bit. Again, I couldn’t justify current prices for low grade examples. I fell in love with Hank’s ‘55 Topps but couldn’t come up to the asking price of a graded copy. That’s when I remembered Hank’s ’55 Bowman card.

The 1955 Bowman set had always been one that I instantly recognized when I saw it but never had a ton of interest in. However, upon reading that the ‘55 set would be the last Bowman set produced until 1989, my interest kicked up a notch. Being a history major, I also realized that Hank’s ‘55 Bowman would be his one and only card in the series over the course of the career. Along with that, it was a second year card, featuring a design of a color TV (new at the time and revolutionary) as well as the year of 1955 being the early period of the modern Civil Rights Movement (a focus of my studies and interests) it quickly became a card that made sense. It wasn’t till this evening that a copy popped up that fit what I was looking for and willing to spend, so, even though I may have overpaid a bit, I snagged it!

This is also a card that means more personally and historically than monetarily which was another aspect I was looking for. Hopefully I can preserve the card and teach others like my peers and the next generation about Hank’s legacy all while it holds a place of honor in my small collection!

So without further ado, here it is!

https://i.ibb.co/Sxpj75n/s-l1600.jpg
https://i.ibb.co/42CtR7Q/s-l1600-1.jpg

Fantastic!!! Thanks for the nice read, and congratulations on your pickup—your grampa would most definitely approve!! :)

Great looking card, congratulations! and I think you're right. Hank, like Jackie, was much more than just a baseball player. Through his grace he helped steer the country through an often ugly transition.

Nice card from a vey interesting set Jake

Definitely agree. For me that’s part of the allure of Henry. He definitely was apart of that transition and although he is no longer with us we can still look to his life and legacy as we continue to forge ahead in creating a more positive and loving world. Hopefully with the MLB’s increased acknowledgment of black baseball history and the Negro Leagues, more fans and people will realize this.

Nice centering and great color on that 55B Aaron. Great looking card, great story. Congrats on your first Hammerin' Hank!

Aaron is 1 of those guys you can never go wrong with. CONGRATS.

Thanks for sharing the journey! Love reading threads like this...awesome stuff. I love that Aaron...Bowmans only example. Iconic card in an iconic set.

Congrats!

Exactly! I figure it would be tough to go wrong with this one! It definitley didn't start out as even one of my favorite cards of Hank but it has slowly grown on me overtime. I really do enjoy it now though. It may seem silly but having the TV border and design is almost like a window peeking into the past, for me at least!