No guesswork here.....as a very young kid, I collected Sportscards from 1947-1953. I was a BOWMAN fan from 1948-1952; and, I bought (or traded) lots of BOWMAN's.
When TOPPS introduced their large size cards in 1952, I was fascinated by them. I stopped buying 1952 BOWMAN cards. So, in the Spring of 1953, I favored the TOPPS
cards over the photographic styled colorful BOWMAN cards.
It's my guess that many kids back then had the same sentiments as I did. Furthermore, TOPPS had better a distribution system than BOWMAN. 1953 TOPPS cards were
every where to be found. For example, certain areas in the South did not get 1953 BOWMAN low # cards (#1 - 112).
And, it's true....at the start, 1952 TOPPS Hi #'s were found with 1953 TOPPS 1st series cards (in certain areas in this country).
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TED Z