Yeah, the cheapest I seem to pick up 1952 Topps baseball for is $3-5 for uncreased cards. That's the thing about in-demand sets. When the top cards go on sale, they get sold quickly.
https://www.comc.com/Promotions/Sale,sp
Here is the sales page, sorted by percent off. Many of them are way overpriced and then heavily discounted, but some sellers run sales that are actually worth it. I'm at 40% off through Sunday right now. The flash guy that has "90%" off has some mid-grade 1953 Bowmans for $5-15 each now, which is probably reasonable.