Players in both 1955 Topps and 1955 Bowman baseball sets

Georj · #1 04-05-2018, 04:48 AM

Does anyone know how players could be features in both 1955 Topps and 1955 Bowman baseball cards? I thought that players signed exclusive contracts with either one or the other manufacturers. Isn't that why there are holes in the numbering system of the Topps 1953 & 1955 because they couldn't get the contracts signed?

toppcat · #2 04-05-2018, 05:34 AM

Not all the contracts were exclusive to Bowman.

ALR-bishop · #3 04-05-2018, 07:17 AM

The contracts when exclusive were not exclusive as the the marketing of the players likeness but rather marketing the likeness with gum and confections, where Bowman and Topps were also competitors. As Dave said, not all were exclusive ( some players would not sign one) and even when a player signed an exclusive with one company, he sometimes signed another one with the other.

There is a good discussion of the contract battles in Dean's book, The Bubble Gum Card War: The Great Bowman And Topps Sets from 1948 to 1955. I got my copy on Amazon and they are often on eBay. Paperback. a good read for anyone collecting Bowman and Topps from that period.

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