Touring (backwards) through the sets of the '50s

[cardsagain74]

While I spend these lazy covid evenings organizing my new post-war vintage collection of the last year, thought I'd share the run from the '50s that I've mostly completed. As you can imagine, it's been an interesting nostalgic ride to put these sets together, and I'm pleased with how it's gone.

Some of these sets are complete, and some still need a few commons/minors or upgrades. But they're all plenty close enough Going to start with '59 and work backwards:

1959

At first I wasn't much of a fan of the lowercase writing, but this set has started to grow on me a little. It's in the nicest condition of anything in the run, so they only get uglier from here

The avg grade (all raw) is almost Ex, and it's nice enough that I'm going to upgrade the few dozen commons/minors that are below mid-grade (which is not something I do too often). Even though the Mantle and especially the Bob Gibson are very solid, the strength is slightly more toward the commons.

Cause while 116 of the cards are 6s, 6.5s, or (maybe a dozen) 7s, the only name players in those grades are Drysdale and the Sparky Anderson rookie.

I'll post more pics of the other sets, but this one is packed away the deepest, so will start with just the two big cards this time:

572/572

Avg condition: 4.84

Top 10 cards w/ grade:

10 Mickey Mantle: 4.5
514 Bob Gibson (R) : 5.5
564 Mickey Mantle All Star : 5
478 Roberto Clemente : 4
50 Willie Mays : 5
380 Hank Aaron : 5
163 Sandy Koufax : 4
150 Stan Musial : 3
461 Mantle hits 42nd Homer : 5
550 Harmon Killebrew : 4

[Gorditadogg]

I overlooked this set at first too, but the design is really creative, and is in tune with the beat generation of the times. I mean, how many sets have pink card backgrounds? The circle portraits with colorful mattes are appealing and the tilted lower case names make the cards jaunty and cool.

A nice picture of Mantle, too. That "fire engine red" background helps make Mick"s cameo stand out.

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

[jchcollins]

As a kid collecting cards from the 50's and 60's in the 80's and 90's, I was not very keen on '59. But it has really grown on me over the years. I love the lowercase slant letters and circular design with the solid backgrounds now; it just screams 1950's chic.

[jchcollins]

(Delete / Dupe).

[vintagebaseballcardguy]

This will be a great thread as it goes along. Thanks for starting it. I wasn't born until '73, but I am passionate about the cards of the 50s. I've played with modern and prewar, but I always come back "home" to the cards of the 50s. I have also quit fighting the set building urge. I'm just going with that, too.
Great looking cards! So far my 50s collecting is back toward the early part of the decade, and when you get there I'd love to share a few of mine. I hope to eventually get to the latter end of the decade. I'll be watching this thread for sure!

[ALR-bishop]

Many variations and recurring print defects in the 59 set. Here are some oddball stuff

[cardsagain74]

Al, those kinda extras are coming soon for one of the other sets. Usually I just have base cards, but it's always good for a collection to have a unique exception.

Everyone is welcome to share their own along the way as well

[cardsagain74]

Wasn't planning on doing these on back to back days (or skipping ahead again), but there's a reason that happened today.

1953

This set is just as beat up as my '57. And since all the huge cards are 1s this time, it would rank last overall in condition. It's also the one that I got the worst deal on, because I got too impatient. Some of the sets from this run were bought complete, since when you're working on so many things at once, it seemed too time-consuming and expensive to build so much from almost scratch.

Why so impatient this time then? One reason was how I love the colors and design. But it's mainly because this was the year that my dad was 9 years old and at the height of his love of the game and the Yankees. I even mentioned in another thread about how my grandmother found his creased '53 Topps Whitey Ford and a (likely) '53 Topps Mantle about 30 years ago at their old house.

I say "likely" Mick because she inexplicably gave me the Ford (which is tucked away elsewhere in my childhood belongings) and my far-away cousin the Mantle, which was never seen again. Heresy.

Anyway....dad and I never collected anything together, so this isn't the typical vision of father and son looking over a table learning about baseball cards. But he did share the same passion for sports that I did, and we always bonded over that.

Almost two years ago, my dad passed away from cancer. And today would've been my parents' 54th wedding anniversary.

So instead of card-related "other highlights", I've included a photo of when he coached my minor league baseball team in 1984. He's the man on the left of the pic, standing just behind me toward the middle.

Oh, and I was also 9 when this pic was taken. Go figure

274/274

Avg grade: 1.96

Top 10 cards w/ grade:

82 Mickey Mantle: 1
244 Willie Mays: 1
1 Jackie Robinson: 1
220 Satchel Paige: 1
263 Johnny Podres: 1.5
104 Yogi Berra: 1
258 Jim Gilliam: 1
280 Milt Bolling: 2
27 Roy Campanella: 1.5
147 Warren Spahn: 3

Other highlights:

Unquestionably '80s baseball photo

[ALR-bishop]

Great picture. Would have been good candidates for 71 Topps Winners set.

Backs of 53 are a quagmire. Six cards were not issued 253/261/267/268/271/275. Cards 86-165 can be found with black or white bio info, except for 94/107/131/145/156 ( white only), while cards 10/44/61/72/81 have both, an anomaly in printing the sheets which caused the missing cards mentioned before

[cardsagain74]

Originally Posted by ALR-bishop

Great picture. Would have been good candidates for 71 Topps Winners set.

Thanks. My first description wasn't that clear; I am second from the left standing.

Always had my game face on, even for the pics In the individual pics where you're posing with a bat, I'd be staring down the photographer like he was about to brush me back

[campyfan39]

Great cards and story.
The 53' Campy is my fave all time card. I have several of them. All from NR-MT to barely recognizable

Originally Posted by cardsagain74

Wasn't planning on doing these on back to back days (or skipping ahead again), but there's a reason that happened today.

1953

This set is just as beat up as my '57. And since all the huge cards are 1s this time, it would rank last overall in condition. It's also the one that I got the worst deal on, because I got too impatient. Some of the sets from this run were bought complete, since when you're working on so many things at once, it seemed too time-consuming and expensive to build so much from almost scratch.

Why so impatient this time then? One reason was how I love the colors and design. But it's mainly because this was the year that my dad was 9 years old and at the height of his love of the game and the Yankees. I even mentioned in another thread about how my grandmother found his creased '53 Topps Whitey Ford and a (likely) '53 Topps Mantle about 30 years ago at their old house.

I say "likely" Mick because she inexplicably gave me the Ford (which is tucked away elsewhere in my childhood belongings) and my far-away cousin the Mantle, which was never seen again. Heresy.

Anyway....dad and I never collected anything together, so this isn't the typical vision of father and son looking over a table learning about baseball cards. But he did share the same passion for sports that I did, and we always bonded over that.

Almost two years ago, my dad passed away from cancer. And today would've been my parents' 54th wedding anniversary.

So instead of card-related "other highlights", I've included a photo of when he coached my minor league baseball team in 1984. He's the man on the left of the pic, standing just behind me toward the middle.

Oh, and I was also 9 when this pic was taken. Go figure

274/274

Avg grade: 1.96

Top 10 cards w/ grade:

82 Mickey Mantle: 1
244 Willie Mays: 1
1 Jackie Robinson: 1
220 Satchel Paige: 1
263 Johnny Podres: 1.5
104 Yogi Berra: 1
258 Jim Gilliam: 1
280 Milt Bolling: 2
27 Roy Campanella: 1.5
147 Warren Spahn: 3

Other highlights:

Unquestionably '80s baseball photo

[cardsagain74]

1954 Topps

Present day, this set is obviously loaded at the top. But long before anyone knew that three of the generation's most recognized names would be making their debut in it, you have to wonder how this one made Topps better positioned to overtake Bowman before long (especially with the ongoing lawsuit at the time). The sense of desperation looms. Double Ted and all those coaches?

Despite all that, I actually don't mind it at all. The design is unique and the different background colors were a nice new touch.

My version is a shade rough, but it shows pretty well (and the Banks and Kaline border on mid grade). My focus here is just on the Hank though, and getting some opinions on its damage:

It looks like a small piece of tape was taken off the upper left hand corner. As you can see, it left a light rectangular border there (and thinned some of the paper a little too).

Do you think this would get a PSA number grade? Mk qualifier? Altered? I'd like to get a 1.5 or 2, but may not bother if it'll get an A.

250/250

Avg grade: 2.35

Top 10 cards w/ grade:

128 Hank Aaron (R): 1.5??
94 Ernie Banks (R): 2.5
201 Al Kaline (R): 3.5
250 Ted Williams: 1.5
1 Ted Williams: 2
90 Willie Mays: 2
10 Jackie Robinson: 1
50 Yogi Berra: 2.5
132 Tom Lasorda (R): 1
37 Whitey Ford: 3

[ALR-bishop]

Mays variant

[cardsagain74]

1951 Bowman

This is the last one (as the journey with my '52 Topps is covered in a neighbor thread).

I went back and forth on whether or not to fool with this one. At times I'd wish for it, but then my focus would return to the the '52 T. And as that went on last year, I kept watch on a very low grade set offered by maybe the most trusted dealer in the business.

It's actually in worse shape than the lowest grade Topps ones mentioned above (should have specified at the time that I was only referring to the Topps run before). So while the price wasn't too horrible, it was still higher than the set's intrinsic value. At least early in the the year, that is.

Then the Mantle and Mays just kept going up. While the price didn't.

This entire set was raw. Mick would probably grade a PSA 1, though I hope for a 1.5. You'll see much worse for that card. Willie is really rough, but I could live with that. And while most everything else is pretty bad, the (very) distant next key cards (Whitey Ford's rookie and Ted Williams) were a nice looking 2.5ish. Hey, it all helps!

Anyway....during the first six months of covid, the Mantle doubled in value. And it was still there. At that point, I was justified in pulling the trigger (and did).

And I know what you're thinking: buying that set without the keys being graded? It's something I never would've done, had it not been such an impeccably trusted industry figure selling it. Naturally the big boys were full size and passed all reprint/fake tests, both in the scans and in hand.

But there was another added (raw) bonus that I hadn't thought of: a chance to actually hold the true rookie cards of Mickey Mantle and Willie Mays. Especially since the '51 Bowmans are so small. I'd had a few of them raw before, but the small size just doesn't register as much until you see those two specific cards. Maybe it's the contrast between that and how big those cards' stature is in the hobby.

So, I'm glad I got the chance to do so before getting them graded. The Mays is obviously a 1, and as mentioned, Mantle will probably get a 1 too. But that's alright.

I'm just happy to have them

324/324

Avg condition: 1.79

Top 10 cards w/ grade:

253 Mickey Mantle (R): 1.25
305 Willie Mays (R): 1
1 Whitey Ford (R): 2.5
165 Ted Williams: 2.5
2 Yogi Berra: 1
31 Roy Campanella: 1
232 Nellie Fox (R): 1
32 Duke Snider: 1
30 Bob Feller: 1
134 Warren Spahn: 1

[kailes2872]

I do love the colors and the backs of this set. That being said, it is hard to believe that Topps won the card wars. Mantle and many of the big stars were with Bowman. All of the coaches and little known rookies with Topps. Plus Bowman even snuck in Williams for an early run in 54. The Bowman set had a nice cadence to it. Every team was represented in order. In 8 page sheets, you get the entire American League on one page in sequential order and the the same thing for the National League. The Bowman set is just so... boring. The names in cursive, the matte finish. Coming off the beautiful product in 53 and into a cutting edge/color TV set in ‘55, you would think they would have won against - especially since the Topps set in ‘55 only had 206 cards. But, by goodness Topps pulled it out and gave us the perfect, glorious, ‘56 set before becoming lazy, complacent, and (I and assuming) focused on cost savings with no competition and we ended up with sets like ‘79 - which should be made illegal if only for the terrible, hard to read, backs and that awful Topps logo on the front... but I digress.

If you haven’t read Dean’s book about the card wars, it is worth a read.

Originally Posted by cardsagain74

1954 Topps

Present day, this set is obviously loaded at the top. But long before anyone knew that three of the generation's most recognized names would be making their debut in it, you have to wonder how this one made Topps better positioned to overtake Bowman before long (especially with the ongoing lawsuit at the time). The sense of desperation looms. Double Ted and all those coaches?

Despite all that, I actually don't mind it at all. The design is unique and the different background colors were a nice new touch.

My version is a shade rough, but it shows pretty well (and the Banks and Kaline border on mid grade). My focus here is just on the Hank though, and getting some opinions on its damage:

It looks like a small piece of tape was taken off the upper left hand corner. As you can see, it left a light rectangular border there (and thinned some of the paper a little too).

Do you think this would get a PSA number grade? Mk qualifier? Altered? I'd like to get a 1.5 or 2, but may not bother if it'll get an A.

250/250

Avg grade: 2.35

Top 10 cards w/ grade:

128 Hank Aaron (R): 1.5??
94 Ernie Banks (R): 2.5
201 Al Kaline (R): 3.5
250 Ted Williams: 1.5
1 Ted Williams: 2
90 Willie Mays: 2
10 Jackie Robinson: 1
50 Yogi Berra: 2.5
132 Tom Lasorda (R): 1
37 Whitey Ford: 3

[cardsagain74]

Originally Posted by kailes2872

If you haven’t read Dean’s book about the card wars, it is worth a read.

I'll have to do that. Even though I'm guessing it's priced at double what it's worth