Fun with Flexichrome-1952 Topps Baseball

[Phil68]

Originally Posted by samosa4u

Thanks for taking the time to explain these things to me.

When you look at the whole card-making process, there are a lot of things that you can learn about very quickly. However, the one area which is very difficult to understand is the artwork, and of course, how it was transferred to stone or zinc or whatever.

Now according to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Leaf Gum Co. used Chromolithography to make their cards in the 1940s. I find that a little bit odd because the baseball cards from the 1800s were made using this technique. I would've thought that by the late 1940s, Leaf Gum Co. would've used a different type of technology. What are your thoughts on this?

So, the 53' Bowmans (football and baseball) are the only cards that feature Kodachrome photographs? No other set has ever done this? What about the sets Bowman put out in 1950, 1951 and 1952? Are these Flexichrome? They obviously don't look like the cards from 1953, and I don't think they look as nice as the 52' Topps cards either. It's all very confusing!

Sadly, I onlty research what pertains to my card production. However, the early bowmans were drawings/paintings. In '53 they went to photos. They ran out of money halfway through and did the rest of the set in black and white. They went back to flexichrome in '54 but did it poorly, in my opinion. They were obviously on a tight budget. They tried touching up photos lightly in '55 and then Topps bought 'em out. The pre-1900 cards were actual photographs! They are some of the earliest compilations of original snapshots. Very cool. Chromatography/lithography pre-dated Flexichrome by a bit but basically it was a flatter colorization technique. It didn't involve creating acidic relief (not sure on that term) but it produces shading in my work. Looking at a leaf card, you can see how the color is like...dropped in. No gradient or toning.
I have always wondered what Mr. Bowman would have done with more money and had he continued his "Play Ball" series as a premium product.

That led me to create my favorite set to date. The "never released" 1952 Play Ball set. Like Topps, mine is oversized and exploding with color and a huge departure from the company norm...
I'll post a few here that you may enjoy!