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

[cesarcap]

Hi John and others,

A belated Merry Christmas. I've been away from this and other sites in the last few months as work got super hectic (a good thing) and have been helping out more at home which I didn't do in the early part of the fall as the fishing was fantastic in NY.

Anyhow, I loved your journeys/recaps on the 50's sets. I've had similar feelings about the sets universally loved and unloved. Have grown to love 58's and 56's which I thought were over rated aside from the Mantle, Clemente and Jackie Robinson cards which I thought and still think are works of art.

But I wasn't as "emotionally" invested in the 56's--I won a set in an auction surprisingly as I was into 57's which I built up lot by lot /card by card. It wasn't too painful as I had some of the major cards for decades.

The set I'm least into is 53 Topps. I have a nice Mantle and a presentable Jackie with tape all over it and a Paige which I got in a trade when one didn't look up values on the internet or in a Becketts. hahahaha! Eventually I will get into it since the other years are basically done, pending USPS delivery which has been painfully slow....

Well, time to go for a hike!

[cardsagain74]

1955 Topps

This set was my main introduction into the modern card marketplace (after being away since the junk wax era). Around a year ago, it went up for auction on ebay as "low-mid grade". There was little interest because it was a jewelry dealer who mentioned that horrid "estate sale", and while most of the huge cards were graded, the Clemente was not.

Run for the hills, especially for someone who's fairly green to the new card world. Right? But I wasn't able to dismiss it so quickly.

Not only did the PSA HOFers have amazing eye appeal for their grade, but I could not see any major damage on the Clemente, which looked like a grade 4-5. The modest L/R centering shift (and everything else I'd learned at that point about diagnosing fakes) appeared legit to my relatively untrained eye. So I looked into the jewelry shop selling it. Wrote them and asked why the Clemente was one of the few HOFers not graded.

Finally, I decided it was worth the risk. The '55 T was a set I'd always wanted anyway, because I value its elite level top 10 cards more than the missing Mantle and second-tier HOFers like Campanella, Feller, and Reese bother me. Could just cheaply(well, at the time) add a low grade '56 T Mantle to it. And if something went wrong, I could always return it.

When the package got here, I could hear the phrases "no creases and measure correctly" repeat in my mind about the Clemente, as if willing them to be true. Thankfully, that was the case. There are a few very minor pock marks near the bottom left corner, but I doubt they'd push the grade below a 4. Even if they do, it's still a nice card and the set was a great deal.

Included a closeup of the pocks (if anyone wants to speculate). They look worse in the pic than in hand.

Guess I should get off my lazy ass about submitting and find out

206/206

Avg grade: 4.12

Top 10 cards w/ grade:

164 Roberto Clemente (R): 4
123 Sandy Koufax (R): 3
194 Willie Mays: 2
2 Ted Williams: 3
210 Duke Snider: 3
47 Hank Aaron: 4
50 Jackie Robinson: 2
124 Harmon Killebrew: 5
198 Yogi Berra: 5
28 Ernie Banks: 4

[ASF123]

Those are some beautiful '55s, John. And sorry to hear about your dad upthread. Cheers to him and the good times you shared.

[cardsagain74]

Thanks for the kind words, Cesar and Andrew.

And I wish you and everyone the best too. Even though Cesar sucks for having completed the '52 so early

[ALR-bishop]

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[cesarcap]

John,

The 52 set isn't technically complete: Hal Rice is in an envelope somewhere between MD and NY.

Had a very similar experience w/ the 55 set as you.

Happy 2021!

[cardsagain74]

1955 Bowman

Confession: I really like this set.

It's probably the least popular of all the Bowman and '50s Topps sets, and its cards worth the least (relative to the year). But I don't care

The TV design feeds into the nostalgia that I somehow have for '50s culture. And I find the photos underappreciated too. Especially the Mantle.

My Mick is a really strong PSA 3. The set's strength is still slightly in the commons, but the key cards all have good eye appeal. No need to change any channel

Who needs to see the typical Willie, Hank, Ernie, and Yogi though. In the spirit of this enigma of a set, have some of what makes it unique: umpires!

320/320

Avg grade: 3.76

Top 10 cards w/ grade:

202 Mickey Mantle: 3
242 Ernie Banks: 4
179 Hank Aaron: 3
184 Willie Mays: 3
168 Yogi Berra: 3
22 Roy Campanella: 5
59 Whitey Ford: 3
23 Al Kaline: 4
37 Pee Wee Reese: 5
134 Bob Feller: 3