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

[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

[ALR-bishop]

[cardsagain74]

Had never seen a lot of those '51 topps variations.

Don't have any of those though. The '51 Bowman set is the end of the line