Who was around for Bowman Vs Topps?

[dougscats]

I really started collecting as the Bowmans died out. But I had my brother's cards and played with them.
The Bowmans had two major flaws:

The Bowmans/card size [there are slight but perhaps crucial differences] were made of flimsier cardboard, and they easily bent in the middle. As kids played more with the cards in those days, this was a serious and chronic ['53-55] short-coming.

The console-TV border on the '55 Bowman was an artistic disaster of Edsel proportions.

That being said, the '51-52 Bowmans are one of my favorites, and the '53's are generally admired for their photography and spectacular color.

Ironically, after Topps won, they down-sized their cards, which became the standard size for more than 50 years now. I like the bigger cards myself.

That's what I remember.

Doug

[Brianruns10]

Originally Posted by dougscats

The console-TV border on the '55 Bowman was an artistic disaster of Edsel proportions.

Doug

Funny you mention that. When we talks cards, my dad always laments what happened to what he called his "TV cards" He saved all his sets 57-63, but the 55 Bowman's didn't make it for some reason, and if he did collect the 56 Topps, those were lost too.

[theseeker]

Volod's recollections gave me a Rockwell moment just imagining....a precocious, 8 year old Volod in late summer 1952.....
Volod's Dad, "for the last time, no, I will not take you up to Canada in order for you to buy baseball cards."
"But Dad," Volod insists "I can't get those Topps high numbers around here. I tell ya, they'll be worth a fortune one day."

[theseeker]

And yes...I can well image those TV console Bowmans didn't go over too big with kids, especially when compared with the '55 Topps. Yet, in the present moment, I find them to have a real nostolgic appeal. Pocess a sort of hokey charm. I lump 'em in with the '68 burlap Topps, which I also seem to like more than most collectors. I also find Rottweilers adorable.

[Samsdaddy]

Originally Posted by theseeker

And yes...I can well image those TV console Bowmans didn't go over too big with kids, especially when compared with the '55 Topps. Yet, in the present moment, I find them to have a real nostolgic appeal. Pocess a sort of hokey charm. I lump 'em in with the '68 burlap Topps, which I also seem to like more than most collectors. I also find Rottweilers adorable.

I remember an early issue of Baseball Cards magazine had a feature on the 1955 Bowman set by Bob Lemke who often appears in these forums. He was/is a big fan.

I don't mind that set but I CANNOT get into that 1968 burlap set to save my life. I have only a couple cards from that set of my favorite players and that is it.

[bosoxfan]

I CANNOT get into that 1968 burlap set to save my life. I have only a couple cards from that set of my favorite players and that is it.[/QUOTE]


I bought my first pack of baseball cards in 1968 and was hooked. At lunch and recess many of us would "shoot" cards towards the school wall from about 8 to 10 feet away. Nearest card to the wall wins and winner would keep all the cards. If you got a "leaner", that was the best, but everyone yet to shoot had 3 shots to knock it down. If they did, they would win. Winner would go last, furthest would shoot first and so on.

I don't know if flipping cards and shooting cards were the same thing. I think when you flip cards you hold the card above your head up against a wall and let it drop. If that is true, I never flipped cards.

Anyway, I LOVED those days. I loved shooting cards. They were some of my best childhood memories. The 68's were what I knew. I remember there were times I'd win cards from 67 and hating them. I hated the 1967 Topps because they weren't the 68's. At the time, to me they were the ugly cards. Some cards would get so beat up. They were needed because those were the ones that didn't bounce of the wall too far. Save the sharper corner cards for knocking down the leaners. Winning a 68 that you didn't have was the best no matter what shape it was in.

Of course times change and the 1967 Topps set is now my favorite set of the sixties, but I will always love the 68's

Rich

[theseeker]

I grew up in suburban Chicago and never saw anyone flipping or tossing cards. I believe that was an east coast thing. Card collecting for us was something to do in between activities, during summer break. We'd all go and get our shoe boxes and sit under a shady tree and have trading sessions.
We did do the dopey card sacrifice, that consisted of one common card, a clothes pin, and a bike, in order to get that cool motorcycle sound effect.