This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 4/4/2024
Here’s the granddaddy of all the Bowman baseball issues, the coveted 1953 Bowman Baseball Color set that is widely regarded as perhaps the company’s finest effort and certainly one of the most important of the postwar baseball card sets. The offered set is simply stunning in its pristine elegance, entirely third-party slabbed and graded (almost all PSA), and fully 2/3 being PSA 8s, making it easily the nicest example of this prestigious set that we have ever handled. It comes out to 70 percent being PSA 8 or better, counting a couple of cards above PSA 8 from other grading companies. With clean fronts that display a blazing full-color photograph and nothing else, the 2 ½-by-3 ¾-inch cards are routinely praised for the uncluttered presentation and remarkable use of color photography as opposed to the colorized or hand-painted black-and-white photographs that prevailed up to that time. Here’s the breakdown of keys: No. 1 Williams – PSA 7, 3 Jethroe – PSA 7, 9 Rizzuto – PSA 7, 10 Ashburn – PSA 8, 32 Musial – PSA 7, 33 Reese – PSA 7, 36 Minoso – PSA 8, 40 Doby – PSA 7, 44 Berra/Bauer/Mantle – PSA 7, 46 Campanella – PRO 10, 50 – GAI 8, 51 Irvin – PSA 8, 55 Durocher – PSA 7, 57 Boudreau – PSA 8, 59 Mantle – PRO 7.5 (sold "as is"), 61 Kell – PSA 8, 62 Kluszewski – PSA 8, 64 – SGC 84, 65 Roberts – PSA 7, 67 – BVG 8, 70 – PRO 9.5, 75 – BVG 8.5, 78 Furillo – PSA 7, 80 Kiner – PSA 8, 92 Hodges – PSA 7, 93 Martin/Rizzuto – GAI 8, 97 Mathews – PSA 7, 99 Spahn – PSA 8, 101 Schoendienst – PSA 8, 107 – SGC 88, 114 Feller – PSA 6, 117 Snider – BVG 8 (ignore the PSA Registry on this one), 118 Martin – PSA 7, 120 – SCA 7, 121 Berra – PSA 7, 139 - GAI 8, 143 Lopez – PSA 6, 153 Ford – PSA 8 o/c, 156 GAI 7 and 160 – PSA 6. It’s very difficult to imagine finding this treasured, iconic complete set in better overall condition. The breakdown is as follows, with 147 graded by PSA and 13 graded by other grading companies: PSA 8 (95) - 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10 Ashburn, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18 Fox, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 34, 35, 36 Minoso, 37, 38, 39, 41, 42, 43, 45, 47, 49, 51 Irvin, 52, 53, 54, 56, 57 Boudreau, 58, 60, 61 Kell, 62 Kluszewski, 63, 66, 68, 69, 72, 74, 76, 77, 80 Kiner, 81 Slaughter, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 91, 94, 95, 96, 99 Spahn, 100, 101 Schoendienst, 103, 105, 106, 108, 109 110, 111, 122, 123, 124, 130 (OC), 133 (OC), 138, 144, 145, 147, 149, 151, 152 and 153 Ford (OC); PSA 7 (44) - 1, 3, 9 Rizzuto, 32 Musial, 33 Reese, 7 Doby, 44 Berra/Bauer/Mantle, 48, 55 Durocher, 65 Roberts, 71, 73, 78 79, 90, 92 Hodges, 97 Mathews, 98, 102, 112, 113, 115, 116, 118 Martin, 119, 121 Berra, 125, 126, 127, 128, 131, 134, 135, 136, 137, 140, 141, 142, 146 Wynn, 148, 150, 155, 157 and 159; PSA 6 (7) - 114 Feller, 129, 132, 143, 154, 158 and 160; and PSA 5 (1) - 104. Other graded singles include: SGC (2) - 64 SGC 7 and 107 SGC 8; BGS (3) - 67 BVG 8, 75 BVG 8.5 and 117 Snider BVG 8; GAI (4) - 50 GAI 8, 93 Martin/Rizzuto GAI 8, 139 GAI 8 and 156 GAI 7; PRO (3) - 46 Campanella PRO 10, 59 Mantle PRO 7.5 and 70 PRO 9.5; and CSA (1) - 120 CSA 7.