Thinking of starting 1948 Bowman and/or 61/62 Fleer Basketball sets. Thoughts? Help

Allen

I have been trying to come up with a new set project. I am not looking to build a PSA set. I like basketball and have never done a set older than 86 Fleer. I think these vintage sets are sweet. They are small sets and I looked on ebay and a lot of the lower cards are cheap. I may have to get rough Mikans or Chamberlains but it would still be sweet to do. Any ever done these or have any singles? Any thoughts?

koby

1961 Fleer cards are very plentiful in high grade. Lookat the registry and you will see how easy this is to build in PSA 8 or better.

1948 Bowman cards are very difficult in high grade but the player selection is horrible. Only Mikan was voted one of the top 50 players.

NickM

1961 Fleer is NOT very plentiful in high grade. A large percentage of all the high grade cards on the registry came from one find, most of which was rapidly PSA graded. If you want to do that set cheaply, consider a mixed SGC-PSA set. There are a lot of SGC 80, 84, and higher cards floating around that would not cross over well to PSA because of centering issues, but that nonetheless look very sharp and can be had for $15 or less apiece.

Nick

aro13

61-62 Fleer is not plentiful in PSA 8. 1948 Bowman is the toughest basketball set to get in high grade. Even the big players on the registry do not have complete sets. You can find quite a few good deals on PSA 6 and lower plus 8 OC cards from the 61-62 set. I seldom see too many 1948 Bowman cards for sale even in the lower grades.
I am one card away on the 61-62 Fleer set and need to upgrade 6 8 OC cards to have a PSA 7 or better set.

Stone193

Allen
I will go with Nick and Aro on this set - I have been working on this set since 1993. Centering is a real issue. Most of my stars are not centered well due to my affordability. My best 61F war story: bought a #46 IA for 30$ from Rotman - psa graded it a 9!! I would love to get more centered cards but everytime I see one, the guy wants a "premium" due to centering. This has been my experience. Having said that, I really like the set a lot. I remember when the Prince of Cards was selling packs and had some full boxes in the early 90's - thought the price was too high - now I think it was too low - different times tho.
Mike

Allen

Like I was saying though, condition is not a huge issue to me. I am not grading them or anything. I think I am going to try the 61-62 Fleer and start with low grade and upgrade as I go. I may also pick up any cheap 48 Bowmans that I see on eBay for cheap. Even if the condition is not the best it would still 2 great sets to have. Thanks for your insight guys.

koby

I don't know what your budget is but I would not settle for low grades for the 1961 Fleer. There are just way too many stronger cards. There was a complete graded set (approx PSA 7) on ebay less than a month ago. There was a complete PSA 7 set sold by SUpereior in its last auction. In both instance, bids were far far below SMR. Superior set sold while the ebay set did not meet reserve.

aro13

koby - I follow the 61-62 Fleer set fairly closely and there are not a lot of cards that sell for under SMR on a regular basis in PSA 7.

koby

1961 Fleer Complete PSA 7 Set in 11/22/03 Superior Auction

SMR $6005

Final price $4830 ( According to the website, the 15% buyers fee has already been added to this figure.)


There was a mixed complete graded set recently that averaged PSA 7 on ebay. It has been over 14 days so I cannot find it now. The reserve was not met but I don't think bidding ever exceeded $4000 on either of the times it was listed.

I think the 1961 Fleer set is great. With RCs of Oscar, Wilt, Elgin, West, etc. this my favorite as far as player selection. However, I do think that purchasing a complete set in PSA 7 would be the way to go if one does not have the money or patience to piece together a set in PSA 8.