56 Down--1955 Bowman Baseball Completed in PSA 8 or Better
Davalillo
Posts: 1,846 ✭✭
Sometimes I can reasonably predict what set I will finish next. Sometimes a completion opportunity can come completely out of the blue. Such was the case in the completion of my 56th set in PSA 8 or better--1955 Bowman Baseball.
With 28 sets within 7 cards of completion in PSA 8 or better, it could have been expected that my next set completion would have come from one of those. Although I had been making steady progress in the 1955 Bowman set, at year-end 2006 I still needed 17 cards in PSA 8 or better and that given that one of these was the most difficuly card from a mainstream baseball set in the postwar era(the ultratough pop 3 Frank Lary), I had not considered the 1955 Bowman set a high probability for completion.
Out of the blue came an e-mail from one of my best collecting buds--Marc Schoenen--who told me he was selling his top-ranked(8.54 set rating) 1955 Bowman set and offered me 11 of the 17 cards I needed in psa 8 or 9. Within a couple of weeks, after failing to negotiate a deal with Don Spence, Marc e-mailed me back and offered to sell me the other 6 I needed. All cards were sold to me at a very fair price.
Marc has provided me with with close to half of the cards in the set. My history with the set is I bought the set at a Sotheby's auction in the 1990s for about $3,000. The set was filled with o/c cards and some were recolored but the Aaron graded a psa 9(!). The value of just one card more than made it a good buy. Marc sold me about 100 or so cards at a Ft. Washington show a few years back. He is focusing now on pre-war and perhaps improving his already top-ranked Mike Schmidt collection. Thanks again Marc.
My set rating moves up to 8.03, second behind the mighty Don Spence who is up there at 8.49. I will let the set rest at this level.
My goal continues to be 100 sets complete in psa 8 or better with an interim goal of 70 sets complete by year-end 2007.
Completed sets in PSA 8 or better are as follows:
BASEBALL(28):
1936 S&S
1948 Bowman
1951 Topps Red Back
1954 Red Heart
1954 Topps
1955 Bowman
1956 Topps
1957 Topps
1959 Fleer
1960 Fleer
1960 Topps
1961 Golden Press
1961 Nu-Card Scoops
1961 Topps
1961-62 Fleer
1963 Fleer
1963 Topps
1964 Topps
1964 Topps Giants
1965 Topps
1966 Topps
1967 Topps
1968 Topps
1969 Topps Super
1970 Kelloggs
1970 Milton Bradley
1970 Rold Gold
1970 Topps Super
FOOTBALL(17):
1950 Bowman
1951 Bowman
1954 Bowman
1955 Topps All-America
1958 Topps
1959 Topps
1960 Mayrose Franks
1960 Topps
1961 Nu-Card Scoops
1961 Topps
1962 Kahn's Weiners
1963 Fleer
1963 Stancraft Playing Cards
1964 Philadelphia
1967 Topps
1969 Topps 4-in-1
1976 Wonder Bread
BASKETBALL(6):
1848 Bowman
1961 Fleer
1969-70 Topps
1970-71 Topps
1972 Icee Bear
1976-77 Topps
HOCKEY(3):
1962-63 Parkhurst
1962-63 Topps
1963-64 Parkhurst
MULTI-SPORT(2):
1933 Goudey Sport Kings
1954 Sport Oddities
With 28 sets within 7 cards of completion in PSA 8 or better, it could have been expected that my next set completion would have come from one of those. Although I had been making steady progress in the 1955 Bowman set, at year-end 2006 I still needed 17 cards in PSA 8 or better and that given that one of these was the most difficuly card from a mainstream baseball set in the postwar era(the ultratough pop 3 Frank Lary), I had not considered the 1955 Bowman set a high probability for completion.
Out of the blue came an e-mail from one of my best collecting buds--Marc Schoenen--who told me he was selling his top-ranked(8.54 set rating) 1955 Bowman set and offered me 11 of the 17 cards I needed in psa 8 or 9. Within a couple of weeks, after failing to negotiate a deal with Don Spence, Marc e-mailed me back and offered to sell me the other 6 I needed. All cards were sold to me at a very fair price.
Marc has provided me with with close to half of the cards in the set. My history with the set is I bought the set at a Sotheby's auction in the 1990s for about $3,000. The set was filled with o/c cards and some were recolored but the Aaron graded a psa 9(!). The value of just one card more than made it a good buy. Marc sold me about 100 or so cards at a Ft. Washington show a few years back. He is focusing now on pre-war and perhaps improving his already top-ranked Mike Schmidt collection. Thanks again Marc.
My set rating moves up to 8.03, second behind the mighty Don Spence who is up there at 8.49. I will let the set rest at this level.
My goal continues to be 100 sets complete in psa 8 or better with an interim goal of 70 sets complete by year-end 2007.
Completed sets in PSA 8 or better are as follows:
BASEBALL(28):
1936 S&S
1948 Bowman
1951 Topps Red Back
1954 Red Heart
1954 Topps
1955 Bowman
1956 Topps
1957 Topps
1959 Fleer
1960 Fleer
1960 Topps
1961 Golden Press
1961 Nu-Card Scoops
1961 Topps
1961-62 Fleer
1963 Fleer
1963 Topps
1964 Topps
1964 Topps Giants
1965 Topps
1966 Topps
1967 Topps
1968 Topps
1969 Topps Super
1970 Kelloggs
1970 Milton Bradley
1970 Rold Gold
1970 Topps Super
FOOTBALL(17):
1950 Bowman
1951 Bowman
1954 Bowman
1955 Topps All-America
1958 Topps
1959 Topps
1960 Mayrose Franks
1960 Topps
1961 Nu-Card Scoops
1961 Topps
1962 Kahn's Weiners
1963 Fleer
1963 Stancraft Playing Cards
1964 Philadelphia
1967 Topps
1969 Topps 4-in-1
1976 Wonder Bread
BASKETBALL(6):
1848 Bowman
1961 Fleer
1969-70 Topps
1970-71 Topps
1972 Icee Bear
1976-77 Topps
HOCKEY(3):
1962-63 Parkhurst
1962-63 Topps
1963-64 Parkhurst
MULTI-SPORT(2):
1933 Goudey Sport Kings
1954 Sport Oddities
0
Comments
Seeking primarily PSA graded pre-war "type" cards
My PSA Registry Sets
34 Goudey, 75 Topps Mini, Hall of Fame Complete Set, 1985 Topps Tiffany, Hall of Fame Players Complete Set
Of the ones I have completed,
1)1933 Goudey Sport Kings
2)1957 Topps Baseball
3)1956 Topps Baseball
Of ones I am working on and hope to complete,
1_1952 Topps
2) 1933 Goudey
3) 1955 Topps
But in reality I love em all--its like asking which of you children you love the most.
Jim
Seriously, the number of vintage sets in 8.0 or better, is probably even more amazing, congrats on another beauty.
2drink;
As you indicate, I do have a number os sets graded 8.0 or better where every card is not graded 8--somme of these cards I need in 8 are pretty tough.
Jim
Regards,
Greg M.
References:
Onlychild, Ahmanfan, fabfrank, wufdude, jradke, Reese, Jasp, thenavarro
E-Bay id: greg_n_meg
Congrats again. I thought there was a chance you would finish this set when I heard Marc was breaking his set up. Great job once again and happy hunting on the tough ones. they eventually will show up
Dave
Greg,
I will keep an eye out for that Buoniconti card--amazing how difficult it is.
Stump,
Always great to hear from you--maybe we can get together in Lansing this year in my travels or perhaps at the Cleveland National.
Jim
http://sportsfansnews.com/author/andy-fischer/
Steve
Just let me know when you are arriving in Michigan and I will try to rearrange my schedule. Also I beleive I will be going to Clevland this year so I will email sometine before.
Dave
What a great set to finally finish. This set is one of the prettiest sets in high grade. Congrats!
Shane
You are now the only person in the hobby to have a complete 1955 Bowman baseball set in PSA 8 or higher condition. A truly extraordinary accomplishment. The breadth of your collection allows you to prioritize and monetize in an opportunistic fashion, all while building a broad run of cards in top condition. I've always thought that 1955 Bowman was one of those sets that truly looked sharp and enticing when you had pack-fresh examples that were in focus without border chips. But the smallest amount of wear on the dark wood-grain borders could quickly make a card look shabby.
My best wishes on your quest to 100 -- I'm very happy that I was able to help you out (again) on this set, as well as the many other 1955 Bowman collectors that I've recently been seeling/auctioning to, including Howard Goodman, Brian Igoe, Larry Mayer, Ryan Addison, John Martines and others.
Cheers-
~ms
Are you sad now that you busted the set? What set are you going to concentrate now on?
Shane
<< <i>Marc-
Are you sad now that you busted the set? What set are you going to concentrate now on?
Shane >>
Shane -- I'm pretty happy, actually. I feel 'free', so to speak. There was little more I could do with the set to increase my enjoyment with it, and after 8 years of building it, it was time to break free. I'm not sure if I will concentrate on other sets, per se. I'm building a pretty extensive collection of pre-war Phillies cards, but that spans many sets and collecting genres. I'm sure I'll pick up another set someday -- but I'm not sure if it is one I will choose in 2007, or if it one that can reasonably even be completed. But maybe I'll just do a type set, or something else. Who knows? I've got some ideas -- but nothing is solidified as of yet.
~ms
SL