• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Home
  • About Us
    • Contact Us
    • Get Sports Collectors Daily via EMail
    • Advertise with SC Daily
    • Write for Sports Collectors Daily
    • Write About Your Sports Collection
    • Where Can I Sell My Baseball Cards?
  • Hot on eBay
    • Most Watched Graded Rookies
    • Most Watched PSA 10 Cards
    • Most Watched BGS, BVG Cards
    • Most Watched SGC Cards
    • Most Watched CSG,CGC Cards
    • Most Watched Baseball Cards
      • Most Watched 2023 Baseball Cards
      • Most Watched 2022 Baseball Rookie Cards
      • Bowman Chrome Cards
      • Ronald Acuna Jr. Cards
      • Shohei Ohtani Cards
      • Mike Trout Cards
      • Fernando Tatis Jr. Cards
      • Babe Ruth Cards
      • Hank Aaron Cards
      • Jackie Robinson Cards:
      • Mickey Mantle Cards
      • Willie Mays Cards
      • Vintage Baseball Card Sets
      • T206 Cards
    • Most Watched Basketball
      • Top 100 Most Watched Basketball Rookie Cards
      • 100 Hottest 2022-23 NBA Rookie Cards
      • 100 Hottest 2021-22 NBA Rookie Cards
      • 100 Hottest 2020-21 NBA Rookie Cards
      • 100 Hottest 2019-20 NBA Rookie Cards
        • Zion Williamson Rookie Cards
        • Ja Morant Rookie Cards
      • Michael Jordan Cards
      • Kobe Bryant Cards
      • LeBron James Rookie Cards
      • Nikola Jokic Rookie Cards
      • Giannis Antetokounmpo Cards
      • Luka Doncic Rookie Cards
      • Prizm Basketball Cards
      • Panini National Treasures
    • Most Watched Football Cards
      • Most Watched NFL Rookie Cards
      • 2022 NFL Rookie Cards
        • Brock Purdy Rookie Cards
      • 2021 NFL Rookie Cards
      • 2020 NFL Rookie Cards
        • Joe Burrow Rookie Cards
        • Justin Herbert Rookie Cards
        • Jalen Hurts Rookie Cards
      • Josh Allen Rookie Cards
      • Patrick Mahomes Rookie Cards
      • Tom Brady Cards
    • Most Watched Hockey Cards
      • Top 100 Most Watched Hockey Rookie Cards
      • Most Watched 2021-22 NHL Rookie Cards
      • Most Watched 2020-21 Rookie Cards
      • Most Watched 2019-20 Rookie Cards
      • Connor McDavid Cards
      • Wayne Gretzky Cards
      • Bobby Orr Cards
    • Most Watched Soccer Cards
    • Most Watched UFC Cards
    • Most Watched Golf Cards
    • Most Watched 1 of 1 Cards
    • Most Watched Racing Cards
    • Top Sports Card Dealers on eBay
    • Most Watched Memorabilia
      • Vintage Sports Memorabilia
    • Vintage Sports Tickets, Stubs
    • Most Watched Autographs
  • Ending Soon on Ebay
    • Baseball Cards
    • Basketball Cards
    • Football Cards
    • Hockey Cards
    • Soccer Cards
    • Golf Cards
    • UFC Cards
  • Top - Ad

Sports Collectors Daily

Sports Collectors Daily

Sports collecting news - Sports cards and sports memorabilia industry news.

When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network. 

  • Sports Memorabilia News
  • Sports Card News
    • Modern Sports Card News
      • New Sports Card Release Calendar
      • Shop Talk
    • Vintage Sports Card News
      • Affordable Vintage Cards, Collectibles
      • Old Baseball Card Sets
      • Old Basketball Card Sets
      • Old Football Card Sets
      • Old Hockey Card Sets
      • Vintage Pack Facts
  • Business/Industry News
    • Sports Memorabilia Business News
    • Sports Memorabilia Industry News
  • Around The Hobby
    • Editor’s Blog
    • David Cycleback’s Identification and Authentication Advice
  • Popular Stories
  • Sell Your Cards
You are here: Home / Sports Card News / Vintage Sports Card News / 1954 Bowman Baseball Had Mantle, Controversy

1954 Bowman Baseball Had Mantle, Controversy

February 16, 2022 By Larry Pauley

FordYou can find it right in-between “bold reaction” and “last ditch effort.”

The “it” is the 1954 Bowman Baseball card set.

Much has been written about the battles between the upstart company Topps and the established baseball card manufacturers at Bowman in the early 1950s. The records clearly show that the Bowman Gum Co. had a significant loss of market share in 1952 and again in 1953, but it was not from a lack of trying to compete. Indeed, the bold color photography and large card size of the Bowman set in 1953 is easily seen as a reaction to the famed 1952 Topps set (which was many times larger than the Bowman cards of 1948-1952). The color set of ’53 was certainly a huge change for the veteran gum company, but it was clearly a reaction and the Topps company continued to innovate.

Production of 1954 Bowman Baseball Cards

The color photography process Bowman used in 1953 proved to be too expensive to repeat. In fact, production costs were part of the reason behind what seems to have been a reduction in the 1953 Bowman set in mid-issue. No doubt there were several factors working all at once, but the 1954 Bowman baseball cards demonstrated a clear attempt to continue using some of the “new” elements while cutting costs. Sadly, this resulted in a somewhat less-than-stellar issue when compared to the bold color of the year before or the fresh-looking Topps designs. Sales results from that season would indicate the kids who spent pennies and nickels for the packs of cards felt that way, at the least.

Losing the Head-to-Head Battle

KinerIt is not that 1954 Bowman is horrible.  It isn’t.  But they just seem lifeless when compared to the 1954 Topps design that featured a great head shot of each player and a smaller action photo also on the front. Bowman again used a painted portrait for the player’s image and kept the larger-sized card (approximately 2 1/2″ by 3 3/4″) they adopted in 1953. That portrait made up the front of the card inside of a white border, and a small pastel-colored box in a lower corner contained the player’s signature (or block print of the name, for certain second-series cards).

Nuts and Bolts

1954 Bowman box

The set was distributed in two separate series: card numbers 1-128 in the first series and 129-224 in the second. The pastel box combined with the muted colors of the portraits to the give the cards an older, almost faded, look right out of the pack. When compared to the Topps card of the same year (which also employed paintings, but very bold colors) the difference is startling.

Card backs also feature a startling disparity when the sets are compared. The 1954 Bowman cards feature a muted red and black print. A bat and ball graphic appear on the back, with the card number located inside the ball and the player’s name in the bat. The write-up on the back provides a few vital statistics and a short biography, along with a trivia question that appears along the bottom of the writing. A small box to the right contains the stats, with the trivia question’s answer below it.

In comparison, the 1954 Topps cards featured red, green and black print on a white colored background. In addition to the color use, the Topps cards contained some of the “cartoon” type artwork for which Topps card backs would become well-known. The inks used pops off the card backs for Topps very well, but the grey cardboard that the 1954 Bowman cards were printed on (likely another effort to cut production costs), make the plain card backs dull and dark and might have contributed to the condition problems that seem to plague this set.

Star Exclusives Gave Bowman a Boost

Now, this all seems rather negative, but the 1954 Bowman set does have its bright spots as well. In their attempt to stave off the challenge brought by Topps to the baseball card arena Bowman took the approach (and spent their money) in securing the rights to use the images of the standout players of that day for their cards. Topps did a better job of signing the young rookies to exclusive contracts. In 1954 this included players such as Hank Aaron, Ernie Banks, and Al Kaline. Of course, at that time the idea of “rookie cards” and the mania they would foster were still decades away. The success of Topps came largely due to their focus on designing and producing a more attractive baseball card that had far less printing errors.

But Bowman certainly was ahead in the battle to get the most stars of the game onto their cards. Well-known diamond heroes such as Mickey Mantle, Roy Campanella, Pee Wee Reese and Bob Feller, were under exclusive contract to Bowman for the 1954 season, which kept them from appearing in competitor sets. That, of course, would be Topps.

However, other stars also appear in the Bowman set that were not exclusive to the company. Phil Rizzuto, Eddie Mathews, Willie Mays, Yogi Berra, Duke Snider and Whitey Ford are among the players appearing in both sets. Another superstar, perhaps the superstar of the era, also appears in both sets, but the situation around that little fact is what created the rarest card in the 1954 Bowman set.

The Williams Card and Jimmy Piersall

ted

One of the hobby’s greatest rarities, the 1954 Bowman card #66, Ted Williams, was withdrawn most likely due to contractual issues after it had already been placed into early circulation. Some have put forth the idea that the card was actually stopped due to a broken printer’s die. The contractual problem seems to carry more weight, however (Williams would be the first and the last card in the 1954 Topps set), and Bowman replaced #66 with a card of Red Sox outfielder Jim Piersall (who was already set as card #210 in their set).

Due to the extreme rarity and high cost of the #66 Williams card, the standard 1954 Bowman set is usually considered complete by collectors without the Williams card, when it contains both the #66 and #210 Jimmy Piersall cards. The Williams remains one of the most popular cards of the decade and among the most sought after post-War vintage cards of all-time.

The change to Piersall in subsequent printings of the ’54 Bowman cards was not the only card that experienced changes during the print run. Along with the variation of card #66, the set contains more than 40 total variations, most involving statistical errors that were later corrected. The cards to which changes were made include:
#12,22,25,26,35,38,41,43,47,53,61,67,80,81,82,85,93,94,99,103,105,124,138,139, 140,145,153,156,174,179,185,212,216 and 217.

Variation cards have differences in statistics, birthplaces, trades, and even answers to the quiz questions on the back. Few of these statistical variations have been given any additional value. However, two cards (#33 Vic Raschi and #163 Dave Philley) had a line added to their backs that mention their trades to different teams, and those cards with the “traded” line are priced higher than those that do not.

The photo Bowman used of Gene Woodling (#209) is a reverse negative, but the error was never corrected.

Other Challenges

Earlier we mentioned that Topps really had the market on rookies in 1954. Indeed, the only notable rookie cards in the Bowman set are those of Harvey Keunn (card #23) and Don Larsen (card #101). Interestingly, not only was 1954 Don Larsen’s first year on a baseball card, but it was also his team’s first year in their new city.

1954 was the Orioles’ first season in Baltimore, after playing as the St. Louis Browns since 1901. The move was announced and the new team name and logo had been unveiled earlier, but there were no pictures of any of the Orioles in their new uniforms by the time Bowman needed to go to press. So, Bowman’s art department had to make do with their best guess, which resulted in having the Oriole looking the wrong way on some caps. Of course, this was likely of little consequence to those who were purchasing the seven-card nickel packs and one-card penny packs. The penny packs were issued 120 to a box while the nickel packs were issued 24 to a box.

Speaking of specific teams like Baltimore, the 1954 Bowman cards used a unique numbering system that rotated between all sixteen teams, so each team had a regular numbering pattern. For example, the Yankees had card 1, 17, 33, 49, etc. The Red Sox followed with cards 2, 18, 34, 50 and so on. Each team had 14 cards (unless you count both #66 cards, which gives 15 for the Red Sox).There is a 16 card rotation as there were 8 teams in each league at that time. Such a clear team rotation arrangement is not be seen in another vintage set.

A High-Grade Challenge

Even though Topps would eventually win the bubble gum card war, the 1954 Bowman cards do command a measure of respect due to their vintage nature and the place they hold in collecting history. And their construction with the dark gray, cheaper card stock has also lent a hand in making this set a difficult one to collect in higher grade. 

As of now, only 2,427 of the nearly 164,000 1954 Bowman baseball cards submitted to PSA have been rated 9 or 10.

In 1955 Bowman would give their “last ditch” effort with the famed television set before capitulating to Topps. But, in 1954 they were still hoping to hold out by using the large card format and several stars on their cards. It did not happen for Bowman in the way they surely hoped, but their efforts provide an interesting look into that time of transition for baseball cards.

See 1954 Bowman Baseball on eBay here.

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Pinterest
  • Reddit
  • Facebook Messenger

Related Stories:

Mickey Mantle 1954 Red HeartWoof! Decades Later, Red Heart Baseball Card Set Still Barking A Look at the Evolution of Early Bowman Baseball Cards Vintage Pack Facts: 1954 Bowman Baseball Vintage Set Break of the Week: 1956 Topps Andy Pafko 1952 Topps1952 Topps Pafko Has Special Status Whos Who 100 YearsA Summer Baseball and Collectors Reading List Topps 1954 uncut sheet1954 Topps Baseball Set Offers Ted x 2; Aaron’s Debut Ted Williams and Desperation May Have Stacked Deck in Topps’ Favor 60 Years Ago

About Larry Pauley

Larry Pauley began collecting in the 1960's, opened his first card shop in the KC area during the late 1980's, and today, when not combing flea markets for the next “find,” he runs Baseballia, a website at baseballia.com. You can reach him at [email protected].

Filed Under: Old Baseball Card Sets, Popular Stories, Sports Card News, Vintage Sports Card News Tagged With: 1950s baseball cards, 1954 Bowman, 1954 Bowman Ted Williams, 1954 Topps, baseball card wars

Primary Sidebar

Our articles may contain affiliate links. When you click on links to merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network. 

Shop Sports Cards on Ebay
  • Football
  • Basketball
  • Baseball
  • Hockey

High End Cards and Memorabilia

  • BBCE Authenticated Boxes, Packs opens in a new window
  • Graded pre-War Card eBay Auctions
  • PWCC Premier Auction
  • PWCC Fixed Price Marketplace
  • Graded Rookie Cards on eBay opens in a new window
  • Authenticated Photos on eBay opens in a new window
  • Graded Tickets & Stubs opens in a new window

Bargain Corner

  • Michael Jordan cards $5 and less opens in a new window
  • Kobe Bryant cards $5 and less opens in a new window
  • Mickey Mantle Cards Under $150 opens in a new window
  • Graded T206 Cards Under $150 opens in a new window
  • Pre-War Cards Under $100 opens in a new window
  • Pre-1980 Graded Baseball Cards $10 and Less opens in a new window
  • Pre-1980 Graded Football Cards $10 and Less opens in a new window
  • Vintage Graded Basketball Cards $25 and less opens in a new window
  • Vintage Graded Hockey Cards $10 and Less opens in a new window
  • Complete Sets $20 and Less opens in a new window
  • Baseball Hall of Famers for $5 or Less opens in a new window
  • Football Hall of Famers for $5 or Less opens in a new window
  • Hobby Boxes Under $30 opens in a new window
  • Pre-1986 Rookie Cards Under $1 opens in a new window
  • Buy Boxes Directly from Topps opens in a new window

RSS Auction Report

  • Consignments Wanted – Meet Huggins & Scott at the Philly Show This Weekend
  • Heritage Auctions Icons Photography Auction Ends October 12, 2023
  • Steve Novella Offers PSA Baseball, Football & Non-Sport Cards Auction Ending Sept. 28, 2023

Footer

Categories

  • Around the Hobby
  • Business/Industry News
    • Sports Memorabilia Business News
    • Sports Memorabilia Industry News
  • David Cycleback's Identification and Authentication Advice
  • Editor's Blog
  • Featured Articles
  • Hobby Shop Talk
  • National Sports Collectors Convention
  • Popular Stories
  • Rich Klein's Ramblings
  • Sports Card News
    • Modern Sports Card News
      • New Sports Card Release Calendar
    • Vintage Sports Card News
      • Old Baseball Card Sets
      • Old Basketball Card Sets
      • Old Football Card Sets
      • Old Hockey Card Sets
      • Vintage Pack Facts
  • Sports Memorabilia News
  • Uncategorized

Sponsor Links

  • Sports Card Forumopens in a new window
  • Buying Vintage Sports Cardsopens in a new window
  • Game Used Jerseysopens in a new window
  • Championship Rings For Saleopens in a new window
  • Vintage Basketball Cardsopens in a new window
  • NBA Signed Itemsopens in a new window
  • Autographed Baseballsopens in a new window
  • NASCAR Autographsopens in a new window
  • Vintage Graded Baseball Cardsopens in a new window
  • Player Picturesopens in a new window
  • Vintage Football Cardsopens in a new window
  • Sports Collectors Storeopens in a new window

Pages

Ending on eBay Soon
  • Baseball Card Auctions on eBay Ending Soon
  • Basketball Card Auctions on eBay Ending Soon
  • Football Card Auctions on eBay Ending Soon
  • Hockey Card Auctions Ending Soon on eBay
  • Vintage Sports Memorabilia on eBay Ending Soon
Top 100 on Ebay
  • Top 100 Most Watched Baseball Rookie Cards on eBay
  • Top 100 Most Watched Basketball Rookie Cards for Sale on eBay
  • Top 100 Most Watched Hockey Rookie Card Auctions
  • Top Authenticated Vintage Unopened Sports Card Boxes, Packs on eBay
Most Watched on eBay
  • 100 Most Watched Graded Rookie Cards for Sale on eBay
  • 100 Most Watched Tom Brady Card Auctions on eBay
  • 50 Hottest Hobby Boxes at Auction on eBay
  • 50 Most Watched Golf Trading Cards on eBay
  • 50 Most Watched Wrestling Trading Cards on eBay
  • 75 Most Watched Bowman Chrome Cards
  • Most Popular Bobbleheads on eBay
  • Most Watched 1/1 Cards on eBay
  • Most Watched Basketball Cards on eBay
  • Most Watched Complete Baseball Card Sets at Auction on eBay
  • Most Watched Football Cards on eBay
  • Most Watched Football Rookie Card Auctions
  • Most Watched Goudey Baseball Cards on eBay
  • Most Watched Hockey Cards on eBay
  • Most Watched Racing Cards on eBay
  • Most Watched Soccer Cards for Sale on eBay
  • Most Watched Sports Autographs on eBay
  • Most Watched Sports Jerseys on eBay
  • Most Watched Unopened Sports Card Boxes, Packs on eBay
  • Most Watched Vintage Sports Memorabilia on eBay
  • Hottest Panini National Treasures Cards on eBay
  • Hottest PSA 10 Cards for Sale on eBay
  • What’s Hot on eBay
Sports Memorabilia
  • Sports Card Bargain Bin
  • Sports Memorabilia Auctions Ending Soon on eBay
About Sports Collectors Daily
  • Advertise with SC Daily
  • Contact Us
  • Get Sports Collectors Daily via EMail
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms and Conditions
Sell Your Cards
  • What’s It Worth
  • Where Can I Sell My Baseball Cards?

Copyright © 2023 SportsCollectorsDaily.com | Web Design by Wickam Groupopens in a new window