Bowman was one of the earliest post-war producers of baseball gum cards. However, after a run of sets issued from 1948 through 1955, the company packed it in. Bowman competed heavily with Topps once the latter began producing baseball cards. After a brief battle, Topps ultimately bought Bowman out. Rather than operate Bowman as a separate entity, Topps ended the production … [Read more...]
2019 Bowman Baseball Info, Checklist, Most Watched eBay Auctions
After hibernating from 1956-1988, the Bowman brand made its return just in time for the chaos that was the late 80s and early 90s baseball card market. Has it really been 30 years? 2019 Bowman Baseball marks the anniversary with some throwback cards and even some buyback autographs of guys who appeared on that oversized 1989 set. Scheduled for … [Read more...]
1989 Was A Revolutionary Year In Baseball Cards
Looking back, 1988 was a relatively dull year for baseball cards. Among the junkiest of the junk wax era, not much has significant value from that time period. Sure, there are some notable things from 1988, such as the traded/update sets. But in general, there's a lot of low-value stuff from 1988. 1989 has a lot of low-dollar stuff, too. But (and with all due respect to the … [Read more...]
Bowman Draft 2014 Hobby Box Review
Who would have known when Topps brought back the Bowman brand in 1989 what the evolution of that name would become. In 1989, Bowman was always positioning itself as the leading source for rookie and prospect cards. There were cards of veteran players then, but tons of new players, many of which were unknown to baseball fans. If you did not read Baseball America you would not … [Read more...]
2014 Bowman Platinum Box Break/Review
After Topps won the 1950's card war, the Bowman name lay dormant for more than 30 years until Topps resurrected the name with a successful 1989 release based on the large-sized 1953-55 cards. That set helped to explode sales of eight-pocket sheets as collectors loved the great photos and the wide range of rookies and prospects. Some of the rookies turned out to have great … [Read more...]
Jose Abreu Autographs Will Be Part of 2014 Bowman Baseball
From 1951-55, Topps and Bowman engaged in a heated rivalry for control of the burgeoning sports card market that saw the development of some of the era's most popular sets. As the sports card collecting market blossomed in the 1980s, Topps re-launched the still familiar Bowman brand in 1989. Over the years that followed, Bowman evolved to become what Topps calls 'prospector's … [Read more...]
2013 Platinum Baseball Box Break…and a Little Bowman History
by Rich Klein The Bowman name has certainly evolved since the original iteration in the post-war era. In those days, Bowman and Topps had their gum card wars which some collectors still consider the golden age of cards. While personally I do not like every one of those sets issues in that time frame (1954 Bowman comes to mind for me) others are all-time classics (1952 Topps, … [Read more...]