1950 Bowman Signed Cards

Bowman's first full color set features many tough early autographs including Roy Campanella, Jackie Robinson, Casey Stengel and Gil Hodges. Notable among the other tough signatures are Howard Fox (d. 1955), George Stirnweiss (d. 1958), Vernon Bickford (d. 1960) and Fred Hutchinson (d. 1964). The uncluttered design of the 1950 Bowman - including the absence of a facsimile signature - make this set especially appealing in signed form. 

1951 Bowman Signed Cards

Bowman's 1951 set is an autograph collector favorite due to the appearance of two of the game's all-time greats, Mickey Mantle and Willie Mays. Both players significantly altered their signatures over the years, making vintage examples much more easily recognizable than the more modern ones. In addition to the usual early fifties rarities, the 1951 Bowman features an appearance by coaches Billy Meyer (d. 1957) and Steve O' Neill (d. 1962) - adding significantly to the difficulty factor. Bowman also expanded its set size to 324 cards in 1951, making this a challenging effort to complete.

1952 Bowman Signed Cards

Bowman reduced its card size back to 252 in 1952 but little else was changed in this colorful classic. The set features a first ever facsimile autograph - making comparisons for the astute signed card collector much easier. Campanella, Stengel and Hodges are still on board - as are atractive examples of Ted Williams, Mickey Mantle, and Stan Musial. Other notable difficult pieces are Bickford, Fox, Meyer, Hutchinson, Dressen, Stephens and Hank Thompson.

1953 Bowman B/W Signed Cards

Bowman's death battle with Topps was evident in 1953, when the company's lack of funds forced it to revert to Black and White photos for the final 64 card series. In all other aspects, the set is identical to the color variety. Despite its smaller size, the 1953 Bowman B&W set is still very difficult to complete in signed form, anchored by the Old Professor Casey Stengel. Other notable difficult signatures include Hal Bevan (d. 1968), Jim Konstanty (d. 1976) and Bucky Harris (d. 1977).

1953 Bowman Color Signed Cards

The 1953 Bowman color baseball set marked a landmark for 50's baseball sets. These beauties feature pure color photography that puts you 'right in the ballpark' from days gone-by and is consistently voted as one of the most popular sets in the Hobby. Difficult players such as Campanella and Hodges highlight the set. Other notables include Herm Wehmeier (d. 1973), Luke Easter, Clint Courtney (d. 1975) and Howie Fox. Also appearing for the first time was Karl Drews, who passed away in 1963. The 1953 Bowman set also introduced multi-player cards for the first time - multi-signature examples of the Martin/Rizzuto and Mantle/Berra/Bauer pieces are highly prized.

1954 Bowman Signed Cards

Bowman's design team made a 180 degree change in 1954 - from the sharp color photos and action shots of 1953, the photos in the 1954 set appear washed-out and static. Once again the set presents a difficult challenge for the signed card collector. Gil Hodges is one of the keys. The set also marks the first Bowman appearance of difficult signature Junior Gilliam (d. 1978), along with others such as Ellis Kinder (d. 1968), Danny O' Connell (d. 1969), and Hank Thompson (d. 1969). Card collectors will note that Ted Williams makes an appearance - apparently without his permission - on card 67, which pulled from distribution and is difficult to find in any grade, especially signed. 

1955 Bowman Signed Cards

Color television was becoming vogue when Bowman issued its final baseball set after an eight year run. The classic wood grained television motif - complete with a "Color TV" tag - puts the games greats into their proper perspectives of the time, that is, prior to the early fifties, baseball seemed designed for radio. For the signed card collector, the 1955 Bowman set features the first appearance of difficult signatures Dave Jolly (d. 1963), Don Hoak (d. 1969) and Eddie Waitkus (d. 1972). However, the real challenge here is the subset of 31 umpire cards. The Hall of Famers in that group - Barlick, Conlan, et al - are attainable but how many kids of the day were waiting outside the ballpark gates for Dusty Boggess or Frank Umont to sign their bubble gum cards.

Still suffering from its lock out of the card market at the hands of Topps, Fleer unveiled a series of sets in 1960 and 1961 featuring the all-time greats of baseball's golden age. While the sets failed to generate much excitement among the game's youthful fans, the focus on mid-level players from the 20s and 30s provided autograph seekers of the day a popular vehicle for gathering signatures.

Fleer followed up its 80 card All Time Greats set in 1961 with a much larger and diverse 154 card set in 1961. While the previous effort focused nearly solely on Hall of Famers, the 1961 Fleer set stretched the definition of Baseball Greats to include the likes of Bibb Falk, Chick Galloway, Oscar Melillo, and Joe Hauser. Despite a few puzzlers, the set is also replete with the greats of the game - including a large selection of star players and Hall of Famers. Many of the players lived well into the 60s, creating a possible 96 autograph subjects, resulting in the penultimate pre-war autographed trading card set for fans and collectors alike.

Baseball cards and bubble gum just seem to go together. In 1963, Fleer tried to circumvent Topp's monopoly on this combination by offering its baseball cards with a cookie! Stopped by a lawsuit from Topps after only 66 cards, the 1963 Fleer set presents a challenge to the signed card collector simply because the cards themselves were in much shorter supply that the standard Topps cards of the era. Though relatively recent in vintage, the 1963 Fleer set contains a highly prized autographed piece - that of Roberto Clemente. Other notable difficult cards from the set include Dick Farrell (d. 1977), Ken Boyer (d. 1982), Dick Howser (d. 1987) and Smoky Burgess (d. 1991).