1950 Wild West

Wild West was released by Bowman in 1950. The series was issued in 36 card groups, each group containing eight cards from series A and four cards each from series B through H. The staggered distribution accounts for supply scarcities as certain cards were printed in smaller quanties later in the run. The set features gorgeous color artwork featuring Wild West staples such as the Gold Rush, Battling the Indians, and an unusal subset featuring Western Hollywood movie actors.

1950 Bring Em Back

Topps issued this 100 card set promoting the adventures of famous trapper Frank Buck. Similar in style to the 1938 set featuring Buck, the cards in the issue were sold in panels of two. The artwork and narrative highlight the exploits of Buck in wild Africa on safari.

Freedom's War may be the most complete military set ever published. Complete at 203 cards, the Topps issue features Korean War scenes, combat training, military insignia, weapons, medals, generals, airplanes, ships, and even a set of Die Cut tanks. The set was distributed in three printings over a two-year period. Cards can be found with tan and grey backs. The die cut tank cards are very scarce - they were eliminated from the final two printings - and book for $75 each in Excellent condition.

Bowman issued this 72 card set in 1950 chronicling mankind's violent past and potential for a violent future. Harking back to its Horror of War roots, the Bowman set features beautiful and violent artwork. The set was issued in two series, with cards 1-36 being somewhat easier to find.

Topps released this 238 card set in 1950 when Hopalong Cassidy was at his height of popularity. The first 186 cards feature 8 different adventure stories which corresponded to the serials that were showing in the movies. The remaining cards were colorized versions of black and white stills from the various features.

1951 Red Menace

 Bowman's Red Menace is one of the most popular and colorful trading card sets in the post War era. The series was a product of the cold war scare-years, which saw communist takeovers in Europe and China. The set features three of the most desirable cards of the genre - 19 Atomic Doom, 23 Ghost City, and 47 War Maker, the latter showing a demonic Mao complete with green complexion. A cold war classic!

1952 Bowman U.S. Presidents

Bowman released this informative 36 card issue in 1952 using its familiar oversized format. The set features US Presidents from Washington to Eisenhower (No. 34) with two additional cards showing Washington's inaugural and the burning of the White House. If the set sounds familiar it should, Topps reissued the set in 1956 after its purchase of Bowman - including its first ever use of the Bowman size. 

1952 Topps Look N See  ^{New Inventory 2009}

Look N' See was marketed by Topps in 1952. The fronts depict 135 famous people in glorious color portraits, and every detail, including the captions, caption frames, and decorative accents blend together in splendid harmony. The backs used the "hidden text" gimmick requiring Topps magic paper to clearly read the clever bios.

1952 Topps Wings   ^{New Inventory}

Topps classic 200 card Wings set features color paintings of planes from the US and around the World. Issued in 1952, Wings cards are incredibly detailed and unique. On the reverse, Topps included a full description of the aircraft along with a quick quiz entitled "Friend or Foe?" testing kids of the day to identify military planes from a simple silhouette. 

Bowman issued this 36 card set featuring NBC's stars of television and radio. Of course given the infancy of the tube, most of these stars crossed over between the mediums - bringing their radio shows to television throughout the late 40s and early 50s. Notable among this tough to find issue are Bob Hope, Groucho Marx, Jimmy Durante and Kate Smith.

Topps issued a follow-up to its She Devil set in 1953 in conjunction with a new theatrical release - Tarvan's Savage Fury. The Savage Fury set used the same wrappers, boxes and 3D glasses as the earlier release. The Savage Fury cards are much more difficult to find that the She Devil - as evidenced by the fact only 10 copies have ever graded as high as PSA 8 and none higher. Tough classic 50s set!  

1953 Bowman Antique Autos

Welcome to the Golden Age of the automobile industry in 3-D. Bowman Gum issued this 48-card Antique Autos set in 1953, depicting colorful drawings of early car models on the front, while the back shows a 3-D picture that can be viewed with 3-D glasses.

1953 Bowman TV - Radio

Bowman issued this beautiful 96 card set of TV and Radio stars in 1953. Improving on its design from the previous year, the 1953 Bowman TV and Radio Stars features beautiful color photos inside a sharp black frame. The set is notable for several short printed cards such as Bob Hope and Groucho Marx.  

Based upon the 1953 movie Tarzan and the She Devil, Topps issued this 60 card oversized set featuring a 3D motif. The wrapper contained the instructions - "Tilt Card Back and Forth and see Tarzan in Action" - of course using the 3D glasses which were included in each pack. The detailed adventures are narrated on the reverse of each card - a popular seldom-seen set from the golden era of story cards.

World on Wheels offers highly-detailed artwork pictures depicting many different types of automobiles, from the earliest types to the up-to-date models of 1955. The set was originally 160 cards and the 20 cards that were added later on are significantly more difficult to find. The final 10 cards - 171 to 180 - may be found with blue backs as well as the standard red obverse.

1954 Bowman Power For Peace

The 96 card Power For Peace set from Bowman features color photographs of the modern weaponry of the time. Each Official Navy Photo is surrounded by a black frame line and white borders, making a very distinctive design.  

1955 Rails and Sails

This 1955 Topps issue features 130 railroad locomotives and 70 types of sailing vessels. The beautiful color and excellent detail work on each artwork picture have made this series extremely popular among collectors. The train designs have white borders on the front, the ship cards are borderless. Cards 81-130 and 151-200 are twice as hard to find as the remainder

1956 U.S. Presidents   ^{New Inventory Jan 2009}

With Topps buyout of Bowman complete, the company reissued its rival's 1952 US President set - the only vintage Topps set to use the familiar Bowman oversized format. Rich in design and steeped in history, the 1956 Topps version of the US President set is popular among collectors.  

1956 Topps Jets

Topps issued this 240 card set of undersized high gloss cards featuring Jet planes in 1956. The card backs feature statistics regarding the planes speed, weight and specifications along with some descriptive text. The last 120 cards in the set are twice as scarce as the first 120 cards. The cards were issued in one-cent and five-cent wax packs.

1956 Davy Crockett  

Orange Back

Davy Crockett was rivaled only by Elvis in 1956 as Disney rolled out the multi-part drama on its new television program. Coonskin caps became part of the pre-adolesent experience and trading cards soon followed. Topps released two series of 80 cards in 1956 featuring photos from the series - an initial series of Orange backed cards followed by the tougher series of Green backs.

 Topps issued this colorful 80 card set of Flags of the World in 1956. The set is interesting today to collectors because it represents a Cold War version of geography which has changed steadily over time.

1956 Topps Adventure

 Topps 1956 Adventure set is a classic example of a Non-Sports set with "cross over" appeal to Sports fans, this due to the inclusion of twenty Boxer greats such as Louis and Marchiano. Besides these popular cards, the Adventure set is actually a beautifully drawn 100 card set featuring all manner of outside activity - from snowshoing to racing.

1956 Topps Elvis

 Topps issued the 1956 66 card Elvis Presley set using its Bubbles Inc alias. The set coincided with Elvis' film debut in Love Me Tender - in fact, the last 20 cards in the set show Elvis in scenes from the film. Always a collectors favorite, the presence of photo "snow" as well as many centering issues, make this set a real challenge in high grade.

1956 Topps Round - Up

 Roundup is a beautifully designed set of 80 cards which deals with the adventures of famous frontiersmen such as Daniel Boone, Wyatt Earp, Jesse James and Geronimo. Each person is featued in a series of 10 multicolor artwork cards. The reverse also features a comic-style, four-cell illustration. Issued in 1956, the Topps set is a true classic.

Topps issued this 60 card set of faux postcards in 1957. The fronts have cartoon style drawings and the reverse features a standard faux postcard - complete with area for the 3 cent stamp.

1957 Space

In 1957 the Russians launched the Sputnik satellite and Topps issued two space themed sets - Space Cards and Target Moon - capturing the National mood over the upcoming space race. The 88 card set features great detailed color drawings and is popular with collectors.

1957 Topps Robin Hood

 The Robin Hood set of 60 cards were issued by Topps in 1957. Based on the film starring Richard Greene (which was later a TV program), the set features color photographs and a caption on the front, and a related portion of the story on the reverse. Like the other pure photo issues, the set is very prone to snow and poor registry on the photos, making high grade examples difficult.

Topps issued this colorful set of 120 Planes in 1957. The set was originally issued with Red Backs, but subsequently Blue Backs were used as well. This resulted in the Red Backs being twice as scarce as the Blue counterparts. The set of 120 was issued in two series of 60 cards each. The higher number cards 61 to 120 are much scarcer than the lower series.  

1958 Topps TV Westerns ^{New Inventory 2009}

 Track down dangerous foes with your favorite TV Westerns characters from Gunsmoke, Paladin, Union Pacific, The Restless Gun and more. Topps issued this 71-card TV Western set in 1958, showing a color snapshot of each character in action on their show and many classic Western slogans they are known for. The name of the show and the card caption appear on both sides of the card.

1958 Zorro ^{New Inventory 2009}

Following up on its success with Davy Crockett and Robin Hood, Topps released an 88 card color set featuring scenes from the movie Zorro. Before he was Lost In Space, Guy Williams starred in the movie and subsequent television version of the classic Zorro. The Topps set features beautiful color photographs but the issue is plagued by both centering and snow making it a rarity in top grade.

Topps issued this set of 88 faux postcards in 1959 in nickel packs. The front featured a one or two line gag set against a woodgrain background. The card reverse was in an actual postcard format. The set was reissued in 1965 as Kooky Plaks. The oversized set is very difficult to find in high grade condition.