When kids picked up packs of the 1955 Bowman football issue, they probably didn’t realize it would be the last original sports card product the company would ever release. Bowman had lost the ongoing battle with Topps, which shrewdly recognized the value of the product as youngsters born in the years after World War II became elementary and middle school kids with spare change and parents sometimes willing to make sure they had what they wanted. Starting in ’56, Topps would begin making NFL trading cards and with the exception of a few years in the 1960s when Philadelphia Gum won the league license, they have continued to do so. This week, we’re offering a great group of cards from the popular 1955 Bowman football set, some of which are among the best examples known in the hobby. We’ve listed 19 cards on eBay, most of which are PSA 8 or 9. There’s a George Blanda, graded PSA 8, a Royce Womble that is one of only six PSA 9’s ever graded and a PSA 9 Jim Dooley with a population of 10. Roughly half of the cards we have for sale are from the second series, which is slightly harder to locate than the first. All 19 are sharp-looking cards that we expect graded card collectors or those who simply want some high quality vintage cards will chase after. With just 12 teams in the NFL, the 160-card ’55 Bowman set offers a nice selection of players from the era. The backs include a vertically printed bio of the player and a small collection of statistics. Football cards, even those as nice as these, remain very underrated and represent a nice opportunity to start or add to a collection of high grade examples at a very affordable price point.
