1952 marks an important year in the evolution of baseball cards.  The 252 card 1952 Bowman Baseball Card Set is significantly overshadowed by the 1952 Topps cards.  The 1952 Bowman Baseball Card Set is what I call the “Forgotten Set” and is the last of the small cards sets.  If evolution favors “the survival of the fittest”, the small baseball card was driven to extinction due to the innovations introduced in the 1952 Topps Baseball Card Set.  As if the inferior appearance of the cards was not enough of a competitive disadvantage, the only 1952 Bowman Rookies of note are Gil McDougald, Minnie Minoso and Lew Burdette. 

Dean is one of the few humans alive that actually prefers the 1952 Bowman Baseball Card Set to the 1952 Topps Baseball Card Set!  The 1952 Bowman has some very attractive cards and is loaded with stars such as #1 Yogi Berra, #101 Mickey Mantle, #196 Stan Musial and #218 Willie Mays.  The 1952 Bowman cards are still very affordable and the set can be completed by the average collector and had more of the cards eariler in my collecting career. The 1952 Bowman Baseball Card Set can be purchased for about a tenth of the price of the 1952 Topps Set and is a true bargain.