Recent Acquisitions: 4 from 1955 Bowman

Collecting in the late 80s and early 90s, I didn't have much access to so many cards, it turns out.  If my local card shops didn't have any old Bowman cards, then I didn't see any old Bowman cards, mainly.  Maybe somewhere in a big show a vendor might have a binder of them, but the shows were so crowded and most vendors had more ordinary stuff.  But in the age of the internet, if I want a few old Bowman cards, then I can get them.  And so these 4 cards from the 1955 Bowman set, the classic "Color TV" set, arrived in my Black Friday COMC box.

Jim Gilliam.

I'm toying with the idea of collecting the whole set.  Right now, I own 7 of the cards, and the set totals 320.  So, if I pick up one more card, then I have 2.5%.  I'm not sure if I'll follow through, but it seems like most of the cards don't cost that much (I'm not insisting on condition, but I don't want them too beat up), and then there are a few very expensive ones (Aaron, Banks, Mantle, Mays seem to be the most expensive).  It looks like there's a premium for the umpires, too.  So, I don't know, but the set really seems to capture something about the 1950s to me.

One of the cards I picked out among these four is James "Junior" Gilliam, as the card calls him, or Jim Gilliam, according to other sources.  Gilliam played entirely for the Dodgers, winning four World Series in their 50s-60s heyday.  He was the Rookie of the Year in 1953, and the Dodgers retired his number.  I've been trying to add a few cards of the Brooklyn Dodgers, and he's a natural one to pick up.

Vern Law.

Vern Law played his whole career with the Pirates, and was part of the 1960 World Series winning team.  He won the Cy Young that year, going 20-9 with a 3.08 ERA.  I'm trying to pick up cards to commemorate the great Bucs teams of the 60s and 70s, and so this one of Law goes towards that effort.

Smoky Burgess.

Curt Simmons.

Then we have these two of catcher Smoky Burgess and pitcher Curt Simmons of the Phillies.  Another goal in my collecting is to expand my holdings of the Whiz Kids, in honor of my late father, who grew up watching those guys.  Simmons was on the 1950 pennant winner; Burgess wasn't in the majors that year, and he joined the Phils in 1952.  It's entirely possible that Dad might have seen them both play at the old Connie Mack Stadium when he was a kid.

The other 3 cards I own from the set are a PSA-graded Don Newcombe that I posted before, and two of the umpires which I just bought and are in my COMC account.  I'll post them whenever they arrive.  Thanks for reading!