Rookies, superstars and Hall of Famers are abundant in the 1952 Bowman Large football set. Notable first-timers include Art Donovan, George Marchetti, Hugh McElhenny and Andy Robustelli. There are many highly coveted short prints (SP) as well including Norm Van Brocklin, Frank Gifford, Charlie Conerly, Gino Marchetti, Steve Van Buren, Kyle Rote and George Connor. The last card in the set, #144 Jim Lansford, was reportedly destroyed in large numbers during production, thus making it one of the hobby’s most sought after football cards.
Offered here is a PSA graded complete set (144) of 1952 Bowman Football Large including the coveted #144 Jim Lansford in PSA EX-MT 6, of which only 16 have ever been graded higher by PSA. Several cards come in the highest grade given by PSA for that card. Ranking 12th on the current PSA set registry, and 10th among complete sets, with a 5.95 weighted GPA, we haven’t seen a 1952 Bowman Large set of this quality come to the market in a long time. Total SMR value is $25,000 (without adjusting for qualifiers). Although, as the current marketplace for vintage cards has shown, recent auction results are consistently beating blue book value, especially for complete sets as classic as '52 Bowman Large. Set breakdown is:
PSA MINT 9 (3): #50 (OC), 84 (OC), 122 (OC)
PSA NM-MT 8 (22): #18 (OC), 28 (OC) (SP) (Rote RC), 30, 44, 52 (OC), 60, 69 (OC), 75, 82 (OC), 85 (OC), 87 (OC), 88 (OC), 98, 110, 113 (OC), 115, 121, 124 (OC), 127 (OC), 132 (OC), 133, 143
PSA NM 7 (43): #1 (SP) (Van Brocklin HOF), 6, 9, 14 (Brown RC HOF),15, 17 (Tittle HOF), 21, 23 (Marchetti RC HOF), 24, 31, 33, 38, 40, 42, 43, 48, 49, 51, 53, 55 (OC), 64, 65, 74, 76, 80, 95, 97, 101, 102, 103, 106, 107, 109, 111, 112, 114, 116 (ST), 120 (Towler), 129, 131, 138, 140 (Lary RC HOF), 141
PSA EX-MT 6 (48): #3 (Walker HOF), 4, 5, 7, 8, 10 (SP) (Bednarik HOF), 11, 12 (Trippi HOF), 13, 16 (Gifford RC HOF), 20, 26, 32, 34, 35, 37, 39, 41, 46 (SP) (Donovan RC HOF), 56, 58, 59, 61, 66, 67, 68, 70, 71, 77, 78, 79, 81, 83, 86, 92, 93, 100, 117, 119, 123, 125, 130, 134, 136 (Rechichar), 137, 139, 142 (Landry HOF), 144 (SP) (Lansford)
PSA EX 5 (26): #2, 19 (SP) (Connor), 25, 27, 29, 36, 45 (SP) , 47, 54, 57, 62, 63, 73, 89, 90, 91, 94, 96, 99, 104, 105 (Groza HOF), 108 (Johnson), 118, 126, 128, 135 (SP) (Ronzani RC)
PSA VG-EX 4 (1): #72
PSA VG 3 (1): #22 (3.5 PSA)