COMC Smackdown Part 1/3 - 1949-1950 Bowman

COMC, man. So much vintage cardboard on that site, it's easy to go broke. But when one is careful, one will occasionally stumble on some buyers who are just sick of staring at their inventory and want those cards gone. This three-part Smackdown is jam-packed with a dozen old-school Bowmans (marked down so much I assumed it was in error), vintage oddballs, and some 50's Topps. Ohboy ohboy ohboy. Shall we?

1949 Bowman Danny Litwhiler. Gem Mint condition, obviously. While in the bigs since 1940, he had no major-brand cards yet, despite an All Star appearance in '42, so this is listed as an RC, which is silly. Not that this is why I bought it. I bought it because the 1940's is a very underrepresented decade in my collection. This is merely the 3rd from this set in my collection and the 6th from the 40's. This needs amended.

Another Danny Litwhiler, this one from 1950 Bowman. The artist went with a wide variety of backgrounds in this set, which was excellent, but among those, apparently, was what appears to be an abandoned accountant's office. Nothing on the wall, a lone filing cabinet. Just screams 'baseball' don't it?

Here's a better, but still strange, background: 1950 Bowman Johnny Wyrostek. Not basebally, but I like it. It stands out nicely. Wyrostek was an All Star twice, both with Cincy, in 1950 and 1951.

1950 Bowman Ron Northey. Played for 12 years, one of which, 1950, spangled in Cincinnati red. Sweet. Hey look! A baseball-oriented background!

1950 Bowman Peanuts Lowrey. We've long passed the era of casual nicknames in sports. Back in the day, you could go by 'Peanuts' and it'd get printed up like it was the name given to ya by your mama. We need to bring this back. "Now up to bat, Fuzzy Bruce, batting for Baked Beans Ludwick."

Closing out the day, 1950 Bowman Ewell Blackwell. A legitimately feared side-armer. Six straight All Star nods for the Reds 1946-1951. Threw a no-hitter in 1947 and took a no-hitter into the ninth in his next start, before giving up a hit, then shouting racial slurs at rookie Jackie Robinson. He was elected to the Reds Hall of Fame in 1960

Nice. This brings my 1950 Bowman Reds collection completion to 10/13 (10/15 if you count two minor variations) which is sweet. Remember to vote in Round 15 of the UltraStupid Mega Card Tournament. Go Reds.