1950 Bowman Baseball Cards – 12 Most Valuable

After a couple of postwar seasons of dingy black-and-white issues, collectors were in for a treat when they got their hands on 1950 Bowman baseball cards that spring.

Featuring full-colored painted images of their heroes, the Bowmans must have felt like they jumped out of the radio game of the week and into Little Leaguers wax packs!

And there were so many cards … 252 in all … that just about any player you’d ever heard of was bound to be included.

Plenty you hadn’t heard of, too.

It all came just in the nick of time, since Leaf decided not to issue any cards as the new decade dawned, and because no one even knew who Topps was yet.

All those factors make this set an enduring part of hobby history, and these 12 most valuable 1950 Bowman baseball cards — as listed in the PSA Sports Market Report Price Guide for PSA 7 copies — classic additions to any collection.

Let’s check ’em out!

(Note: The following sections contain affiliate links to eBay and Amazon listings for the cards being discussed.)

1950 Bowman Jackie Robinson (#22)

Robinson had long since moved into “legend” status when his 1950 Bowman card first saw the light of day, and subsequent years would only enhance that standing.

Beyond breaking Major League Baseball’s color barrier, Jackie was also a key member of the 1950s Brooklyn Dodgers team that eventually — and finally — won a World Series in 1955.

This striking early Robinson card is a $15,000+ buy in PSA 7 condition.

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1950 Bowman Ted Williams (#98)

Like Robinson, Ted Williams was a living legend before anyone even knew what a Bowman baseball card was.

That’s what happens when you hit .400 in a season, smack all sorts of home runs, fly fighter planes, and build yourself into one of the greatest pure hitters of all-time.

Williams’ 1950 Bowman is a $1600 card in graded NM condition.

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1950 Bowman Yogi Berra (#46)

We’re back in Cooperstown territory here with an early card of the catcher who would help hold the 1950s New York Yankees together and win three AL MVP awards in the process.

Berra appears near the top of the “value” list for just about any set where he has a card, and his 1950 Bowman is a $1400+ buy in PSA 7 condition.

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1950 Bowman Mel Parnell Rookie Card (#1)

Why is Mel Parnell breathing the same air as Robinson, Williams, and other Hall of Famers?

Well, for one thing, Parnell was a superstar starter for the Boston Red Sox during a ten-year career that included an American League-leading 25 victories in 1949.

Plus, this is Parnell’s rookie card.

More importantly, this is the #1 card in the set, and that means snagging it in any kind of decent condition is a tough proposition.

In particular, slabbed NM copies fetch north of $900 these days.

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1950 Bowman Warren Spahn (#19)

Spahn had been around for awhile by 1950, but he still had a lot of years — and tons of victories — ahead of him as he crafted his Cooperstown case with the Boston and Milwaukee Braves.

This classic mid-career card checks in at close to $600 in PSA 7 condition.

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1950 Bowman Phil Rizzuto (#11)

This card features a great action shot of another Yanks legend, shortstop Phil Rizzuto.

Never mind that Bowman would use the same illustration in 1951 … they’re both great cards.

The ’50 version hammers down at close to $500 in PSA 7.

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1950 Bowman Bob Feller (#6)

Like a few others on this list, Feller was already a bona fide superstar and on a beeline to the Hall of Fame by the time he appeared in this classic windup shot.

It’s another in a long line of stellar Feller cardboard that excites collectors to this day, and it’ll set you back around $350 in PSA 7.

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1950 Bowman Pee Wee Reese (#21)

Rizzuto’s counterpart in Brooklyn, Reese also saw his 1950 Bowman image repeated in the 1951 issue.

(Those two weren’t alone, either, as Bowman appeared to be into economizing in those days.)

In PSA 7, this first of the Reese dupes is a $300+ card these days.

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1950 Bowman Roy Campanella (#75)

Like Berra, Campanella was just on the cusp of a run that would see him win three MVP awards (in the National League) and drive his team to untold glory.

Along with Robinson, Reese, Duke Snider, and others like Gil Hodges, Don Newcombe, and Carl Erskine, Campy would help the Dodgers finally get off the snide with a World Series victory in 1955.

This early glimpse of the Hall of Famer goes for $275+ in slabbed NM condition.

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1950 Bowman Duke Snider (#77)

Snider was coming off his first 20-homer season, in 1949, when this 1950 Bowman card was issued.

It’s interesting both for its action-laden landscape orientation, and as a peek at a young legend in the making.

Today, it sells for about $250 in PSA 7.

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1950 Bowman Robin Roberts (#32)

In 1950, Robin Roberts would team up with other young Philadelphia Phillies to form the Whiz Kids group that rode all the way to the World Series.

That year, Roberts turned in his first of six straight 20-win seasons en route to a 286-245 record that would land him in Cooperstown.

The action-packed 1950 Bowman Roberts card sells for about $225 in PSA 7 these days.

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1950 Bowman Don Newcombe Rookie Card (#23)

Newcombe lands here with the only rookie card on our list.

After winning the NL Rookie of the Year award with 17 wins in 1949, Newk upped the ante to 19 victories in 1950.

He won 20 in the Dodgers’ 1955 championship season, then nabbed both the NL MVP and Cy Young awards in 1956 with a gaudy 27-7 record.

All these years later, Newcombe’s rookie card remains popular with collectors, and you can expect to pay around $220 for a copy in graded NM condition.

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