Bowman Basketball

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There was a period of time, just a few short decades ago, that not a single company was producing basketball cards - not even industry giant Topps. In1986, the Fleer Company produced Michael Jordan's definitive rookie card . As Jordan's on court career reached new levels of the stratosphere, so too didthe value of his rookie card. Basketball card collectors began to re-evaluate the long forgotten art of collecting and created a huge demand for notonly new basketball card products, but vintage cards as well.

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The History of Basketball Cards

The Vintage Years

The earliest basketball cards can be traced to the legendary 1933 Sport Kings series, a multi-sport set from the Goudey Gum Company. The set included four basketball players of the era; Eddie Burke, Nat Holman, Joe Lapchick, and Ed Wachter. It would be another 15 years before another basketball set was made and it was in 1948 that Bowman produced its first, and only, hardwood set. This set includes one of the most valuable basketball cards in existence, the George Mikan rookie card. A 72-card, full color set that includes five additional hall of fame players, the '48 Bowman set is a holy grail for many hoops collectors.

After a nine-year absence of any basketball