Card: 1950 Bowman Gum, Card #23

Team/Position: Philadelphia Eagles / Runningback

Cost: Acquired in a $20.00 Lot

After writing about Steve Van Buren’s Leaf rookie card yesterday, I received a wonderful surprise today:  Steve Van Buren’s first Bowman card that doesn’t look like a boring old stock photo.

While the 1950 Bowman set looks a lot better than the earlier efforts, it doesn’t have the intricate team logos that make the ’51 and ’52 sets so gorgeous. 

I’m currently contemplating putting together the cheaper 1951 Bowman set because of cards like the Van Buren pictured right.

The cards have a good assortment of completely random backgrounds — I mean, Steven Van Buren running through a coniferous forest can’t be touched by modern cards.

Van Buren’s got the ball in his off hand, retaining all three points of contact.  Van Buren’s elbow’s a bit wide and the ball’s not as high and tight as we’d like to see but we’ll chalk this up to artistic license.

The market for vintage cards has also stabilized, which doesn’t make for terrific profits in the short-term, but if you’re ever forced to sell off your collection, you’re not going to lose too much money.

If cards are the stock market, than Vintage cards are the blue-chips.  Maybe they’ll lose ten-percent based on a poor auction time, but for the most part you’ll get back what you paid for ‘em.

Modern cards on the other hand will absolutely screw you over.  Even if a rookie succeeds, unless he’s on pace to break every conceivable record, you’re going to lose money.  There’s very little appreciation from early speculative prices.

Even if Sanchez goes onto multiple Pro Bowls, his cards won’t touch the early prices again unless he starts playing like Manning, or winning like Brady.  Even then, the cards from Playoff Prestige, Bowman Draft or Upper Deck Draft won’t come close to touching their early prices.

I suppose we just live in a society of instant gratification and pissing contests.   Throw in eBay and you’ve got cards going for ridiculous sums of money only to drop in value like a new car driving off the lot.

For the price of a loose pack of just about any product at your local card shop, you can acquire an early-50′s card of a Hall of Famer.  The rush of winning a great card at a damn good price should equal that of rippin’ packs.  You’re never going to pull that $300 Sanchez though, but you’ll avoid the awful cycle of ripping, selling, using the profits to rip more, and eventually selling more.  In the end, you’ll end up with a shit-tonne of base cards and no-name autographed rookies.

If you consider that fun; then, so be it.

Card: 1948 Leaf Football, Card #22

Team/Position: Philadelphia Eagles / Runningback

Cost: $23.00

The print-line across the top definitely detracts from this 1948 Steve Van Buren, but it also made it affordable.  There’s currently a PSA 5 available on eBay for just over 100 dollars, which is actually a pretty decent price — either way, Van Buren cards don’t come cheap.

Steve Van Buren began his life in Honduras before being orphaned and eventually sent to live with his grand-parents in N’Orleans.   Van Buren decided to stay in state after receiving a scholarship from LSU.  In Steve’s senior season, he lead the nation in total points and touchdowns.

The Eagles selected Van Buren with their first overall selection and the rest, as they say, is history.

Van Buren took home the NFL rushing crown on four different occasions and was selected an All Pro seven times.  With the Eagles, Steve Van Buren won the NFL Championship two different times and is most remembered for his performance in the winter of 1948 (the year this card was published).

Against the Chicago Cardinals, Steve Van Buren ran for the game’s only touchdown.  Ironically, Van Buren almost missed the game when he stayed home due to the ferocious snowstorm.  Van Buren was forced to take three trolleys and walk twelve city blocks to get to the game on time.

Van Buren was enshrined into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1965 and will be best remembered for his hard-hitting running style that transformed the Philadelphia Eagles into a contender, almost overnight.

Bowman almost produced a trading card of Steve Van Buren in 1948, but they were still producing black and white cards at that point.   The cards can be had a cheaper price, but aren’t nearly as presentable.