1989 Bowman Baseball Cards

Topps had purchased their competitor Bowman in 1955, but did nothing with that company name until 1989, when they elected to release a baseball card set in addition to their regular Topps set, under the Bowman name. The 1989 Bowman set contained 484 cards, and were somewhat taller than conventionally-sized modern cards at 2-1/2"x3-3/4".

Card fronts consisted of a large vertical player photo surrounded by thin colored and a thicker white border along the card edge. A faux signature and baseball-diamond Bowman logo were inset over the photo. Card backs contained the usual basic player information, including a table showing the particular player's statistics broken down against other teams in his League.

Special cards in this set included rookie stars, as well as reproductions of older Bowman cardfronts, with sweepstakes information on the back.

Prominent players in this set include Ken Griffey Jr., Gary Sheffield, and Kirby Puckett.

Although sales for this set were brisk due to the enthusiasm that baseball card collecting enjoyed during this time, this set today can be had for a modest amount of money. Many collectors were turned off by the odd size of the cards, which didn't conform to modern plastic holders and sheets.