So far, the buzz this week has been dominated by 2012 Bowman and its release to much fan fare among baseball collectors. Each year, Bowman signals the start of prospecting for the people who live and die by the rookie, and this year’s set lives up to the billing, even though the stage isnt as visible as 2011.

Bowman Black is one of my favorite parts of the new set, as it uses the design that has been mastered by 2011 Inception and 2011 Topps Precision in football over the last year. The black background with the silver signature continues to be stunning contrast in color, and when the eye popping photograph is coupled with an on card signature, its tough to beat in my eyes.

Here are some examples:

2012 Bowman Black Gerrit Cole Auto /25

2012 Bowman Black Bubba Starling Auto /25

2012 Bowman Black Danny Hultzen Auto /25

There are drawbacks, dont get me wrong. Condition sensitivity is always going to be a problem, as the white from chipping is going to show more prominently on these cards. From what I have been told, this is a calculated risk, as obviously the cards look amazing enough to sacrifice the condition that shouldnt be as much of a factor on rare auto cards. Think of this from the model of Five Star, where the cards are collected for prestige instead of for condition.

What Topps may not have considered is that Bowman’s popularity almost entirely depends on its grade-ability, as this has to be BGS’s busiest time of year. I cannot stand the presence of card grading in our hobby, as its subjective nature and track record of loose standards for certain situations, have proven it to be a scam and then some. Despite my feelings, Bowman and prospect cards are almost 100% co-dependent on the prospect’s potential AND the card’s grade, which can make a 100 dollar card into a 1000 dollar card.

Without the ability to grade these cards on the same standard, it will do two things. Bowman Black might lose some potential to be as popular as it could have been, and bump up multipliers on high graded versions.

Secondarily to condition, the pens used to sign these cards have proven to be inconsistent at best. Although the design is top notch, the player’s use of the pen can make or break the card. As we saw in Inception, the players were mostly on target with the signatures, but not since that point. My charge to Topps is to find out what was done for those cards and re-create it.

Either way, Im a big fan of these cards, and Topps has already told me that they will continue to be a weapon in their arsenal for this year. Color me intrigued.