UPDATE: The first Superfractor has been posted, and it is one for a top prospect. Wow.

UPDATE 2: The first Harper auto is up and its a sticker, there should be others on card.

Each year, there are usually two sets that end up driving enormous amounts of collectability for the entire baseball hobby. The first one, usually released before any other set is Topps Series one, and the second is the flagship Bowman set. Because Bowman is the first MLB futures focused set of the year, the ever-growing contingent of prospectors out there go crazy for it.

This year, with a strong 2011 draft behind it, Bowman is poised to continue being as important as ever. With Yu Darvish making his long awaited appearance in the brand, there is even more reason that the set will generate a tremendous buzz this wednesday.

Retail hit stores this past weekend, and I was fortunate enough to grab a few packs at my local Target. The design is not only great looking, but for the first time in a few years, seems to be well formatted for the coveted autograph parallels. Many times, the base prospect cards dont look as nice without signatures as they should, and this year, I absolutely love the way the border looks on these cards. With the addition of the awesome looking Bowman Black autograph cards, this year’s sets function more like a football product than a baseball one. That may make the fundamentalists a little unhappy, but I can tell you that it will add a lot more reasons for casual baseball collectors to jump in. When the casual collectors join in, everything escalates in value, as the demand increases.

Harper’s recent call up, as well as Yu Darvish’s performance in his first few games have already done wonders for the pre-sell price, and as it did last year, there is a good chance that the price could jump even more. I would expect that as the top picks start to perform in the minors, cards from Gerrit Cole and others should drive continued value in the packs.

Here are some initial offerings, its only a matter of time before the first Harper (Mystery Auto 2) and Yoenis Cespedes (Mystery Auto 1) will surface.

2012 Bowman Gerrit Cole Blue Refractor Auto /150

2012 Bowman Yu Darvish Base GOLD RC

2012 Bowman Jesus Montero Gold Refractor Auto

2012 Bowman Anthony Rendon Gold Refractor /50

2012 Bowman Matt Adams Base RC Auto

2012 Bowman Danny Hultzen Base RC Auto

2012 Bowman Tyler Scaggs Bowman’s Best XFractor Die Cut /25

UPDATE: Someone has posted the first Orange Refractor auto of Yu Darvish on Twitter. Pic here.