Over the last three years Topps has offered all sorts of giveaways with their release of the big baseball sets of the year. By opening boxes and packs, then sending in wrappers to the company, all sorts of free stuff has been given away to enhance the value provided pack by pack. Until this year’s release of Bowman, these giveaways have been readily available, and therefore not much has been made of them. 2012 is different, much different. Because Bowman is one of the most popular sets of the year, and attracts mega case breakers like no other product, the limited offering of the new “wave” refractors and autographs has generated a ton of buzz. In fact, so few of the packs were available, that the allotment was gone within days of the product’s release.
As expected, these cards, especially the Red Waves numbered to 25 have been getting a lot of attention from set builders and high end chasers alike:
2012 Bowman Red Wave Bryce Harper /25
2012 Bowman Blue Wave Danny Hultzen Auto
2012 Bowman Blue Wave Gerrit Cole Auto
THe packs themselves have continued to be sold at ridiculous prices:
I am all for free stuff, no matter what it is. Anytime I can get something out of a pack other than the cards themselves, I consdider it a bonus, even if the cards are limited to the point where some collectors cannot get ahold of them. Hell, the fact that most of the wax breakers wont get their share probably makes this that much more of a great giveaway.
The cards themselves are cool looking, if not only because the base design from 2012 Bowman is one of my favorites of the run in the last few seasons. The design lends itself well to both autographs and non-autographs alike, and though the prospect class isnt the juggernaut of years past, its a strong product.
Players like Bryce Harper and Gerrit Cole each have valuable cards in this giveaway, which is a big plus for anyone lucky enough to get their hands on a few packs. Im not someone who is going to go out and buy these cards, but if I was a prospector, I would be all over these. They are going to dry up eventually, and some are reporting there are less than 700 complete sets to be collected from the blue cards in the packs.
There is a lot of controversy with the allotment of packs and the way they are being distributed, with some collectors claiming that Topps had advanced knowledge of what is in each pack. I have to believe that the odds favor at least a few autos in a big lot of packs, but with such a limited print run, who knows what each pack is capable of. Regardless. the packs continue to sell VERY well, and its hard to argue with free stuff.
When Panini did their Black Friday promotion, similar accusations were thrown around with the thicker packs that were included in the promotion. The difference is that with the Bowman wave packs, the non-autographed cards of the top prospects still bring a lot of value to the giveaway. This wasnt the case in the Black Friday packs. Yet, if further proof does arise that Topps did happen to help out their mass case break partners by giving them better odds, then another line of commentary will be necessary. So far, that type of proof hasnt surfaced, and I dont expect it to.
I have to give Topps credit for moving in this direction, as it is always a good idea to reward people who patronize the products that keep the lights on. When all is said and done, Topps has definte proof that limited pack offerings create more press, so I dont think this will change. Its just a matter of whether they will be offered in a similar fashion in both Bowman Chrome and Draft Picks.
I think the redemptions are great, and I understand “first come, first serve” but it’s very difficult to say Topps cares about the collector when the packs are gone in just a couple of days. In some places, by the time the hobby shop gets a few boxes and you buy some, the redemption is wiped out by casebreakers who get theirs earlier. It’s also harder to justify express mail (to ensure your packs get there first) for 7 jumbo wrapppers than if you have 70 jumbo wrappers. I think having a limited number of wave refractors (10,000 packs) followed by some kind of unique parallel that is less limited once the first packs run out would be a happy medium.
I have to thank topps for the price I paid for a H/C set of bowman, BP and BPC. I think what happened is this redemption caused mass product breaking early and thus flooded the auction site with h/c sets and I was able to get one for about $20 less than I had expected to need to pay for one.
as for the redemption itself, stupid idea. bowman isn’t a product that needs it. Topps should save the redemptions for those products that need a helping hand in the retail channels to sell.