Category Archives: Bowman

Great Day At The Local Shop!

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Its very rare that I pull anything when buying loose packs. Its rarer that I pull anything to even recoup half the value of what I buy. Today was not one of those days.

I was running some errands and I stopped in at the Baseball Card Co. over here in Northridge, CA to see what I could find. They had their normal great selection of packs, so I decided to try some Bowman Chrome, after all the Topps Chrome I had busted. Luckily for me I did, because in the six packs I purchased, I pulled these two cards:
Yes, this is the first red refractor I have ever pulled, and the White was just a bonus. The Massaquoi is numbered 2/5 and is up for sale as we speak. In addition to these cards, I also pulled a base Stafford RC and a base Freeman RC, so these six packs were probably the best ever for me.
Let me know if you are interested in either, I will consider any reasonable offer.

Which Chrome Style Brand Works The Best?

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Each year, Topps releases 4 or so Chrome board sets for the NFL, all of which are pretty popular releases. Bowman Chrome and Sterling, Topps Chrome and Finest, all have huge collector followings for different reasons, but which one reigns supreme?

2009 Base Design

I think this category is a two horse race between Finest and Topps Chrome. Finest went with a simple, yet cool design that hearkens back to the glory days of finest. Topps Chrome’s design this year was also great and simple, more so than any other Topps flagship design for the last few years. For this I am more partial to Chrome because I bust so much of it each year, but the base design has to go to Finest for the way the team color elements combine with the full bleed, borderless design.
Winner: Finest
2009 Refractors

Bowman Chrome and Topps Chrome are the home of the refractors, so its obvious that they are going to be at the top here. Finest’s Pigskin Refractors are cool, but the others are a bitch to even recognize. Bowman Chrome’s design lends itself more to the colored refractor look, and I really like what it means to truly have the rainbow with these. The Red Refractors even look better than the Topps one, and carry more value. You also have silver and bronze box toppers, which can be a parallel nightmare, or cool depending on how you feel about the number of refractors in Bowman. Topps is more simple, but the numbering is a little too high for them to make a truly centerpiece worthy piece. This one goes to Bowman Chrome.
Winner: Bowman Chrome
2009 Autograph Rookie Cards

I think all four sets have their merit in autograph cards, but Sterling’s awful design and relic placement takes them out of the running. As for Bowman Chrome, the autos fit well into the design, and the colored refractor autos look very good. However, Topps Chrome’s look that much better in my opinion. First off, the Black and Gold refractors are awesome, and the swatch placement on the ridiculous jersey autos is better than Bowman any day of the week. Finest probably would have taken this spot, but they added a needless swatch when it wasnt needed on ALL of their base rookie autos.
Winner: Topps Chrome
2009 Added Content

Whether its the letter autos in finest, or the one per case base variations in Topps Chrome, there has been a move for added content this year. Bowman Chrome has added more refractors this year, but that isnt really a good thing in some cases. Sterling, well, Sterling is quickly becoming a distant fourth in everything here. Im not really a letter person, but the finest ones that are built with pro uni colors are nice. However, when you see how much the 1 per case variations go for, its a tough race with Topps chrome. I love the idea, but I cant decide what works best.
Winner: Topps Finest and Chrome (tie)
2009 Price
Sterling is automatically a fourth place for having such a huge price tag for the junk you get. Finest is nice, but there isnt much value outside of the autos in that box. For Topps Chrome and Bowman Chrome, you can miss on the auto, but still do awesome on the box thanks to the value of the refractors. They are both under sixty bucks, but Bowman Chrome gives you a box topper, and a bunch of color per box. Topps has the possibility of reds, and coppers, but there isnt much else in a hobby box.
Winner: Bowman Chrome
Overall Champion

When it comes down to it, I think this is going to continue to be a tight race between the two Chrome brands, though this year, Topps Chrome just has a little more going for it. The design is great, the autos are great, and most of the added content is great. The Cheerleader cards are fucking annoying, but you can still get past them because the other cards are awesome. The values of the box hits are higher, and the retail prowess is great on it. Its at the top of the leader board for a reason, as so far its my favorite product of 2009.
CHAMPION: 2009 Topps Chrome

Product Review: 2009 Bowman Chrome Football

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Im not going to do a regular review here because Bowman Chrome’s format is so similar to Bowman DP and Topps Chrome. However, there are a few great parts of the set, and a few bad parts.

The Good

I like the design they chose this year for Bowman Chrome, it fits well. The design also lends itself quite well to the parallels that Chrome is known for, and they dont have to frankenstein the card for the autographs like last year. I think that if we are going to have to endure as many base sets that are turned into chrome as we do, this is a good trade off.
I am a big fan of the parallel structure in chrome, and I think it works well when you can bust a box and do well even if you pull a shitty auto. Bowman chrome is that and more, as the low numbered refractors ALWAYS sell well. Of course, you also have the superfractor chase, which definitely doesnt hurt the product’s goals.
Lastly, the photography for some of the players in Chrome is 10 times as good as in Topps Chrome. Although they moved away from game style shots that I love, they made it so you cant see the empty LA Coliseum behind them. Also, having the holo-sticker on the ball for the Sanchez Topps Chrome card was pretty bush league.
The Bad

The rookie jersey auto parallels are some of the worst ideas in chrome history, both Topps and Bowman alike. The swatches cover up more than half of the player and continue to be a useless addition to a product known for keeping it real. Topps was horrible at designing these cards last year, and this year is no different. Bowman Sterling, Topps Chrome, and now Bowman Chrome, all put the swatches in horrible places, yet, Bowman seems to be the worst placement all around.
Also, im not sure why they went with the ribbing on the background of the card. I liked it much better when it was a flat chrome, no need to fix something that aint broken.
Lastly, the autograph cards in the set do not make it obvious enough that they are autograph cards. They are now printing “Topps Certified Auto” on the cards, which is good, but an amateur would still be stupid enough not to miss it on a fake. I think they need different ways of doing it.
Overall
I think Bowman Chrome is good but forgettable. It may be the way to go in Baseball, but Football continues to be Topps Chrome territory. Its not a horrible product, and looks to be a fun and cheap rip, so I may actually go buy a box or two. Maybe ill get lucky.
Rating =

2009 Product Leaderboard (SO FAR)

1. Topps Chrome (4/5 GELLMANS)
2(t). Bowman Chrome (3/5 GELLMANS)
2(t). Donruss Certified (3/5 GELLMANS)
2(t). Upper Deck Football (3/5 GELLMANS)
2(t). UD Philadelphia (3/5 GELLMANS)
2(t). Topps Football (3/5 GELLMANS)
2(t). UD Icons (3/5 GELLMANS)
2(t). UD Heroes (3/5 GELLMANS)
2(t). UD Draft Edition (3/5 GELLMANS)
9(t). Upper Deck SP Threads (2/5 GELLMANS)
9(t). Upper Deck SPX (2/5 GELLMANS)
9(t). Playoff Absolute Memorabilia (2/5 GELLMANS)
9(t). Bowman Sterling Football (2/5 GELLMANS)
9(t). Donruss Threads (2/5 GELLMANS)
9(t). Donruss Classics (2/5 GELLMANS)
9(t). Donruss Elite (2/5 GELLMANS)
9(t). Playoff Prestige (2/5 GELLMANS)
9(t). Bowman Draft Picks (2/5 GELLMANS)
18. Score Inscriptions (1/5 GELLMANS)
19. Leaf Rookies and Stars (0/5 GELLMANS – NR)

2009 Bowman Chrome Is Live!

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2009 Bowman Chrome is live, something that I have been waiting for a long time. I really like the design this year, and I think that as long as things look the way they did from the original set, this could be as good as Topps Chrome was.

I also see that they are using a weird almost ribbed look for her pleasure, not really sure why they didnt just go with the flat chrome. Regardless, these cards do look like a fun rip.


Handicapping the Next Few Weeks

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Tomorrow, the 2nd product of the year is released in Bowman Draft, with UD Draft not far down the pipeline. I have gotten a few emails over the last weeks wondering which is a better product to buy, that is, IF you must buy one. I think at this time in the year, buying these type of products is completely stupid, unless you are a college collector or are going to flip everything right away. Regardless of current value, im going to break down pros and cons of each with the idea of answering as many of the questions I got as possible.

Bowman Draft Picks (Release 5/21/2009)

Format: Hobby and Jumbo boxes
Content: 1 auto per box in hobby, 2 in jumbo
Highlights: Signed auto patches and letters, guaranteed 1 per box in jumbo.
Price: $65 Hobby, $110 Jumbo

After opening a few packs last week at the Beanie Wells signing, the cards don’t look bad at all. The problem with Bowman Draft is that the content of this product is one base set with auto parallels, and the auto patches and that’s it. There are not any chrome, there are not any duals, and there are not even other auto sets with veterans in them based on what I saw and the checklist. On the other hand, the manuletters are signed on the letter this time, and base parallels have some real potential for early flips. If you are planning on getting a group A auto, better buy a lot as this product is loaded with no-namers, inserted at an alarming rate. But, if you do pull an A auto, you have hit the Jackpot at 1:900+ odds.

The pics on the cards are very good action shots, and I believe they do have draft day variations from my shotty memory of other people’s pulls at the party. The base inserts, which you shouldn’t really care that much about, also have some nice graphics, which is nice. Here is what I would have liked, however, as this set would be perfect for OTA and Camp TTMs. Instead of the ultra gloss coating on the cards, make them semi gloss so they don’t turn out like my Wells sig. If you see my Prestige sigs from the Premiere, they signed THAT much better for that reason.

Lastly, the pack format for hobby looks like you get 1 orange un-numbered parallel per pack, and then two to three base parallels per box. Again, these are not refractors – you will have to wait on that until july. May not be a big deal now, but with a gigantic price tag on the jumbos, it will be important.

Upper Deck Draft (Release Scheduled 5/26/2009)

Format: Hobby Boxes Only
Content: 5 autos per box
Highlights: On card autos, and many multisigned cards.
Price: $85 Hobby

When the preview for UD draft came out earlier this year, I thought the design was ten times better than last year. The main issue with UD draft will always be that it will be succeeded by other UD products that far outshine this offering, so the content was upped this time from last year’s 4 autos per box. The good news is that most of the time you have MUCH better odds at pulling nice sigs, and with 5 chances, most likely one should be a better guy from the Preimere. Of course, these cards have parallels that go all the way down to 1/1, naturally, so you may get luckier still if you manage to pull one. You also have quite a few multisigned cards from the top guys, and I believe there may even be some veteran sigs in there too – something that makes this product better 100%.

The product is not without drawbacks, as a hobby box of Draft will cost you much more than a hobby box of Bowman, so you do need to be careful. Also, the auto checklist is pretty deep, so you could end up with 5 scrubs and be down 90 bucks. I think that the potential with Draft is much better than the potential with Bowman, but the Draft Picks name with Bowman attached may be detremental to the success of this product based on Baseball’s offerings. Collectors recognize Bowman in baseball as THE rookie card to have, and I have a feeling it may transfer to draft more than it ever did before. That could hurt overall lasting value of this set.

Lastly, as the year progresses, this set will be forgotten, which puts an expiration date on your pulls. Yet, if you want a cheap way to get your player’s auto THIS is the set to buy it from. Bowman top guys will cost too much due to the shear ridiculous odds, and this set will have enough parallels to keep the price low enough for the commoners like me. I will be buying singles from this set for that reason along with the hard signed cards, and I may even splurge on a box if I can get a good deal.

Here is my verdict: If you are a set collector, buy the Bowman, it is right in your wheelhouse. If you like autos, buy the Draft, as it will provide you more bang for your buck with hard signed cards. If you have the patience, wait on both – as Heroes will be better, Icons will be better, and Classics is less than 2 months away for the first cards with rookies in their NFL jerseys. If you don’t fit into any of these categories, just buy the draft, you will be happier without a doubt. Design + 5 autos + hard signed cards + potential = Positive Stance on UD Draft.