While opening a hobby box of 2015 Bowman football, I was reminded of the 1978 album by Blondie called Parallel Lines. That’s because Bowman football has plenty of parallels to go along with its base set.
And with a 110-card base veterans set and 110 additional base rookies, that’s not a bad thing.
What’s nice about this product is the packaging — a hobby box has 10 packs containing 25 cards apiece. There’s something really nice about opening a brick-sized pack of cards.
And with a 110-card base veterans set and 110 additional base rookies, that’s not a bad thing.
What’s nice about this product is the packaging — a hobby box has 10 packs containing 25 cards apiece. There’s something really nice about opening a brick-sized pack of cards.
Another nice feature is the autographs a collector will find in a hobby box. Topps is promising four on-card signatures and a relic in each one.
And right off the bat, I found an autograph card.
The first pack I opened yielded a 1948 Bowman-style mini of tight end Clive Walford, the former University of Miami player who was drafted by the Oakland Raiders in the NFL draft. The autograph was done with a Sharpie and looks like a bunch of squiggles (so much for the parallel lines references, right?).
Later on, I would pull 10 more 1948 mini base cards.
The second autograph was on a regular-sized card. This was a refractor signature card of Vic Beasley, who starred at Clemson and was the eighth overall pick in this year’s draft. The linebacker will be playing for the Atlanta Falcons.
The third autograph was of another Hurricanes alum — offensive tackle Ereck Flowers, who was drafted by the New York Giants. This autograph is on a Bowman chrome card, which is nice—but the signature is rushed, has a hint of the letter “E,” a loop and a straight line. I’d like to think Flowers could have done better.
The third autograph was of another Hurricanes alum — offensive tackle Ereck Flowers, who was drafted by the New York Giants. This autograph is on a Bowman chrome card, which is nice—but the signature is rushed, has a hint of the letter “E,” a loop and a straight line. I’d like to think Flowers could have done better.
The final autograph was a rookie gold chrome refractor of former Alabama receiver Amari Cooper, who also was drafted by the Raiders. The card is numbered to 75, and the signature is embellished with Cooper’s No. 9 uniform number that he starred in for the Crimson Tide.
The relic in the hobby box I opened was of Denver Broncos linebacker Von Miller, numbered to 25.
The design is pretty straightforward, with a player’s action photo framed by a white border with … wait for it … parallel lines. The card backs break down into categories like Résumé (player achievements), Skills (self-explanatory) and Up Close (fun facts and trivia).
Because of Bowman’s early release date, photos of rookies are airbrushed from their college days. That’s certainly a negative, but if you are aching to rip open packs of football cards before training camps start, this becomes a positive.
Because of Bowman’s early release date, photos of rookies are airbrushed from their college days. That’s certainly a negative, but if you are aching to rip open packs of football cards before training camps start, this becomes a positive.
I pulled 63 of 110 base veterans and 18 black parallels. There were 87 of the 110 rookie base cards, with 38 black parallels. Interestingly, I found a Marcus Mariota card among the base rookies, but Jameis Winston showed up as a parallel. Still, it was good to get the two top names from the 2015 NFL draft.
Rookie black parallels fall four to a pack, while there are two veteran black parallels per pack. And to be honest, if I am going to get a bunch of parallels, I’d prefer them to be rookies, rather than vets.
There were eight Rainbow Black Veterans and six Rainbow Black Rookies. Rainbow Black
On average, each hobby box will contain a pair of Silver Ice parallels. The cards I pulled were a veteran (Percy Harvin) and a rookie (Josh Robinson).
There were three Blue Rainbow Parallels, numbered to 499, and an additional Rainbow blue numbered to 99 (C.J. Spiller). Gold Parallel checked in with one card numbered to 399 (Shane Ray), along with an Orange numbered to 299 (Tyler Lockett) and Red (David Johnson, numbered to 199).
The lowest-numbered parallel I pulled was an Orange Ice card of Sean Mannion, numbered to 50.
Die Cut cards are merely jigsaw puzzle versions of the base cards. On average, a collector can expect to find three of these cards. My three guys were a pretty decent group: Kelvin Benjamin, Peyton Manning and Philip Rivers.
Overall, a nice set. The design is clean, the photography is good — except for the airbrushing, but that it something out of Topps’ control; there just wasn’t enough time to get photos of rookies in their new pro uniforms. And there is a good assortment of autographs and parallels.
Lots of parallels.
Rookie black parallels fall four to a pack, while there are two veteran black parallels per pack. And to be honest, if I am going to get a bunch of parallels, I’d prefer them to be rookies, rather than vets.
There were eight Rainbow Black Veterans and six Rainbow Black Rookies. Rainbow Black
On average, each hobby box will contain a pair of Silver Ice parallels. The cards I pulled were a veteran (Percy Harvin) and a rookie (Josh Robinson).
There were three Blue Rainbow Parallels, numbered to 499, and an additional Rainbow blue numbered to 99 (C.J. Spiller). Gold Parallel checked in with one card numbered to 399 (Shane Ray), along with an Orange numbered to 299 (Tyler Lockett) and Red (David Johnson, numbered to 199).
The lowest-numbered parallel I pulled was an Orange Ice card of Sean Mannion, numbered to 50.
Die Cut cards are merely jigsaw puzzle versions of the base cards. On average, a collector can expect to find three of these cards. My three guys were a pretty decent group: Kelvin Benjamin, Peyton Manning and Philip Rivers.
Overall, a nice set. The design is clean, the photography is good — except for the airbrushing, but that it something out of Topps’ control; there just wasn’t enough time to get photos of rookies in their new pro uniforms. And there is a good assortment of autographs and parallels.
Lots of parallels.
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