Some things have changed with Bowman Chrome baseball, but fans of the shiny cards will note that the main thrust of the 2016 set hasn’t been altered much. Prospects are plentiful, and there are enough base cards to keep some name recognition in the set.
This year’s configuration for a hobby box: Two mini boxes, with six packs per mini-box and five cards per pack. Topps is promising a chrome autograph in each Bowman Chrome mini-box.
The base set contains 100 cards, and so does the prospects base set. In the hobby box I opened I received an even split, with 24 base and 24 prospect. There was even a split on parallels, as I pulled a pair of cards numbered to 499 of Eric Hosmer (base) and Helmis Rodriguez (prospect). There also was one purple refractor of Yankees pitcher Masahiro Tanaka, numbered to 250.
This year’s configuration for a hobby box: Two mini boxes, with six packs per mini-box and five cards per pack. Topps is promising a chrome autograph in each Bowman Chrome mini-box.
The base set contains 100 cards, and so does the prospects base set. In the hobby box I opened I received an even split, with 24 base and 24 prospect. There was even a split on parallels, as I pulled a pair of cards numbered to 499 of Eric Hosmer (base) and Helmis Rodriguez (prospect). There also was one purple refractor of Yankees pitcher Masahiro Tanaka, numbered to 250.
The design is slightly different for the base and prospect cards. On the base cards, the player’s name is situated along the left edge of the card, while the prospect’s name is at the bottom. For both types of cards, the team logos are situated in the lower left-hand corner of the card. The card backs include a bullet points under the heading of “Bowman Briefing” and include lines of statistics.
As promised, there were two autograph cards. The first one was an on-card signature of Dodgers minor-league second baseman Willie Calhoun, who played Double-A ball for Tulsa in 2016. Second auto was an on-card signature and refractor White Sox pitcher Jordan Stephens, numbered to 499. Fun fact about Stephens — he went to high school in Alvin, Texas, which is the hometown of Nolan Ryan.
As promised, there were two autograph cards. The first one was an on-card signature of Dodgers minor-league second baseman Willie Calhoun, who played Double-A ball for Tulsa in 2016. Second auto was an on-card signature and refractor White Sox pitcher Jordan Stephens, numbered to 499. Fun fact about Stephens — he went to high school in Alvin, Texas, which is the hometown of Nolan Ryan.
There are several inserts in Bowman Chrome. Bowman Scouts’ Top 100 Updates is a 25-card set, which highlights the up-and-coming prospects in baseball. I pulled four of those inserts in the hobby box I opened. Another insert concentrates on the AFL Fall Stars Game, a hobby exclusive subset that contains 22 cards. I pulled two of these inserts — one from each mini-box.
Out of the Gate is a 10-card set that features rookies who made a big splash when they made it to the major leagues. The card I pulled was of Rays rookie pitcher Blake Snell.
The format may have changed a bit, but Bowman Chrome continues to deliver what prospect collectors and lovers of shiny cards want to see.
Out of the Gate is a 10-card set that features rookies who made a big splash when they made it to the major leagues. The card I pulled was of Rays rookie pitcher Blake Snell.
The format may have changed a bit, but Bowman Chrome continues to deliver what prospect collectors and lovers of shiny cards want to see.
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