SCF Official Review: 2014 Bowman

**Enigma** · 05-30-2014, 05:15 PM

First and foremost, I'd like to thank our sponsors at Topps for providing us with this box.

2014bwaaBB.jpg

24 packs per box
10 cards per pack
Current Retail Price (online): $79.99 - $99.99

PRODUCT DESCRIPTION

1989 "Bowman is Back" Silver Diamond Refractor
This insert will be a continuity program in all Bowman products, celebrating the year that Bowman cards started to be produced again in 1989. NEW!
- 1989 "Bowman is Back" Black Refractor Autograph: #'d to 25. Hobby & Jumbo
- 1989 Bowman Autographed Buybacks: #'d to 5. Hobby Only

BOWMAN CHROME PROSPECTS

Bowman Chrome Prospects
- Refractor numbered to 500.
- Blue Refractor numbered to 250.
- Black Refractor numbered to 99.
- Green Refractor numbered to 75.
- Gold Refractor numbered to 50.
- Orange Refractor numbered to 25.
- Red Refractor numbered to 5. Hobby Only
- Printing Plates numbered 1/1. Jumbo BOX ONLY
- SuperFractor numbered 1/1. Hobby Only

Autographed Bowman Chrome Prospects Hobby Only
- Refractors numbered to 500.
- Blue Refractor numbered to 150.
- Black Refractor numbered to 99.
- Green Refractor numbered to 75.
- Gold Refractors numbered to 50.
- Orange Refractor numbered to 25.
- Purple Refractor numbered to 10. Jumbo BOX ONLY
- Red Refractor numbered to 5.
- SuperFractor numbered 1/1.
- Printing Plate numbered 1/1. Jumbo BOX ONLY

BOWMAN CHROME AUTOGRAPHED ROOKIE CARDS

Bowman Chrome Autographed Rookie Cards Hobby Only
- Refractor numbered to 500.
- Blue Refractor numbered to 250.
- Gold Refractor numbered to 50.
- Black Refractor numbered to 35.Hobby Only
- Orange Refractor numbered to 25.
- Green Refractor numbered to 20. JUMBO Only
- Red Refractor numbered to 5.
- SuperFractor numbered 1/1.
- Printing Plates numbered 1/1. JUMBO BOX Only

Silver Ice Parallel
Parallel of base and prospect subjects.
1 per hobby box; 2 per Jumbo box.
- Red Ice #'d to 25 Hobby Only
- Purple Ice #'d to 10 Hobby Only
- White Ice #'d 1/1 Hobby Only
- Autographed Red Ice #'d to 25 Hobby Only. NEW!
- Autographed Purple Ice #'d to 10 Hobby Only. NEW!

BLUE & BLACK WAVE REFRACTOR

AFLAC/Perfect Game High School
All-American & Under Armour All-American Game Autographs Hobby Only
Ultimate Prospect Autograph Book Card: Featuring 25 of the top prospects #'d to 5. Hobby Only

Lucky Redemption Program
This redemption card will be good for a card of a TBD player.
- Lucky Redemption # 1
- Lucky Redemption # 2
- Lucky Redemption # 3
- Lucky Redemption # 4
- Lucky Redemption # 5

Blue Wave Refractor Hot packs Hobby Only NEW!
- Red Wave Chrome Refractor #'d to 25.
- Blue Wave Chrome Refractor Prospect Autographs #'d to 50.

Black Wave Refractor Hot Packs Hobby Only NEW!
- Silver Wave Chrome Refractor #'d to 25.
Black Wave Chrome Refractor Prospect Autographs #'d to 50.

BOWMAN'S TOP 100 PROSPECTS

Bowman's Top 100 Prospects
Die-Cut Refractor
- Numbered to 99

Autographed Die-Cut X-fractor
- Numbered to 24

Autographed Die-Cut Atomic Refractor
- Numbered 1/1 Hobby Only

CHROME REFRACTOR MINI CARD

Chrome Refractor Mini Cards: - Bowman Scout Top 5
The Bowman Scouts will identify the top 5 prospects for each MLB team.
- Blue Refractor: Sequentially numbered to 250.
- Orange Refractor: Sequentially numbered to 50. NEW!
- Gold Refractor: Sequentially numbered to 25. Hobby & Jumbo Only! NEW!
- Black Refractor: Sequentially numbered to 15. Hobby Only! NEW!
- Green Refractor: Sequentially numbered to 10. Jumbo Only! NEW!
- Red Refractor: Sequentially numbered to 5. Hobby & Jumbo Only!
- Superfractor: Sequentially numbered 1/1. Hobby & Jumbo Only!

Chrome Refractor Autograph Mini Cards
- Chrome Refractor Bowman Mini cards Gold Autograph: #'d to 25. Hobby Only! NEW!
- Chrome Refractor Bowman Mini cards Red Autograph: #'d to 5 Jumbo Only! NEW!
- Chrome Refractor Bowman Mini cards Superfractor Autograph: #'d 1/1 Hobby & Jumbo Only NEW!

BOWMAN AUTOGRAPHS

Social Media-Graphs Prospect autographs including the player's Twitter handle. #'d to 10

The Bowman Black Collection #'d to 25 Hobby Only

The Bowman Black Collection Violet Parallel #'d to 10 Hobby Only

Dual Franchise Refractor Autographs
- Autographed Refractor cards featuring 2 top prospects. #'d to 25

Dual Franchise Refractor Red Autographs #'d to 5 Hobby Only

Dual Franchise SuperFractor Autographs
- SuperFractor #'d 1/1 Hobby Only

SiriusXM All-Star Futures Game Relics
- Jersey relic cards from the 2013 event. #'d to 25

BASE & PARALLEL CARDS

BASE CARDS (220 Subjects)
- Veterans
- Rookies
- State & Home Town Variations: Featuring the flag from where the subject was born.

PARALLEL CARDS
- Blue Bordered numbered to 500.
- Orange Bordered numbered to 250.
- Green Bordered numbered to 150.
- Yellow Bordered numbered to 99.
- Silver Bordered numbered to 75.
- Gold Bordered numbered to 50
- Black Bordered numbered to 25.
- Purple Bordered numbered to 10.
- Red Bordered numbered 1/1. Hobby Only
- Printing Plates numbered 1/1. JUMBO BOX Only

Prospects (110 subjects)
- Blue-Bordered Parallel: Sequentially numbered to 500.
- Orange-Bordered Parallel: Sequentially numbered to 250.
- Red-Bordered Parallel: Sequentially numbered 1/1. Hobby Only
- Printing Plates: Sequentially numbered 1/1. JUMBO BOX Only

BOX LOADERS

Oversized 1989 Autographed Bowman cards #'d to 20.

Oversized Silver Ice: #'d to 99
- Oversized Red Ice: #'d to 10
- Oversized White Ice: #'d to 1
- Oversized Purple Autographed Ice: #'d to 25.

Bowman Golden Debut Contracts
- Each Contract recipient gets an autographed signed ball from top prospect
- An opportunity to enter to be featured on a card in 2015 Bowman

WHAT WE PULLED

Base - 122/220 (55.4%)
Prospects - 48/110 (43.6%)
Chrome Prospects - 44/110 (40%)

CCF05122014_00000_zpsc2fe2751.jpg

CCF05122014_00001_zps94181e9c.jpg

Orange /250 (1) - Brian Ragira
Green /150 (1) - Madison Bumgarner
Black Chrome Refractor /99 (1) - Leonardo Molina
State And Hometown (6)
Blue Wave Refractor (4)
Red Wave Refractor /25 (1) - Daniel Palka
Silver Ice (1)
Purple Ice /10 (1) - Jake Barrett

CCF05122014_00002_zps95d17612.jpg

CCF05122014_00003_zpsc9b0d97a.jpg

CCF05122014_00005_zpsc5a04ac0.jpg

CCF05122014_00004_zpsa390ba41.jpg

1989 Bowman Silver Refractor (1)
Bowman Chrome Top 100 (2)
Bowman Chrome Mini Top 5 (4)

CCF05122014_00006_zpseb849c88.jpg

CCF05122014_00007_zps58cb0af6.jpg

Armando Rivero Prospects Autograph (on card)

CCF05122014_00008_zpsbf075651.jpg

The Bowman line has been centered around prospects over the last few years. Bowman Baseball is the first of three releases that work in conjunction much like Series 1, 2 and Update in Topps. Bowman contains a 220-card base set that mixes veterans with rookies, including Masahiro Tanaka. In addition, there is a 110-card prospect set that appears in two versions, paper and chrome. This set is highlighted by Jose Abreu and Kris Bryant. There are numerous parallels for each card. All of the color parallels are numbered. The lone unnumbered cards are the State and Hometown series and the Silver Ice. Randomly inserted in hobby boxes are the Blue Wave Refractor packs. The Blue version is unnumbered with the rest being numbered. There is a chase card. Russell Wilson has a short print that appears 1:9300 hobby packs.

There are typically not a lot of inserts in Bowman and this year holds true. The 1989 Bowman Silver Refractor set is a continuity set that will be seen throughout the various Bowman release this year. With the popularity of the Cream Of The Crop mini set from a year ago, Bowman tweaks it this year and renamed it Bowman Scout Top 5 Prospects. It features the top five prospects in each organization. Rounding out the inserts is the Top 100 series, which featured the Top 100 Prospects in baseball according to Bowman.

Each hobby box will yield one autograph (Jumbo HTA boxes contain 3). The autograph will generally be a prospect and more importantly, on card. Each base autograph will have a handful of color parallels, all of which are numbered. There are also rookie autographs as well as buybacks from 1989 Bowman. The always popular All-American Game and Lucky Redemption Autographs are back as well. Overall, there is a lot of ink to be found. For relic collectors, the Futures Game Relic set is back, though hard to find at 1:3700 packs.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Base - 4/5
Design - 4.25/5
Fun - 3.5/5
Value - 4.5/5
Rebuy - 4/5

Overall - 20.25/25 (81%)

Once again, I'd like to thank our wonderful sponsors at Topps for giving us the opportunity to open and review this release. For more information on all of their products, visit them today at www.topps.com.

Base and inserts are available for request. Please PM me with the card or cards of interest, along with card numbers for base cards. Cards will remain available for 30 days ffrom the time this review is posted. As always, only VIPs may make a request for the first 48 hours.