Sunday, September 18, 2016

REVIEW:2016 Bowman Chrome Baseball Hobby Box+GIVEAWAY (2 BONUS HITS!)

Bowman Chrome is a hobby staple at least in my household.

You combine rookies, prospects, refractors, numbered cards, rookie/prospects autos, memorabilia cards all in one box....how could you not be interested???

This was a bit of an odd break for me of the product as I got pretty luck doubling up my hits in the box. One mini box alone had three.

What were my thoughts overall on the break, well, read on!


In every hobby box of 2016 Bowman Chrome baseball you will find 2 Mini-Boxes with 6 Packs Per Mini-Box and 5 Cards Per Pack. There should be 2 autographs per box on average.

Base cards in the product are simply just the Bowman cards chromed. So if you liked the design in Bowman, this should only be better. The base cards checklist includes current MLB veterans and 2016 rookies like the Gary Sanchez I pulled. Seager was in my box as well.

There are 100 cards to collect in the base set including key rookie cards of Corey Seager, Gary Sanchez, Kenta Maeda, Julio Urias, Nomar Mazara, Jameson Taillon, Miguel Sano, Blake Snell, Byung-Ho Park, Tyler White, Aaron Nola, Kyle Schwarber, Michael Fulmer, Stephen Piscotty, Trea Turner, Jose Berrios, Trevor Story, Luis Severino, Michael Conforto, Albert Almora, Greg Bird, and Max Kepler.

 
Prospect cards also have the same design besides the upgraded Chrome look.

There are also 100 cards to collect in this set.

 
Well, it's chrome, so you gotta have those refractor parallels! All chrome refractors are numbered and don't come aplenty. Two things I think are huge upgrades and gives added value.

 
1st prosepect is an Orange parallel #d to 25 and the Fernandez is /150
 
 
Other refractors not found in my box include...
  • Purple Refractor: sequentially numbered.
  • Green Refractor: sequentially numbered.
  • Gold Refractor: sequentially numbered.
  • Red Refractor: sequentially numbered to 5.
  • SuperFractor: numbered 1/1.
  • Printing Plates: numbered 1/1.
Bowman Scouts' Updates are of those prospects who have made an impact with collectors because of their 2016 performances. Design is simple, but nice.


2015 AFL Fall Stars Game highlights the game's top performers and names. Otherwise known as, collect them before they are hot!


Out Of The Gate is only available in hobby boxes and it's an obvious theme with those rookies who jumped right out of the gate as top ones to watch. We know Trevor Story fell into that category. If only he hadn't gotten injured it would have been fun to see what may have been.
 
Refractors that Never Were was the only insert I didn't pull. They showcase reprinted Bowman cards of retired greats who never received Bowman refractors. There are also autographed versions.
Now onto the hits!

The usual box pulls are the Chrome Rookie Autographs. These are all on-card autographs. Mine was a Yankee so that's good, however, can't say I know the name but I also didn't know Gary Sanchez either. This was my pull from the first mini box.
 
It's chrome so you are likely to have refractor parallels. Here those are:
  • Refractor
  • Blue Refractor: sequentially numbered.
  • Green Refractor: sequentially numbered
  • Gold Refractor: sequentially numbered.
  • Orange Refractor: sequentially numbered to 25
  • Red Refractor: sequentially numbered to 5
  • SuperFractor: numbered 1/1
  • Printing Plates: numbered 1/1
My next pull is a toughie to land, a Bowman Scouts Update autograph. This one is numbered to 199 and these fall at 1:543 odds. Not a shabby player I pulled for my first pull of the second mini box. However, it's a sticker auto which doesn't fit with the prospect autos being on-card.
 
I believe these also have refractor parallels but I can't find the info on those yet. Will update when I do.

 
To my surprise in the next pack, it was thick and had this nice looking relic card along with the sticker authentication on it. Double bonus I think.
 
You can find game used hats, bases and bat pieces.

This is a base version /99and I assume of a hat or jersey and these fall at a tough 1:626 odds.
 
There are parallels to find as well, 
  • Orange Refractor: sequentially numbered to 25.
  • SuperFractor: numbered 1/1.
And my final pack had yet another pull.  This one is on-card but not chromed. A 2015 All American Game autograph that was the toughest pull of the box at 1:1,083 packs. These are today's biggest prospects that were signed while they were still in high school.
Parallels include:
  • Green Refractor: sequentially numbered.
  • Gold Refractor: sequentially numbered.
  • Orange Refractor: sequentially numbered to 25. HOBBY BOX ONLY!
  • SuperFractor: numbered 1/1.
Other tidbits in Bowman Chrome are hobby boxes that will also feature Prospect Blue Shimmer Refractor Hot Packs. More shiny=More goodness.
Overall Thoughts:
Well, even before I doubled my hits, I was thinking that the product was solid for the price. Looking at the fact you pay that price for basic Bowman hobby box if not more for only one hit and some parallels, finding two autographs with all of the other fun options in Bowman Chrome makes this a bigger winner over it's brother product.

Bowman Chrome may not be for everyone though it makes me sad to think that. But, it's definitely for those who love shiny stuff and especially prospecting. Even set collectors may even find it fun with such a small base set and small prospect set.

Now time for the giveaway!

To enter to win this as the first place winner...

One bonus winner will win the MadBum and Fernandez refractors!

 Read the rules that follows...
  1. Please make sure to take a minute out to thank Topps for providing this box for me to review and to host this/these nice giveaways with. Follow them on all social media sites and visit their site, HERE, as well.
  2. ***VERY IMPORTANT***MUST BE A U.S. RESIDENT to enter or have a shipping address in the U.S. Shipping costs have gone haywire and I can't afford to ship everywhere.This is always hard to do as I appreciate all readers but I hope you all understand non-U.S. readers.
  3. Random winner will be chosen after 7 randoms
  4. Card may be shipped PWE. I like to forewarn on this.
  5. LEAVE A COMMENT BELOW telling me ONE PRO AND ONE CON OF THE PRODUCT. PLEASE ALSO KEEP IN MIND I AM HOPING FOR GOOD PRO/CON FEEDBACK.
  6. EARN AN EXTRA ENTRY FOR SHARING THIS CONTEST ON YOUR BLOG AND/OR ON TWITTER. Make sure to leave your link in comments too so I can count it. If not, I won't be able to give you the credit. Commenting with it is very important or you WILL LOSE OUT an extra entry!
  7. Sport Card Collectors or it's owner (person who runs the blog), WILL NOT be held responsible for lost, stolen or damaged mail. Sorry had to add this in since someone tried to scam me once about this.
  8. Contest starts today, ends on September 25th 2016. Winner will be announced in a separate post on September 26th 2016
  9. Don't forget to thank the above sponsor of this contest and I won't mind a thank you as well :)
Good luck to all that enter and thanks for reading!

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