REVIEW:2018 Bowman High Tek Baseball

Back for 2018 after it's decent success in 2017, Bowman High Tek comes loaded with all of that prospect heavy fun that collectors want. Not too mention, acetate. Seems like there are more and more releases the last couple of years that uses that technology.

I really liked the 2017 version so let's see how I feel about the 2018 one.

 

In every box of 2018 Bowman High Tek baseball, there is one pack per box with 10 cards per pack. There are 4 on-card autographs per box as well and boxes run $80.

The one problem I have with High Tek is telling the difference in patterns. There are 10 different to sort through but only 56 cards in the actual base set with ONLY rookies and prospects. The design is simple and the cards do look nice. Some designs are much snazzier looking than others.

This is Pattern 1 the most basic one.

Zig Zag is Pattern 3. One per pack on this one.

Stripes is Pattern 2. Very common as well.

 

There are 7 others to find after this and each level becomes a bit tougher to find. Check out this helpful Beckett article to define yours. 

https://www.beckett.com/news/2018-bowman-high-tek-baseball-pattern-variations/

There are lots of parallels to surprise in here as well. Here is the full list of them and check out my purple ones afterwards.

PATTERN 1 PARALLELS

Purple Rainbow /191, Green Rainbow /99, Ocean Blue Tidal /75, Gold Rainbow /50, Orange Magma Diffractor /25, Red Orbit Diffractor /10, Black Galactic Diffractor 1/1, Printing Proofs 1/1.

PATTERN 9

SpecTEKular Diffractor 1/1

PATTERN 10: Black Galactic Diffractor 1/1.

My purple find was this Mejia /199.

 

Now onto the autographs. All on-card and they are beautiful.

Jorge Guzman

 Jeren Kendall

 

Royce Lewis. Nice one here.

and a purple parallel of Pavin Smith.

Other parallels to find are,  Purple Diffractor /150, Green Rainbow /99, Ocean Blue Tidal /75, Gold Rainbow /50, Orange Magma Diffractor /25, Red Orbit Diffractor #/10, Black Galactic Diffractor 1/1, Printing Proofs 1/1.

Other hits I didn't find but you may include,

• 1st Bowman Tek
• 1st Bowman Tek Autograph
• PyroTEKnics 
• PyroTEKnics Autograph
• Tides of Youth
• Tides of Youth Autograph

OVERALL: Box price for prospects and 4 autographs isn't bad if you can land the right pull and they are in here. Most of the big name rookies and prospects are with my box containing Royce Lewis who is one of them. Still after my break I felt there was still a loss vs the cost but with prospects and rookies you just never know when one of these guys can step up and change my opinion.

As for design, looks great and the on card autographs really stand out on the patterned design.

I do wish there were more cards in here. Maybe another 10 base and parallel? I may feel a bit better with that. But, like with all products, they are gambles and sometimes they pay off and other times they don't. If you don't feel comfortable about buying a box, go pick up some singles or join a box break. I think it would be worth your time.

Please make sure to take a minute out to thank Topps for providing this box for me to review and to be able to add cards to a future promo.  Follow Topps on all social media sites and visit their SITE, as well.