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. 

REVIEW:2017 Bowman High Tek Baseball

The High Tek or Topps Tek name isn't new to the Topps family, but it is new to the Bowman one. Introducing in 2017, Bowman High Tek.

This prospect loaded product is exactly what you expect from Bowman plus more. How did my inaugural break of the product go, well, let's take a look!

Each 10-card box of 2017 Bowman High Tek Baseball will include, 4 On-Card Autograph Cards

and 1 Base Parallel Card. Boxes run around $110.

Each 12 box case will guarantee a 1992 Bowman Variation Insert Card.

The 2017 Bowman High Tek Baseball base cards are printed on acetate with a touch of foil that brings out a nice design. The base cards will also make you scratch your head some as there are multiple, 11 about, pattern variations that takes the background and changes it up. It also gives each background design a level of rarity.

The base set itself is only 56 cards. However, with 10 to 11 variations to each, it makes it much, much deeper and really is one for the player collector.

The players in the base set are young stars and upcoming future stars like you would find in the Bowman Prospects. Big names like Gleyber Torres, Rhys Hoskins and Clint Frazier are among the group.

 

How do you know the difference and the levels of rarity, your guess is as good as mine. 

But, from my research from multiple sites, here is the order mine are in.

Gears. Seems to be the base. Moniak was a nice find.

Pin Wheel, another base card version.

Stripes and Arrows is a tad tougher.

Hexagon is about the same toughness.

 

Unlike figuring out base cards, parallels are much easier to spot and luckily exclusive to one or two patterns and not them all. Parallels include the following, Green Rainbow /99, Gold Rainbow /50 (the one I pulled), Orange Magma Diffractor /25, Red Orbit Diffractor, Mojo Diffractor /5, Black Rainbow 1/1, and Black Galactic Diffractor 1/1.

Nice Devers right here. You can note how the gears and foil are gold.

 

I didn't pull any of the tough to find inserts, so let's take a look at the on-card autographs that have a checklist of 43 cards.  It doesn't appear the autographs have different versions. That would have been way too much.

My first was AJ Puk.

Second was Bo Bichette. Possibly the best pull of the box unless I can get some values on the Devers.

Patrick Weigel

And a gold parallel from the World Series champs, Forrest Whitley.

There are other autograph parallels to find of, Tidal Diffractor /199, Green Rainbow /99, Orange Magma Diffractor /25, Red Orbit Diffractor /5, Black Galactic Diffractor 1/1, and Black Rainbow 1/1.

 

Other hits not found in my box are,

2017 Bowman Rookies that has 10 cards, 2017 Bowman Rookies Autographs, 1992 Bowman Variations, 1992 Bowman Variations Autographs, Bashers Set, Bashers Autographs, and Foundations of the Franchise Die-Cut .

OVERALL, I am glad that Topps stuck to what the brand was known for in the late 90's and since the Topps version has been back in 2014 with it's multiple base card levels. It can be a bit confusing and hopefully there will be some detailed visuals for guidance on how to tell the difference in rarities but I like it. I would definitely say it's not one for the kids. I remember busting packs in the 90's and I didn't have a clue about the difference.

The autographs look pretty nice on the acetate and I think the checklist is pretty solid overall for autograph finds. The box price isn't too shabby for a prospecting product and there is definitely plenty to find.

This product is for the prospectors and for the player rainbow collectors that's for sure.

You can find the complete checklist for 2017 Bowman High Tek, HERE.

Please make sure to take a minute out to thank Topps for providing this box for me to review as they help provide prizes for me to giveaway in the MLB Pick Em Promotion! This was the last product to be included in the prize package so new promos coming up! Follow Topps on all social media sites and visit their SITE, as well