Exceeding Expectations

I have to admit it,

Bowman's inserts

weren't half bad this year.

My Bowemans

let me show you them

thanks to project '62 for half of these suckas

Bowman Blaster of Shame

A Shame Blaster is one where I bought a blaster of something I really didn't want and probably couldn't afford because I am a degenerate addict of baseball cards and I couldn't find anything else interesting. Very often I will buy it rationalizing that I will do a blaster rip post on the blog, but after I rip through the thing and the adrenalyn- Ahem. Adrenalin rush (damn you Panini) wears off I am too ashamed/embarrassed/depressed to post the results. Usually I put the packs back in the box where the remain to this day. The good thing is now that my mental state has improved I can revisit these blaters later on and post the results. I'm going to try to do that over the next few months, but first here is the shameful Bowman blaster I posted about a while back.

Pack 1

53 Jayson Werth
19 Jake Peavy
175 Tim Lincecum
169 Joe Mauer
BCP99 Thomas Neal
BCP93 Brett Jackson
TP46 Jenrry Mejia Top 100
BP95 Big John slade Heathcott
BP101 Anthony Ratso Rizzo
195 Albert Pujols gold useless
Checklist 2 of 5

Lotsa star power in this pack, plus I can make fun of the names of the prospects. The Pujols photo is awesome, and the horizontal Bowman layout is novel, but these gold cards just plain suuuuuuck. They aren't even used for decoys anymore. Can we please get rid of these damn things, Topps?

Pack 2
38 Howard Kendrick
117 Shane Victorino
161 Alex Rodriguez
183 Carlos Zambrano
BCP77 Steve Lombardozzi
BCP73 Joe Serafini
BT97 Clayton Kershaw '92
BP109 Jaff Decker
BP52 Sheng-An Kuo
49 Clayton Kershaw gold useless

Clayton Kershaw hot pack! Sadly for Night Owl, he has the gold already and I think I'm going to collect the '92s. gcrl will one day benefit from my hatred of gold cards when O get around to putting together a package for him again.

Pack 3

213 Brandon Allen RC
91 Ryan Dempster
188 Jacoby Ellsbury
164 Rick Porcello
BCP60 Neil Medchill
BCP79 Eric Farris Purplefractor
TP37 Thomas Neal
BP45 JJ Hoover
BP32 Eric Niesen
27 Adam Dunn gold useless

This is my first Purplefractor, when I said I got one in this post I goofed. For some reason I got my gold refractor and my purple refractor mixed up. Even though it looked gold in the scan, my mind lied to me and said "no, that's your Purplefractor, dummy, it must have just scanned weird. Lack of sleep + stress is not your friend. JJ Hoover is a Braves prospect who is having a lot of success in the minors this year. 

Pack 4
50 Prince Fielder
89 Wandy Rodriguez
177 Roy Oswalt
184 Erick Aybar
BCP30 Dent Ryan Dent
USA-BC13 Brad Miller USA
BT84 Adam Dunn '92
BP27 Craig Clark
BP18 Pedro Ciriaco
42 Scott Rolen gold useless

You know, Bryce Harper is in this USA Baseball insert set. Yet, despite having been just as hyped as Strasburg, not a single person has gome completely bugshit crazy over his card. All this prospect crap is pure 100% manufactured hype and we're buyin' what they're sellin. Sorry to kill your Bowman Buzz, but I told you this was a shame blaster right there in the title. Why didn't you believe me?

Pack 5
113 Nelson Cruz
181 Neftali Feliz
172 Ichiro
BCP13 Jeff Antigua
BCP21 Luis Exposito
BE16 Andrew McCutcheon/Jose Tabata Bowman Expectations
TP23 Brandon Allen Topps 100
BP9 Nick Santomauro
BP4 Tyler Henley
99 Brade Hawpe gold useless
Checklist 3 of 5

The Bowman 100 and '92 throw backs combine at one per pack, so when you get one of the double sided inserts you get a second insert in the pack. Or conversely, you only get three base cards. Andrew McCutcheon is a heckuva player. a common complaint on the AJC Braves blog is that we traded for McLouth instead of McCutcheon. Well, DUH - The Pirates traded McLouth specifically to give Andrew a spot in the bigs. Sometimes my fellow Braves fans disappoint me.

Pack 6

128 Alex Gordon
171 JA Happ
179 Jorge De La Rosa
BCP5 Andrew Cashner
BCP39 Edinson Rincon
BE12 Ubaldo Jimenez/Tyler Matzek Bowman Expectations
BT53 Johan Santana '92
BP59 Randall Delgado
BP68 Hak-Ju Lee
33 Magglio Ordonez gold useless

Arodys Vizcaino, Julio Teheran and Randall Delgado. Three big-time blue chip pitching prospects coming up all at the same time. Even if acoupleof them falter, one of them is bound to become an Ace for the Braves. This can't possibly fail!!!

Pack 7
140 Dustin Pedroia
141 Justin Masterson
186 Felix Hernandez
182 Yunel Escobar
BCP65 Brian Pellegrini
BCP100 Starlin Castro
TP 12 Carlos Santana
BP76 James Beresford
BP 87 Wilmer Font
68 Carlos Beltran gold useless

Pack 8
125 Chipper Jones
88 Dan Uggla
168 Josh Johnson
176 Denard Span
BCP94 Chad Jenkins
USA-BC5 Gerrit Cole
BT61 Joey Votto
BP94 Chad Jenkins
BP100 Starlin Castro
29 Robinson Cano gold useless

Here's the third Chipper I pulled. After buying the base card out of a 50 cent box because I was never ever going to buy any packs of this crap, I pull a chipper in my first rack pack and my first blaster. Bowman mocks me and my pathetic plans. This Chad Jenkins guy pitched for Kennesaw state which is neat.

There is my shame, laid naked for all to see. 20 bucks for a Blaster and not a Heyward to be seen. Although compared to some of the other stinkeroo blasters I got this is a shining beacon on a hill. Those are posts for another day however.

Bowman is mocking me

 CURSE YOU TOPPS

Ever since I broke down in shame and bought a blaster of Bowman I've totally fallen off the wagon completely and picked up some packs as well. I haven't gone completely off the rails like some people, but I've gotten about 8 packs and a few racks in addition to the blaster. All I want is a damn Jason Heyward, but the magic Bowman goblins keep putting good stuff in my packs that I can't complain about without looking like a total douche, but which are definitely not Jason Heyward. Some people get Jason Heyward in their first damn pack. Here's the highlights of my drunken regretful Bowman binge.

As you can see, I forgot to click on the 'descreening' option again. My bad. 

Surprise! I pulled a Chippah out of a pack! Yesh, I know, shocking. Problem is, two weeks ago back before I succumbed to my evil primal instincts I bought the Chipper out of a 50 cent box because I would never ever buy any crappy Bowman. So now, I have two. Oops, make that three, I pulled another one later on.

This is really cool, a Julio Teheran base and Chrome. Julio is one of the Braves' big three pitching prospects and is currently kicking some ass in High A Myrtle Beach. So far in 12 games with Rome and Myrtle Beach he's 4-3 with a 1.39 ERA, .939 WHIP, 82 strikeouts in 71 and a third innings and a 5.47 strikeout to walk ratio. Oh, also he's 19 years old. These Chrome cards curl all up to hell though.

Freddie! I really want the Heyward Topps 100 card, but I'll definitely take the Freddie. Freeman is the guy who is expected to finally shut the revolving door at first base on the Braves in 2011 or maybe 2012. We're happy with Troy Glaus right now, thanks, but if Troy re-signs to take over third after Chipper retires this offseason we'll see what Frederick can do. Yes, you read that last sentence right, and no I don't want to discuss it.

Grand slam dude, yeehaw. These Chrome cards are pretty pathetic. Half of them are all curled up like a Pringle, there is no etching like on other Chrome cards and they pick up fingerprints instantly. They don't scan worth a flip, either, but we all knew that.

A blue bordered card of a guy named Green. Heh. Blue borders are 1:29 packs so a low level hit I suppose. Grant Green was the 1st round pick of the A's in 2009 and is hitting over .300 in A ball so pretty good I guess. We'll find out in five years or so insert noncommittal remark here. Atlanta Sports cards has a whole bunch of blue and orange bordered Bowmans in their 25 cent box if anyone cares.

Yup, got an autograph before I pulled a Heyward. This was from a rack pack. Group A odds are 1:17 packs so autos are not that difficult to pull it seems. Justin Bristow was taken in the 5th round by the Cubs in 2008. His stats don't look all that spectacular to me. Eh what do I know. He's a Cub, some Cub fan trade me a Heyward for this thing and get it out of my house.

I can hear some of you asking if I pulled a certain pitcher. Just be patient.

Purple refractors look AWESOME except when you scan them, then they look like any other refractor. This one's Purple, I promise. Edinson Rincon is a third baseman in A ball for the Padres. I know, I know, you want to see something else. Wait for it.

Yep, I pulled TWO autographs before I got even one Heyward. How lucky am I. Not too lucky actually, these retail autos fall 1:24 packs which is ridiculously easy for retail. It is actually harder to pull a Blue Border or plain refractor than it is an auto. Also easier to pull than one lousy Heyward, dammit. JUST ONE. I've already been to all the local card shops, everyone's sold out of Heywards. I just want one stinkin' Heyward. Oh yeah, the card. Zach Simons is a relief pitcher. I know nothing else about him because his Baseball-Reference minors page keeps giving me a 500 internal server error and all the other minor league site out there have no stats or are buggy or have pop-ups or all three.

Ok, ok, quit yelling here's what you all wanted to see.

Yep, I pulled the Golden Child before my beloved Heyward. Chrome version, even. I told you the Bowman goblins were dead set on tormenting me. Before you all start demanding I put this on eBay rightnow let me inform you that it came out of the pack damaged. There are three dings on the back and a weird line of glue or something. It ain't Gem Mint is what I'm saying so I don't even want to bother. I'll put it in a toploader and stash it with my other phenom rookies, like Tom Brady, Lebron James and Brien Taylor.

All that and no J-Hey. I am disappoint. I've already ripped the blaster, it was legit, but no Heyward. I'm trying to show restraint and save my pennies for Ginter but the sickness is upon me. Must... not... buy... more... Bowman...

Oh who the hell am I kidding...



I'M COMING FOR YA HEYWARD! I'LL FIND YOU SOON!

A little Bowman help, please

I am a hypocrite. I've been screaming to the heavens for a month that Bowman is a crappy set that Topps ruined years ago. I've been dissuading people from buying it because the 'real Strasburg rookie' will be coming out soon (HA!!!) and then everyone will forget about his first Bowman card. I've been bemoaning the fact that the base cards are pretty much filler in this set*. So tonight I went out to Wal-Mart and bought a blaster because I'm a hypocrite.

Don't go to Wal-Mart when you're hungry or when you're pissed off at the current state of baseball cards. I was hungry tonight and I got a bunch of food I didn't really need. I was pissed off at Topps so I buy... Bowman. Real smart there. I should have just bought some Upper Deck instead, oh wait.  Blowout Cards probably swayed my decision a bit also. I was searching through the deals this weekend and found that they are selling blasters for $37.99. I mean, that's just ludicrous. So basically my thought process was: "This #$%! store still doesn't have ANY baseball cards newer than Attax except friggin Bowman, and at least I'm kinda sorta getting that almost half off when you think about it".


I know, that's BS reasoning and I'm still a hypocrite. A hypocrite with a blaster to open at least.

I have a problem, though which is the reason for this post. I got the box home and panicked a little. You see, the shrinkwrap looks a little off. It's sealed very thickly on the sides to the point where the cashier had to stretch the wrap just to be able to scan the barcode. I don't want to end up with a damn repack box that was opened, filled with 1994 Upper Deck Bip Roberts cards and resealed. With the Strasburg Mania going on I wouldn't put it past someone to do that.

The rest of the box looks ok I guess. it feels heavy like there are 8 packs in there. There is a $19.98 sticker on the wrap. The plastic has 5 of those little blue Topps logos printed on it. I thought there were usually more, but I don't have another wrap to compare at the moment.

If anyone has opened a Bowman Blaster recently or has an unopened one can you tell me if this looks legit or did I just get ripped off? I'm probably just being paranoid because I'm in such a bad mood right now, but I don't want to open the thing up if it's a scam job. I'd rather just return it unopened and exchange it for something else. God knows what else I could exhange it for, there's literally no other baseball there except Topps Series 1 and Attax starters.

If you all think it's legit I'll do a live break tomorrow afternoon so you all can follow along and see just how bad a product this really is.


*Atlanta Sports Card has** a 5000 count monster box FULL of Bowman base for $30 if you're interested.

**Well, had one as of a week ago.

2010 Bowman Review

I calls 'em likes I sees 'em, and this is how I sees 'em.

1909 T206

1934-6 Diamond Stars

1941 Play Ball

1953 Topps

1960 Topps

1972 Topps

1983 Topps

1991 Stadium Club

2001 Topps Heritage

2006 Allen & Ginter

2010 Bowman

This review based upon:

$5.00+ pack prices and rising
Piles and piles of discarded base cards in cheapo boxes
A truckload of new inserts for no goddamn reason
The exact same boring ass black border they've used with slight variations for over a decade
A 220 card set so you get the same 3 players per team (6 for the New York and Boston markets) that's in every single set produced this year
Something like 4 actual base cards per pack so you need two or three boxes to even have a chance at a set
Half the pack chewed up by regular and Chrome prospect/not rookie things that make a travishamockery of the RC rookie logo designation.
Gold parallel cards. NO ONE WANTS THESE
Topps using bootleg crap Chrome stock in the only set where Chrome really matters
The Steven Strasburg card everyone's losing their shit over won't even be considered his 'true' rookie card by the end of summer.

Yeah, there's a good rookie crop in Bowman for the first time in a decade. Oh, and on-card autos. I concede those points.

If you really want the Heyward, or the Chapman, or the Jackson, or even the Strasburg, you'd be FAR better off just buying the damn card instead of rolling the dice and buying overpriced packs hoping to pull one. Or just wait a year and buy a box for under $50. You think box prices for a set with Strasburg autos could never drop that low? Ahem.

Bowman needs to die. Painfully. Bowman Chrome? Good idea. Bowman Draft & Prospects? Good idea. Filler base set that ends up in the bin with the wrappers? Watered down rookie crop put together too early in the season to get a comprehensive rookie class? A bunch of prospect cards that will be hot now and cool off as soon as a 'real' rookie card hits the presses? Oh, and autograph cards that are part of the base set? Die Die Die Die. Yesterday.

Bowman is a useless set and has been for years. Don't get caught up in the perfect storm of a good rookie crop, an exclusive license and collectors driven mad from boredom. You'll regret it later.

For more lovlies like my Bowman representative, check out this wonderful website for hours of amusement.