[Baseball Nut]

It is difficult to evaluate any product based on a singlepack. That problem is compoundedwhen the product is “High Risk, High Reward” because you don’t get a good senseof how well the risk is distributed. For 2011 Bowman Sterling Football, I only opened a single mini-box offive cards so while I can talk about the design and my impressions of the hitsreceived, the majority of this review will involve a break down of the checklistand a scouring of several message boards with other people’s box break resultsto try and get a feel for the expectations you should have when purchasing abox.


Bowman Sterling Football comes in at the high end of ourpremium cards category. Each hobbybox contains 6 mini-boxes with 5 cards each and a box topper bonus card. Each mini-box should yield 1 Autographand 2 Relic Cards.


Here are the 5 cards we pulled from our mini-box.

Tandon Doss, not numbered, and Brooks Reed Ruby Refractor #/299


Edmund Gates Relic, not numbered.



Titus Young Blue Refractor Autograph #/99



Cecil Shorts III Pulsar refractor Relic #/15


Overall Look

This is solid design along the lines of Premium andFinest. There was some slightbowing on the two base cards but the hits were nicely laid out and constructionseems solid except for the askew sticker placement on the Titus YoungAutograph. The pulsar refractorsfit really well with the other types of refractors.

Quality and Variety of Players

The base set is made up of 50 rookies who did not make it tothe Premiere with standouts being Roy Helu, Ryan Kerrigan, J.J. Watt, JeremyKerley, T.J. Yates and Denarius Moore. On average, 4 out of the 6 autographs will come from a checklist ofabout 70 players that include non-Premiere and Premiere rookies with a handfulof veterans that include Ahmad Bradshaw, Arian Foster, Malcom Floyd, MarshawnLynch, and Peyton Manning. The vastmajority of the relic and autograph relic hits come from the 36 Premiererookies.

Do the Hits satisfy?

If it were just based on this box alone, it would be a toughcall. On the plus side, the pulsarrefractor is stunning plus the addition of a blue refractor auto provides themakings of a superior box, but Cecil Shorts III... well... at least he has acool name and Titus Young and Edmund Gates seem to pop out of almost every boxwe open. But that is our luck ofthe draw, not everybody’s. Any ofthe ultra desirable names and booklet cards will provide an awesome hit worthyof the hunt. From what I’ve seen,the box topper dual hits are nice too.

Will you keep coming back for more?

Our box shows the “risk” part of the “High Risk, HighReward” equation. But based on thevarious breaks out there this seems to fall within the normal odds of this typeof product. Rookie prospectors willing to roll the dice on this one will wantto spread the risk over a minimum of a hobby box, f not a case to increasetheir chances of a hitting a low numbered card with the right player on it.

Rating


4 out of 5

2011 Bowman Sterling Football can provide the big hits youare seeking but some patience getting there will be required.



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[bobjah]

Wow great looking cards really like these great review