Understanding Bowman

[kestrel40]

New to this hobby, as my 11 year old son has kind of pulled me into it. We like collecting Bowman cards, but are having a lot of trouble differentiating the different types of cards (e.g., parallel, refractors, colors, etc.). Is there any guide or website that shows examples of what all the different cards are? I actually messaged Bowman on Facebook and they told me "don't know of any" and to google it. That was very helpful of the manufacturer!

Thanks to anyone that can provide some insight.

[ucffans]

Parallels are usually cards that have the same photo, but a different color border - sometimes bright orange, camo, etc.

Relics usually has some type of jersey, ball, bat in/on it and are commonly referred to as Game Used cards.

As far as difference between refractors and parallels - not sure. Hopefully someone can educate me too!

[87hokie]

Parallels are sometimes listed on the back of the wrapper - usually where they print odds of getting them. An easier place to decipher that info is sometimes a parallel is listed on the manufacturer's website where they publish the checklist.

Sometimes you can find a picture on ebay although with the exception of finding a given color variation it can be difficult to find examples of the different metallic finishes.

IF you click to the home page of THIS Forum's site from your tool bar - you can search for checklists of specific years by manufacturers (this is provided of course that the connection staff received it from their source. He usually lists the parallels at the beginning of a section when he has them.

Also in general a refractor is a different parallel.

In sets like Bowman where the cards are basic photo finishes a refractor will have a metallic finish to the photo...difficult to put into words - if you see one beside the base card it is obvious.

In sets like the Bowman Chrome sets the refractor has a different way that the metallic finish reflects the light - again describing is difficult a side by side comparison is needed - photo examples of a base vs base refractor generally are not very good - the different colors like blue refractors vs orange etc is the color of the foil used

[kestrel40]

But then there's different types of refractors - wave, ice for example. I see the odds on the back of the wrappers, but have a tough time matching up those descriptions to the cards in my hands. Seems like somewhere, someone would have a guide with either pictures or accurate descriptions. I've gone to e-bay and see what some post there, but some are obviously incorrect and leads me to question whether I can even rely on some descriptions. Whose to say these people know better than me? I've watched box breaks on this site (I think) and you tube, and it seems like some of the dealers aren't sure either. Quite frustrating.