2011 Bowman Baseball, An All About Cards Review

[Baseball Nut]

Last year “the” baseball card to pull was Stephen Strasburg, this year it is Bryce Harper. Harper’s Bowman Chrome Red Auto #/5 cards have been selling at auction for between $5,000 and $6,000. But what if you are a collector just looking for a set of cards to chase. Are Bowman Baseball cards like an artichoke, a lot of peeling and discarding to get to a small morsel of goodness? Not really. For the person who purchases cards and actually plans on holding onto them, Bowman Baseball is more like a Smorgasbord, a buffet of different card types, colors and variations that will keep you coming back for seconds.



This set falls under our classification of trading cards. 2011 Bowman Baseball can be found in a variety of retail configurations and in Hobby Box form, which contain 24 – 10 card packs and features one autographed Bowman Chrome in every box.


We should also point out that last year’s Bowman was the winner of our All About Cards 2010 Sports Card Award for Best Baseball Trading cards


Here is a look at some of the cards we pulled from our hobby box.


From the base sets

Evan Longoria base card, front and back


Andrew Romine rookie Card, front and back



Bryce Harper prospects base, front and back


Brandon Belt Bowman Chrome, front and back

From the inserts

Mark Teixeira and Ubaldo Jimenez Bowman's Best


Michael Pineda and Dee Gordon Bowman's Best Prospects


Topps of the Class


Bowman's Brightest


Finest Futures


Topps 100

The hits from the box

Ian Kinsler and Yunesky Maya International Backgrounds


Albert Pujols and Joey Votto Gold


Adrian Gonzalez Blue #/500


Troy Tulowitzki Orange #/250

Jurickson Profar International Background


Bryce Harper and Dee Gordon Bowman Chrome


Kyle Russell Bowman Chrome #/799


Lars Anderson Bowman Chrome Auto #/500


Rick Hague Blue Bowman Chrome Auto #/ 150

Overall Look

Bowman has always had a straightforward design. Chrome cards are sharp and inserts are where most of the design elements come into play.

Quality and Variety of Players and Subsets.

The best of the MLB and a variety of primed prospects and young hopefuls make for a good mix.

Do the hits hold up?

For the most part you are looking for autographs in a rainbow variety of numbered colors. Hitting a Bryce is like hitting the lottery if you are in the business of flipping your cards. For collectors with patience, in a few years you might have an as of yet undiscovered gem if you hold onto your cards.

Will you want to collect them all?

Some might not consider this a set to build, but it is a nice group of cards to chase.

Rating

4 1/2 out of 5

2011 Bowman Baseball delivers again, working on a bunch of different levels for a wide variety of card collectors.



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