Box Break: 2010 Bowman Draft Picks and Prospects

I'll start off this box break by saying that Bowman Draft picks has been one of my favorite products for the past 8 or 9 years now. This year is no exception because this is the best box I've busted in a while! A lot of people are not fans of the Bowman line in general because of the so called "same old boring black border" design and the lineup of players that nobody cares about. I guess that is where I differ from others because I like seeing the draft picks and prospects on their first cards. For some players it may be their only card because most minor leaguers never sniff the majors.

Bowman Draft Picks for years has basically been Bowman series 2 and I don't know why Topps doesn't brand it that way. It would do wonders to alleviate the confusing numbering system that has been used for the last few years. The Prospects insert set has a numbering system that runs halfway across the card: BDPP##. It just looks a little silly in my eye.

So enough of my blithering and blabbering about what I like and how I would fix the Bowman brand. Let see what I got out of the box:

I'm not going to scan any of the normal cards, everyone knows what they look like.

I got my normal assortment of base cards, 47 of the 110 in the set. they come 2 to a pack so Not bad I guess. I didn't get any doubles. Notable Rookies: Heyward, Strasburg, Stanton, Santana, Castro, and Bumgarner

For the regular prospects I got 72 of the 110 in the set. These come 3 to a pack and didn't get an doubles. I got a lot of the highly touted (and drafted) guys from this years class. Notables: Taillon, Machado (O's Top Pick), Colon, Sale, Lee, Harvey, DeShields, Grandal, and Brentz

Onto the the base Chrome I got 19 of the 110 cards in the set. Ouch, good thing I'm not building this set! I didn't get any big name players except for Carlos Santana. No doubles

The Propects Chrome was a little better. I got 24 of the 110 cards in the set. Notables: Taillon, Lipka, and Zach Lee. No doubles.

Now onto the good stuff. I destroyed the odds when it came to my refractors and autographs.

I got one regular refractor: (1:11 packs)Vance Worley

One Chrome Prospect Refractor: (1:11 packs) Justin O'Connor

I got one blue bordered parallel: (1:20 packs)Mike Dunn #'d 236/399.

I got one Blue Refractor: (1:40 Packs) JASON HEYWARD!!!!!

I love this card. It's numbered 3/199. I would have called this box a success had this been my only "hit"! It looks so much better in person. I haven't decided what to do with it yet.

I was a little nervous about my promised autograph card because of my experience last month with Bowman Chrome. My mind was put at ease when I got this:

USA Autograph Lucas Sims (1:216 packs). Yep! A CASE HIT. I was ecstatic when I pulled this card. I don't ever remember getting a one per case card!

I was happy to finish out my packs not expecting any other hits in the last 5 or 6 packs. I was very excited to get this card:

Autographed Chrome Prospect Zach Lee (1:38 packs). I guess all of the bad Juju I had from Bowman Chrome is gone! It's signed on card which is a plus and it is mostly flawless (scratches are on the toploader or penny sleeve). Now, I wonder if some other collector will be short an autographed card from their box because of my good fortune? I know how I felt last month when my Chrome box was shorted the promised hit and I wouldn't wish that bad luck on anybody. I hope this isn't the case and that the USA auto I got was an extra bonus hit for being the lucky 1 out of the 12 box case.

I would have to give this box an A. Even though I only pulled one Oriole for the PC, I'm still happy as a loon right now. While I am far from completing the set I still enjoyed my purchase. For the price I paid ( $50 after free shipping, discount coupons, and also being on sale) at Dave and Adam's I definitely made out like a bandit! I also must give Topps a little credit because the Chrome cards weren't extruded from a paper towel roll unlike other chrome releases this year. They lay mostly flat and all have nearly perfect centering. Maybe they have heard the cries of collectors and have corrected these mistakes and 2011 will be a much better year quality wise (I hope!) I might try my luck with a blaster or 2 to work on the set or buy a complete base and prospects set off of eBay. I haven't decided yet.