I'll go ahead and say that Topps really screwed up on Bowman Draft Picks this year. It's usually a crowd pleaser (at least those into prospecting and rookie cards) but they really delivered a clunker this year.
The black border on the base prospect cards looks terrible. Why did they tinker with what worked with the regular Bowman release in May? I thought the prospect cards looked fine then and I thought the general consensus was kind of in line with my opinion.
There are no Orange bordered parallel or International parallels like there were with the regular Bowman release. Even the gold bordered parallels are only found in retail packs. It just doesn't create continuity between the 2 releases. Maybe that's what Topps is shooting for? If that's the case, then change the design completely!
The numbering system is completely screwy this go around. The regular base set (all MLB Rookies) are numbered 1 through 110. There is no prefix this time around like BDP or BD or anything like that. Just plain 1 through 110. So concievably at some show, a person not knowing any better would look through some boxes and pick out both regular Bowman and regular Draft picks and make a set combining the 2. Makes no sense. But, the Prospect cards all carry the normal BDPP prefixes just like in past years.
The Kolten Wong numbering situation: Overall Kolten is supposed to be card #BDPP90 in the base Prospects set and base Chrome Prospects set. HAHA, not even close. F-up #1: In the base Prospects set, he is numbered BDPP91 so that makes 2 versions of #BDPP91: Kolten Wong and William Abreu. F-up #2: In the base Chrome set he has the right card #90 but the prefix is BDP, not BDPP like it should be.
A weird thing about the card backs that I noticed. On Dylan Bundy's base and chrome prospect card it says that he is the Orioles #1 pick from this years draft. On the back of all his autograph cards, he is the Orioles #4 pick. Apparently all the autograph cards show the actual draft position that he was taken by that team and the regular prospect cards show the number pick he was of his team. It's kind of stupid they would do this. To make matters worse, there are shady ebay sellers getting premium prices for these "error cards".
The picture quality of the cards is laughable especially on 2 of the top picks the aforementioned Dylan Bundy and Archie Bradley. Regular plain-jane mugshots work for Pannini and Leaf and unlicensed crap but not for a mainstream release like Bowman Draft Picks!
There are several cards that the photoshop job is just horrible like Taylor Jungmann (look at my autograph card a few posts back. The angle on his hat is just all wrong!) I'm willing to forgive that but there are not 1, not 2, not 3, but 4 players photoshopped into the wrong uniform. John Hicks is shown as a Diamondback but is actually a Mariner. John is also shown as a pitcher when he really plays catcher. Levi Michael is pictured as a Ranger but is actually a Twin. Mike Wright (above) is pictured as a National but is an Oriole. Dan Gamache is shown as a twin but is actually a Pirates player. These errors are just plain lazy. I don't like the photoshopping of pictures in the first place so this brings out the glaring weakness of the whole process. Wrong position is one thing but the wrong team is just unforgivable. Do some damn research for the players you put on your cards!
Another gripe about the product is that the Aflac autograph cards aren't numbered and it supposedly makes them easy to fake. I've never gotten one so I don't know too much about this problem but it shows how rushed Topps was to get this product out the door.
Everybody has seen the box art either in the Target card aisle or on an online card retailers website. Mariners rookie Michael Pineda is shown in an action shot throwing a pitch. HE IS NOT ANYWHERE TO BE FOUND IN THE PRODUCT! Why not put Mike Trout or Mike Moustakas on the box art?
So to sum it all up in one sentance:
TOPPS REALLY PUT OUT A STEAMING PILE OF CRAP AND CALLED IT BOWMAN DRAFT PICKS!
