Christmas Came Early

Since 2017, my Dad and I have had a tradition of purchasing a hobby box of Bowman's Best in time for the holidays, mainly because the release is timed perfectly (it's either the Wednesday or Friday before Christmas).

Our first box back in 2017 didn't deliver anything too noteworthy, especially as far as autographs are concerned, but that didn't deter us from continuing the following year. The checklist of the 2018 release was so spectacular that it seemed likely that we'd pull something fabulous.

And we did. First, there was the phenomenal box from Christmas Day, 2018; then, we lucked out again a little while later.

Though the product went up in price between releases, Bowman's Best will forever rank as one of my favorite sets in that it combines everything I like into a cohesive melting pot of chrome glory.

The checklist features both rookies and veterans as well as this year's top prospects. The design is always quite modern and features a range of different parallels.

There are typically 4 quality insert sets, including one that pays homage to a previous Bowman's Best design, and a dynamic autograph checklist to finish things off.

Even though we won't be celebrating Christmas for another week, Bowman's Best was actually released today, 7 days before I was set to open up a box of it and continue the tradition.

For whatever reason, my Dad wanted to get a box on release day as an early Christmas gift, so he got to the card shop as they opened today and saw the owner open the case before his very eyes; then, he chose the box and just like that, we had a hobby box of one of my all-time favorite products.

Similar to 2018, the designs differ slightly from veterans/rookies to prospects, but the main idea remains consistent. The cards are ultra-modern, just as they've been in the past, with the prospects having more of an intricate design compared to the "splatter paint-esque" style of the vets/rookies.

Because of how similar the 2 variations are, it's hard to pick a clear-cut favorite, but I happen to like the extra splash of color on the Ohtani card over the more futuristic details on Franco's.

Each 5-card pack guarantees one base refractor, a card that looks much more stunning in-person than scanned and shown on a computer.

Because of how common they are, you end up with a wide variety of non-numbered refractors, 12 to be exact, when all is said and done, including a healthy mix of prospects, rookies, and veterans.

As far as the latter of the 3 is concerned, I can't complain about ending up with not 1 but 2 Red Sox stars. Mookie Betts, who's coming off another impressive season and is now entering a period of uncertainty regarding his future, and Xander Bogaerts, who seems to just keep on improving year after year.

From a value standpoint, however, the best of the refractors would likely be the Pete Alonso rookie shown above. I have no idea what the value is for these cards, though being 1 per pack probably ensures that it's nothing too crazy.

With that being said, I'm growing increasingly fond of the set design and while I prefer Tatis Jr in the long run, there's no denying that Pete Alonso is an incredibly special player. I just wish my scanner did these cards more justice.

As I mentioned, there's a small handful of insert sets featured in Bowman's Best each year, and my hobby box gave me a sampling of all of them.

Though I liked seeing Power Producers (right) return for the 2nd consecutive year, I took particular interest in the Future Foundations die-cuts shown on the left.

I'm not sure if Topps' goal was to have the card resemble the building blocks that make up a foundation, but that's what I got from the cards nonetheless.

Neophyte sensations is another returning insert set from 2018 but with more of a modern vibe this time around. If someone hadn't seen these cards before, they'd be very difficult to explain, but I like what Topps has done, nevertheless.

In comparing them with last year's design, I think I'll give the 2019 cards a slight edge only because I think all the minor details come together better than they did beforehand.

My favorite inserts, undeniably, would have to be the 1999 Franchise Favorites recreates in which Topps pays homage to a beautiful insert set design from 20 years ago.

In this version, players from '99 as well as today's active stars and prospects are featured in the checklist. There are also autographed versions that serve as case hits.

The favorable pack odds (1:3 packs) allowed me to end up with 4 of these Franchise Favorites cards by the end of the box break, including Vlad Jr, Joey Bart, and Chipper Jones.

Another benefit of purchasing Bowman's Best is the lower print run when compared with sets like Topps Chrome and maybe even Finest. This production is what allows for there to be at least 1 numbered card per box as well as the guaranteed atomic refractor.

Forrest Whitley isn't a guy I know a lot about, but the same certainly cannot be said about Kris Bryant. His stock may not be as high as it was 2-3 years ago, but he'd still be one of my first choices along with other Red Sox and Cubs players.

Atomic inserts fall at approximately 5 per 8-box case, so the odd's are in your favor to end up with one of them in an individual box. Luckily for me, that ended up happening, and towards the middle of the break, this gorgeous Ken Griffey Jr insert was mine.

I don't think this card would've been the same if they'd shown Griffey Jr on the Reds instead of the Mariners. There's something about the Seattle jersey with the atomic refractor design that simply cannot be matched by any other card product.

That's what makes Bowman's Best such a special product for me. No other set delivers such beautiful and creative cards, not to mention reasonable odds of pulling them, as far as Topps is concerned.

I can't believe I've gone on this long without even getting to the autographs yet, so I promise I'll wrap up the post fairly quickly. Because of the fact that you get 4 autos per box, not every one of them is going to be a star player. I've learned that from my previous few years of Bowman's Best.

Furthermore, 3/4 of the guys are usually prospects, so the best you can hope for without being unreasonable is position players that could potentially blossom into the next big thing. Who knows? That could happen with Greg Jones and/or Owen Miller.

There's usually some sort of base (non-numbered) refractor auto as well, though the scanner has once again caused the card to resemble a superfractor more so than a refractor parallel.

As I mentioned, a box of Best guarantees 4 autographs, meaning I have 1 left to show off. Throughout this post, I haven't alluded to any kind of massive pull; rather, I've spent my time addressing a product that I absolutely adore.

However, it's worth mentioning now that the following card is, undoubtedly, the greatest pull of my entire life.

I pulled this card roughly 5 hours ago, shaking as I placed it into a penny sleeve and top loader. Even now, it still seems totally surreal; I truly cannot fathom that this actually happened. I cannot believe that I have a Mike Trout autograph in my collection.

And not just any Mike Trout autograph, an atomic refractor, numbered 8/25 and something that you can't get out of any other Topps product.

Though he's on the autograph checklist every year, I always thought the Trout autos would only end up in the hands of lucky collectors on Twitter and case breakers.

Well, I guess I'm one of those lucky Twitter collectors now, and after a year of "meh" pulls from hobby boxes, this Trout auto truly makes it all worth it.

Yeah, I'm still kind of in shock, so I don't have a whole lot to say, but I do intend to get this card graded ASAP. When it comes to a card of this magnitude, it's only right to have it permanently protected.

And as if my past pulls hadn't given me enough of a reason to love Bowman's Best, this Trout autograph did the job a million times over.

Christmas' Best

In what has started to become a Christmas day tradition, my Dad and I opened up a box of 2018 Bowman's Best yesterday after it was released last Friday, a mere 4 days before Christmas day.

Last year was the first time I had ever opened Bowman's Best when we grabbed a box of the 2017 set. It was a totally different experience than any other box of cards I had ever opened before. I'm not used to this high-end of a set, so I didn't fully know what to expect. I did fairly well last year, but nothing too special. This time, I was looking to step it up.

When I opened the box yesterday, I had a much better idea on what to expect than I did the year before. Not only did I know how the mini boxes worked with 2 autos per mini box and 2 boxes in the master box, but I had also seen the set design in breaks on YouTube as well. 

As always, there's a definite modern approach to the set with a silver, sleek design and some color in the background as well. Last years' cards were definitely more colorful, but that also made the numbered refractors less special. Therefore, I must say that I'm more fond of the 2018 product.

The 5th card of each 5-card pack is guaranteed to be a refractor of either a prospect or rookie/veteran. The rookies and vets take up around 75 spots in the checklist while there are roughly 30 prospects. This means that you don't have to be super knowledgeable on prospects to appreciate the set since most of the base set consists of current MLB players.

I always have to take note of how many Red Sox cards I'm able to pull from any box break, and Bowman's Best delivered some pretty nice cards. I may not have pulled a much-desired Craig Kimbrel, but base cards of Betts, Benintendi, and J.D. Martinez came my way along with some inserts that I'll show off later on.

Unlike 2017 where the player name was moved to the other side of the card, this years' Bowman's Best prospect cards look vastly different when compared to the veteran and rookie base set. 

The background is still ultra-modern but in a more colorful and detailed way. There's far less separating the player name from the rest of the card, and as a whole, the prospect cards are different yet similar to the base cards at the same time, a very good trait in my opinion.

The 1 refractor card per pack can also be a prospect instead of a rookie/veteran, but they're a bit less common due to there being just 30 prospect base cards. However, the smaller checklist nor my limited knowledge of prospects would stop me from pulling a couple standout prospect refractors. The first is the Brendan McKay card above, a top pick from last years' draft, while the 2nd is at the top of this post; Vladimir Guerrero Jr.

In yet another way that this years' Bowman's Best set is similar to last years', the 2018 product features an insert set that pays homage to an insert set in a past Bowman's Best product. Last year, they recreated the '97 Best Cuts cards, but this year, they went with the '98 Best Performers which can also be autographed, the case hit of this product.

There was a wide range of players that I pulled with 1 retired, 2 current stars, and 1 prospect. Of the 4, both the Jose Canseco and the Didi Gregorius are available for trade.

Early Indications is a pretty standard prospect insert set, indicating that the players within the checklist have the ability to become stars in the coming years. It's nothing to write home about, but I was able to pull a couple well-respected prospects; the #3 pick in the 2017 MLB Draft, MacKenzie Gore, and one of the prospects traded to the Dodgers for Puig and Kemp, Jeter Downs.

As far as the insert set designs go, the Power Producers would have to be my favorite of the bunch. I'm not sure if the set is limited to just prospects, but the 2 guys that I pulled are both minor leaguers. First up is another Red Sox, 3rd baseman Triston Casas while on the right, we have 2-way talent Brendan McKay who is seen hitting this time due to the set being called Power Producers.

In 2017, I pulled a purple refractor of Amed Rosario as my 1 numbered refractor of the box, back when he was still a prospect. This year, I pulled a beautiful-looking purple refractor of Cody Bellinger, numbered 95/250. 

I haven't seen any other colored refractors from the set in-person besides purple, but I have no doubt they look fantastic. As of now, I plan on adding this to my Cody Bellinger player collection, but my mind could be changed by the right trade offer.

Each box guarantees you 1 atomic refractor base card of either a prospect or a veteran/rookie, and I don't think I could've done any better than Mike Trout with the possible exception of Shohei Ohtani and Ronald Acuña Jr. Trout's been a top 3 player in Baseball for years now, spending a good deal of time arguably at the #1 spot. He's the face of the game, and I know this card will be a fabulous addition to my Trout player collection.

So you've seen insert cards and the atomic refractor, but the luck didn't end there. In fact, the 2 previously mentioned cards combined and the result was nothing short of stunning.

Falling at 2 per 8-box case, the 1998 Best Performers atomic refractors look absolutely breathtaking, both in-person and when scanned. I haven't taken an in-depth look at the checklist, but it's hard to find for me to find a player I'd rather have in this design than Pedro Martinez. Usually, I'm not too crazy about insert parallels since I see them as a way for Topps to make more money, but for these, I'll make an exception.

I'm also willing to make an exception for the Neophyte Sensations card as well after pulling my 2nd atomic insert refractor of a Red Sox player. This time around, it's Rafael Devers, representing the Red Sox in this rookie-based insert set. 

As far as I know, the odds of pulling an atomic refractor from this insert set is extremely low, since one can't even expect a regular insert card from this set in a hobby box (the odds are 1:18 packs, and you get 12 packs per box).

However, despite the seemingly endless possibilities for inserts and refractors, the main draw to Bowman's Best is the 4 guaranteed on-card autographs per box. Last year, the best autos pulled were Blake Rutherford and a Jake Burger refractor. Let's see how I do this time around.

The first of the 2 mini boxes didn't deliver the biggest names, but I could've done worse. The Connor Scott card has its perks because he's a position player while the Grayson Rodriguez is at least a refractor and not a base auto. As always, the blue sharpie used for on-card chrome autographs looks fantastic, though it wasn't the best start to the box as far as autographs go.

After that, the bar was raised, big time.

At first, I didn't think too much about pulling a Nolan Gorman autograph but that would quickly change. As it turns out, Gorman is #73 on the MLB top 100 prospects list, and his base autograph is going for a pretty decent total on eBay, especially for a non-numbered autograph. I even saw that he was included in the Power Producers insert set, proving that he's pretty relevant and has a decent chance to develop well given how stable of an organization the Cardinals are.

As always, I've saved the best for last, an autograph of a player that even with my minimal knowledge of cards, I instantly recognize the name. Here it is, the crown jewel of the entire box.

Wow, I can definitely say I wasn't expecting that. Instantly becoming the best autograph I've ever pulled of a prospect, this hit was nothing short of huge, even if Adell's journey through the minors has barely hit AA. He's the #15 prospect on the top 100 list, and he was drafted at #10 in the 2017 MLB Draft.

Furthermore, this is an insert autograph parallel from Early Indications, the insert set for some of the best prospects in the minors. It's a gold parallel numbered 44/50, so needless to say, it's a pretty difficult card to pull due to how increasingly rare insert sets have become.

While I know a bit about him, my knowledge of prospects, their autographs, and value aren't too strong, so I'm not sure what this card is worth since I haven't seen another for sale yet on eBay or any other site. Therefore, any tips on the value of this card, information about Jo Adell, or prospect autos, in general, is greatly appreciated.

I hope you all had a joyful holiday and a happy New Year as well.