Mixed feelings about 2013 Bowman

This time, there was no catchy title that came my way.  The truth is, I really do have mixed feelings about the 2013 Bowman release.

I've seen scattered posts here and there about the product, and being the pack ripping junkie that I am, I decided that I had to look for myself. 

First, let me say that I've never completed a Bowman set.   Ever.  I'm not the prospecting type.  I don't need pre rookie cards of guys like Bryce Harper to justify my collection, or how I collect.  Now that being said, there are things that I do like about the set from the 2 blasters (yes 2....don't hate on me, I'll explain shortly) that I opened today. 

Now, would I rate this set a 5-star, 10 out of 10 release?

No. 

For starters, Bowman copied one aspect from the flagship that I really could do without. 

More codes to enter.  I didn't bother entering the codes I had for the Million Dollar Challenge, but these two I entered, only for the fact that there supposedly is a chance to win something.

Nope, didn't win....

The base set is all right, the usual Bowman design, not too cluttered.  I found it interesting that the majority of the photos cut the player off at the knees.  Some like Melky Cabrera, only went to the waist.

I did fairly well with the one a pack Gold parallels, including the freshly signed Anthony Rizzo, who has a new 7 year contract that keeps him in Chi-Town (or a suitable suburb) until 2020.

Each blaster also came with one a box parallels of purple (refractors), silver ice and chrome minis.

I guess Julio & Mark were lucky, nearly their entire body was included

The purples are #'d to 199, and the two I pulled are serial numbers I already have, so they'll be offered up as trade bait.  I really do like the look of the silver ice cards, and I was fortunate to pull the Anthony Gose for my Jays collection.  Anyone looking for Asdrubal Cabrera, please note I pulled a gold and a silver ice parallel of him, and I'm sure we can work out a trade for those.

There were two other types of cards that I pulled that I found interesting.  First, I pulled a few of the state and hometown parallels, imagine my luck that two of them were a couple of starters from the Dodgers.  A couple of real stiffs, you know?

Note the Brooklyn cap that Kershaw is wearing...

To be honest, I really do like these parallels.  Like I said earlier, I haven't collected Bowman in earnest in the past, so I'm not sure if this is a newer insert, or a rehash of an old one.  Either way, the Blue Jay parallels of these would be welcome.

Finally, these inserts of the top 100 prospects look really sharp, and a numbers guy like me is going to have a difficult time not going after them.

I didn't pull anything fancy out of these two blasters, which was OK by me.  I'm not much of an auto or jersey card chaser of prospects that I've never really heard of to begin with. 

For a parallel junkie like myself, Bowman does OK.   The minis, just like GQ or A&G, I most certainly can do without.  Something about receiving only 2/3 of a card just doesn't sit well with me.  Also, the code cards are something that I don't care for, and if they disappeared for something else that was collectible, I would most certainly be appreciative.

I'm glad I bought the 2 blasters instead of just one.  I was curious about the collation, and saw that it was about the normal for Topps, and I was lucky and beat the pack odds on a couple of the parallels. I doubt that I'll be chasing after a master set of 2013 Bowman, but maybe I'll get bored this summer and make the effort to put the set together.   I'm sure that I can find some team collectors to take the gold and purple parallels off my hands.


Thanks for reading, Robert