By Stephen Laroche | Beckett Sports Card Monthly Editor
Arriving TODAY is 2017 Bowman Chrome Baseball ($99.95 per Hobby box and $114.95 per HTA Choice box with 3 Autos), the most anticipated baseball product for Rookie Cards this season. Bowman Chrome has historically been the best product to get autographed Rookie Cards of promising talents that are making a splash at the big league level now or in the future.
BASE SET AND PARALLELS
The 2017 Bowman Chrome Baseball set is part of a strong annual tradition and will feature a mix of veteran players along with this season’s top freshmen. Each pack will contain two Bowman Chrome Prospects and every box has two Bowman Chrome Prospect Autographs – and those signatures will be on-card.
Naturally, there will be a multitude of parallels for each veteran in the set. Basic Refractors will be the most common to pull and every other type will be sequentially numbered. The Refractor rainbow includes colors like Purple, Green, Gold, Orange (Hobby pack exclusive /25), and Red (/5). The most coveted parallels, however, are bound to be the one-of-one SuperFractors.
As a special treat to those buying hobby boxes, there are limited Rookie Short Print Image Variations and Bowman Chrome Prospect Shimmer parallels. The basic versions come with purple accents, but the rarer ones are sequentially numbered and are available in Green, Gold, Orange (/25), and the one-of-one Black.
INSERTS
Both of these insert collections have both Orange Refractors (/25) and SuperFractors (one-of-one) in addition to autograph parallels.
Topps also delives into the rich past of the Bowman brand by producing a Refractors that Never Were collection. The lineup is made up of cards that pre-date the Bowman Chrome era that never had a Refractor version. Collectors can look for numbered parallels in addition to autographs.
AUTOGRAPHS
Hobby boxes of 2017 Bowman Chrome Baseball could potentially contain exclusive Chrome Sensation Autographs. These cards have a strong design and are sequentially numbered, plus both Orange Refractors (hobby exclusive /25) and one-of-one SuperFractors. All-America Game Autographs are also a neat part of this release as these cards were signed previously while the players were still in high school.
Prime Chrome Signatures have a horizontal orientation and were designed in a way to allow the subject’s autograph to boldly stand out. A SuperFractor parallel (one-of-one) is also being issued and will be a tough pull. HTA packs could yield an Orange Refractor (/25).