Arriving Wednesday, September 26th at Sports Cards Plus is the Highly Anticipated 2018 Bowman Chrome Baseball which comes in TWO BOX OPTIONS. For those looking for the traditional experience of packs, base cards, Refractors, inserts and autographs, hobby boxes are the way to go. But if it’s only signatures you’re after, HTA Choice boxes cut out everything but autographs.
As it has been for several years, 2018 Bowman Chrome Baseball comes several layers of parallels. But unlike the earlier 2018 Bowman Baseball, everything in the product is done in the ever-popular chrome. There’s no regular “paper” Bowman in this release.
2018 Bowman Chrome Baseball Hobby Master Box has two mini boxes. Both mini boxes have six packs and each comes with an autograph, for a total of 2 signed cards per hobby box.
HTA Choice boxes have just a single pack of three card, every card is an autograph. HTA Choice packs have some exclusive parallels not available in hobby boxes.
2018 Bowman Chrome Baseball Base Set and Prospects
The base portion of 2018 Bowman Chrome Baseball features players already in the majors. It has 100 cards, featuring a mix of veterans and rookies.
Refractors (/499) are the most common parallels. The rainbow background cards are the foundation for the set’s other parallels: Purple Refractors (/250), Blue Refractors (/150), Green Refractors (/99), Gold Refractors (/50), Orange Refractors (/25), Red Refractors (/5), and Superfractors (1/1).
Select rookies have Image Variations (some with autographs).
There’s also the separate Chrome Prospects portion of the release. These are numbered separately from the base set but have the same general design. Chrome Prospects also have the same Refractors, both in color and production runs.
Prospects come with additional Shimmer Refractors parallels that combine to land one per hobby box. Chrome Prospect Shimmer colors include Green (/99), Gold (/50), Orange (/25) and Black (/5).
Autographs and Memorabilia Cards
Chrome Prospect Autographs started with . These have the same general design as the main set and feature on-card signatures from players working their way through the minors. It may take some time for some of these names to emerge as legit blue-chippers, but for a lot of collectors, that’s the appeal of Bowman sets like this.
Bowman Chrome Prospects Autographs parallels include Refractors (/499), Purple Refractors (/250), Blue Refractors (/150), Green Refractors (/99), Gold Refractors (/50), hobby-only Orange Refractors (/25), Red Refractors (/5) and Superfractors (1/1).
HTA Choice boxes are the only place to find additional patterned parallels: Green Atomic Refractors (/99), Gold Shimmer Autographs (/50), Orange Wave Refractors (/250) and Black Mojo Refractors (1/1).
Bowman Chrome Rookie Autographs have players already in the majors. These also have on-card signatures. Besides regular Refractors (/499), the rainbow for these include Blue (/150), Green (/99), Gold (/50), Orange (/25), Red (/5) and Superfractors (1/1).
These aren’t the only autographs in 2018 Bowman Chrome Baseball. All-America Game Autographs have early signatures from top prospects and have 199 copies each.
Prime Chrome Signatures (/50) are hard-signed and have Superfractor (1/1) parallels. There are also Orange Refractors that are only in HTA Choice boxes.
The Chrome Auto Relics checklist is a mix of rookies, veterans and prospects. These also have on-card signatures. Parallels include Gold Refractors (/50), Orange Refractors (/25) and Superfractors (1/1).
2017 AFL Fall Stars Relics are the only other memorabilia cards in 2018 Bowman Chrome Baseball. These have Orange (/25) and Superfractor (1/1) versions as well as autographs for select cards.
Inserts
2017 AFL Fall Stars also have a standalone regular insert set, putting the spotlight on Arizona Fall League participants. Besides the regular versions, there are Atomic Refractor (/150), Orange Refractor (/25) and Superfractor (1/1) parallels. Some cards have autographs, too.
Bowman Sterling continues on from 2018 Bowman Baseball. These land one per hobby box and have Atomic (/150), Orange (/250) and Superfractor (1/1) parallels plus autographs for certain cards.
Peaks of Potential is a new insert set for 2018 Bowman Chrome Baseball. The checklist here has top prospects plus some names who have made big strides. The parallels include Atomic Refractors (/150), Orange Refractors (/25) and Superfractors (1/1). Peaks of Potential Autographs have 99 copies each plus Orange Refractors (/25) and Superfractors (1/1).
2018 Bowman Chrome Baseball Packaging:
Cards per pack: Hobby – 5.......HTA Choice – 3
Packs per box: Hobby – 12.......HTA Choice – 1
Boxes per case: Hobby – 12.....HTA Choice – 12
Packs per box: Hobby – 12.......HTA Choice – 1
Boxes per case: Hobby – 12.....HTA Choice – 12
Each Hobby Box Includes:
• Autographs – 2
• Bowman Platinum – 1
• Prospect Shimmer Parallels – 1
• Bowman Platinum – 1
• Prospect Shimmer Parallels – 1
