2005 Bowman
What I pulled--
Parallels and Inserts:
White Border Parallel - Jeremy West (#40/240)
Alex Rodriguez inserts - 1996, 1999
Futures Game Gear - Yusmeiro Petit black jersey
Review:
Bowman is known as "Home of the Rookie Card" for a reason. If you like opening up packs loaded with rookie cards of some
of the games top prospects, this product is for you.
Bowman has long had the same look - black borders, blue highlights for rookies, red for vets, green for prospects who already
have rookie cards, not to mention the gold parallel card in every pack. And as the saying goes, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it". It has
worked for a long time and works again. But this year, there are some tweaks that make the box opening experience even
more pleasurable.
First off, the white border parallels are a nice touch. They make for a nice chase if you are looking to complete a full set of them
and come one per box. In addition, Bowman this season added inserts of Alex Rodriguez cards that don't exist in past sets.
Inserts are rare for Bowman sets, so this addition also adds to the experience. Both of these slight changes are very welcome
additions to what, in the past, had been a slightly boring box break experience.
As for the relics and autos, well, I came up one short of the two per box. I love the relic I got, though. Yusmeiro Petit is one of
the gems of the Mets' minor league system and looks like a surefire big league pitcher, so there are no complaints there. But it
is always a little disappointing about coming in under the advertised hits.
With Bowman, you know what you are getting - tons of rookie cards, very attractive cards and now, some nice inserts. My box
aside, this is a great product for set builders and rookie collectors......................
A-