By Kelly:
Recently I bought a hobby box of the new 2013 Bowman Draft Picks & Prospects for $55, which contains 24 packs with 7 cards per pack. Every year I look forward to these cards the most. The cards are all young players who just broke into the MLB or were just drafted in the last year or two. I really enjoy these packs as each pack contains 2 Bowman Chrome cards and Hobby boxes contain 1 autographed card. Jumbo boxes contain 3 autographs.
Once again this year’s cards don’t have the facsimile autos on the bottom. The design is very similar to last year’s design, which is fine. I personally like the white borders. However, one thing that has been missing from this year’s design is the Bowman 1st stamp but from what I understand it will be back for next year. Why it’s gone this year I don’t know. They don’t sell these packs or boxes in retail stores so unless you live near a card shop you are going to have to buy a box online like I did.
Last year I pulled my autograph card in the first pack I opened and this year I pulled my autograph card in my last pack which is nerve racking. The auto I pulled was a Riley Unroe Refractor, he was a 2nd round pick for the Tampa Bay Rays in the 2013 MLB Draft. I also pulled 10 refractors and 3 serial numbered cards. Some of the better rookie cards I pulled were Sonny Gray, Gerrit Cole, Shelby Miller and Wil Myers.
Different this year than last year is that they have top prospect cards that include Byron Buxton, Addison Russell, Xander Bogaerts, Jorge Soler, Corey Seager and many other of the top prospects in the game, those cards are numbered TP-1 through TP-45. Of course they have the cards of some of the players just recently drafted such as Austin Meadows, Clint Frazier, Colin Moran, Jonathan Gray, Hunter Renfroe, Braden Shipley and many others, those cards are numbered BDPP1 through BDPP130.
I have heard that a lot of people are disappointed that Kris Bryant of the Chicago Cubs didn’t have an autographed card in this set but they have to save something for the May release. Some of this year’s insert sets are Bowman Scouts Breakouts, Dual Draftees and the Future of the Franchise Minis which I pulled a Javier Baez.
My favorite card I pulled was a Mariners 1st Round pick D.J. Peterson Chrome, which hopefully I will get autographed at Fan Fest. A few of my other favorites are any Dodgers cards I pulled and a Tyler Skaggs RC Orange Border 173/250 which I plan on taking to Spring Training with me next March.