2016bowmanhobbyBBMint Musings: Bowman Still Home of the Rookie Card – Today’s the day! 2016 Bowman Baseball just hit the market. Similar to the annual release of  Topps Series 1 Baseball, Bowman has become a highly anticipated part of the release calendar by collectors and dealers alike.

What started as a simple set and hailed as the “Home of the Rookie Card”, the product has evolved over the years to include a large variety of inserts, autographs, memorabilia cards and parallels including the the always popular Superfractors. The brand has become so popular that what started off as a single trading card release has generated more spin-offs than the Kardashians.

Despite covering the hobby, I even find it difficult sometimes to keep up with all the various Bowman releases during the year. However, even as the brand has evolved, through it all though and at its core, the product has always been centered around its impressive inclusion of baseball youngsters. The 2016 release appears to be no different as the checklist includes several rising stars, including Yoan Moncada and Alex Bregman.

An argument can be made that Bowman’s history in the baseball card industry is just as significant as that of 1951 Bowman Mickey Mantle Rookie Cardthe Topps brand itself. While everyone trumpets Mickey Mantle’s 1952 Topps card as one of the cornerstones of the hobby, it’s often forgotten that his actual rookie card came in 1951 Bowman. However, Mantle wasn’t the only player that Bowman was able to one-up Topps that year. Sometimes less heralded was the inclusion of the rookie card of another Hall of Fame centerfielder, none other than the ‘Say Hey Kid’ himself Willie Mays.

The card’s importance to the hobby has even been a reference point in pop culture as I was recently reminded. Mays’ 1951 Bowman card was actually the focal point of an episode of Star Trek Deep Space Nine. Throughout the years, several other Hall of Famers have made their cardboard debuts in Bowman. Notable among them are Yogi Berra and Stan Musial.

1998 Bowman Troy Glaus RCEven for younger collectors like myself, Bowman has had a major impact on my collecting life. I remember 1998 Bowman being the first set I ever chased. At the time, the big rookies included Tigers prospect Gabe Kapler and “El Duque” Orlando Hernandez. The set also included a young Angels slugger named Troy Glaus. Besides pulling a bunch of rookies, 1998 Bowman has the distinction of being the first product I ever pulled an autograph from in a pack.

This was before each box yielded one signature and if memory serves right, you could only pull an autograph one in every seven boxes that year. I still actually have that Marc Kroon autograph in my personal collection years later. Another Bowman highlight of mine came when I pulled the rookie card of a young Manny Ramirez from the 1992 set out of one random pack. To this day, I’m still chasing the rookie card of new Hall of Famer Mike Piazza from that same release.

Getting back to this year’s product, each hobby box of 2016 Bowman Baseball offers 24 packs with 10 cards per pack. As has become tradition, each box also has one autograph in it. If you’re in the mood for a little more ink, the JUMBO version of Bowman may be a little more up your alley. It will run you more than double the price of a hobby box, but you’ll also get three autographs. Either way, if you’re in the mood to add a bunch of new rookies and prospects to your collection, thankfully, after all these years, Bowman is still “Home of the Rookie Card”.


Kelsey’s ability to bring hobby coverage to the mainstream sports fan as the producer of ESPN’s Mint Condition has been a true asset. GTS is happy to feature his thoughts on the hobby in Mint Musings. The opinions expressed are his and do not necessarily reflect those of GTS Distribution.
Kelsey Schroyer

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