The Bowman Blahs

Bowman arrives right about the time we're sick of everything else. 

I wouldn't say I look forward to Bowman every year, but it usually provides a nice temporary diversion from the collecting calendar. It also seems to always have the same configuration, a mix of veterans and prospects, with only the ratios and goofy player names changing from year to year. I picked up a retail rack pack (3 packs + bonus!) at Target this past weekend to check it out. This year's base design is fine, I suppose. I like the borderless look, and it's a massive improvement over this year's nauseating Topps flagship set, but it still seems destined to be eminently forgettable.

There are inserts, though, because inserts are what makes your sell sheets pop. Mitch Keller is probably a guy I should have heard of, but I haven't. He's in an NL Central system, so I'm sure I will see him lots in the future.

I have heard of Moncada, who's now with a team in full rebuild mode, yet still sits at AAA. That doesn't make much sense to me, but I'm not paying the bills over at Comiskey, or uhhh... Guaranteed Rate Field! Now all the penny pinching is starting to make sense.

On the prospects side of things is where you get guys with funny names like Mountcastle.

I do like these cards, which are a bit flashy. It should be fun to look back in a few years to see which of the guys in the pipeline made it and which were... I don't know... flushed out?

My three card bonus is three yellow parallel prospect cards. In recent past seasons, we've seen some of these types of parallels made exclusively for Asian markets if I'm not mistaken. I don't know if that's happening again.

This was probably Photoshopped, but you can actually see in the blurry background that Harold was playing in an actual baseball game with actual people by the dugout. You can't always tell, considering how close Topps crops their photos and adds digital enhancements these days.

I'm in the process of adding 2017 Bowman to my Cardinals want list. Check it if you have some time. As you might have guessed, I never everything besides that lone Aledmys Diaz card, but I could see myself picking up another one of these 3-packs with my groceries if they end up carrying them at the Fred Meyer.