What to Expect from 2017 Bowman Chrome

Oh, god. This has turned into a series, hasn’t it? 2017 Bowman Chrome is officially available on Friday, and it’s just as shiny as ever. The popular twin sibling of its flagship counterpart, Bowman, this product is a prospector’s gold mine. I just threw up in my mouth a little just writing that line, it’s so cheesy. Regardless, this product is traditionally the first place to find a professional baseball player’s autograph. THIS DOES NOT MEAN ROOKIE CARD. While you may come across some RC’s here, this set is devoted to minor league players photoshopped into their major league team’s uniforms. Not only that, Topps also sprinkles veteran players into the checklist just to keep everyone interested.

While its core remains intact, 2017 Bowman Chrome has received a slight update. For the first time, the brand offers two different hobby choices. The first is a more traditional hobby box comprised of two mini boxes. Each mini box contains six packs with five cards per pack. Of the 60 cards per master box, you will find 2 Prospect cards per pack, 2 AFL inserts, 1 Shimmer parallel, and two autographs. The second is a new offering, called the HTA Choice. For the first time ever, Bowman is offering an autograph-only selection to its lineup. While the traditional hobby box contains base cards and inserts, the HTA Choice contains three autograph cards per box and nothing else.

The checklist for 2017 Bowman Chrome does not deviate much from past versions. The base checklist is made up of 100 subjects, and Prospect checklist includes another 150. Inserts include an update series to “Bowman Scouts,” and a set devoted to the Arizona Fall League. Harder-to-find inserts include an AFL MVP short print, as well as the popular Refractors That Never Were. Autographs include rookies, prospects, AFL, Refractors That Never Were, and the elusive All-America Game autos. You can also find relics and auto relics in 2017 Bowman Chrome, if you’re into that sort of thing.

Aside from the few fistsfull of autographs that are to be had, Bowman is really known for its color. Perhaps its most well-known gimmick, Bowman utilizes 8 different types of parallels for it base set, and 12 different types for its Prospect set. The Chrome Rookie Autographs have 7 levels of parallels, and the Chrome Prospect Autographs have 10.

On Saturday, we’ll bust a case of each type of 2017 Bowman Chrome hobby offering. We expect a ton of color, a fair amount of parallel duplicate autos (multiple autos of the same player but on different parallel types), and a whole bunch of names I can’t pronounce. I also expect to finally pull our first Superfractor. I don’t even care if it’s not an autograph. I needs me some super shiny!

If you love tons of colorful parallels, and love to hunt down a player’s very first trading card autograph, 2017 Bowman Chrome is for you. Go ahead, buy yourself a couple of boxes. Rip them open and lose yourself in all of the glimmering, shimmering, shininess.