Bowman hasn’t always been the hobby powerhouse it is today. Brought back in 1989, early overproduction hurt the first three year’s of the reboot. Then came 1992. A smaller print run and three Hall of Fame rookie cards brought the brand to the forefront.
The design of the set is a classic. The super clean cards have a very minimalist feel. The bright white borders, the classic Bowman “B” in the top left corner and a simple name plate at the bottom are the only things to take your eyes off of some of the most iconic card photography ever. Many of the prospects in the set are featured in street clothes, highlighting the fashion of the early 1990s!
The set features rookie cards of Hall of Famers Mike Piazza, Mariano Rivera and Trevor Hoffman. Other top rookies include Manny Ramirez, Raul Mondesi, Troy Percival and the criminally underrated Carlos Delgado. There are also strong 2nd year cards of Hall of Famers Chipper Jones, Pedro Martinez and Jim Thome. Due to the over production of 1991 Bowman, these cards are collected almost as highly as their rookie cards.
Each box has 36 packs with 15 cards per pack. The packs have 14 regular cards plus one Gold Foil card. There are also jumbo boxes (with 18 or 36 packs) that contain 23 cards plus two Gold Foil cards each.
We picked up two packs from a fresh box at our local card shop. Here’s what we pulled:
Pack 1:
Mark McGwire Gold Foil, Trevor Hoffman, Derek Lowe, Gene Larkin, Robb Deer, Darrin Jackson, Ellis Burks, Mo Vaughn, Pete Incaviglia, Juan Samuel, Pete Harnisch, Dave Mlicki, Melvin Nieves, Curtis Shaw, Randy Kramer.
Pack 2:
Andy Benes Gold Foil, Garret Anderson, Mark McGwire, Deion Sanders, Todd Stottlemyre, Mickey Morandini, Mike Felder, Orlando Merced, Steve Fireovid, Jason Wood, Victor Cole, Trevor Wilson, Darrin Jackson, Ellis Burks, Mo Vaughn.
Review:
This product is just great. It’s such a fun time opening up these cards and finding the baby faced cards of some of the best players in the 1990s and early 2000s. Seeing Derek Lowe and Garret Anderson with the fashion style of the time was good for a laugh. Actually pulling a rookie card of Hall of Fame closer Trevor Hoffman was awesome. It was cool to see him from his time in the Cincinnati Reds organization.
You can pick up packs in the $10-15 range on eBay with boxes running north of $300. These are a really fun rip for a 1990’s baseball fan and the cost isn’t too prohibitive when considering the cost of a pack of this year’s current cards.
We love opening older cards and getting the flood of memories rushing back to us. We hope you enjoy it too! Leave us a comment on the blog or on our Facebook post and let us know if you like these too!