2009 Bowman Draft Picks and Prospects Baseball
Box Price: $60Good: Nice design, healthy assortment of refractors.
Bad: Weaker then usual checklist, unwelcome inclusion of WBC players.
The Bottom Line: Like so many other prospect-minded baseball card collectors, Bowman Draft Picks and Prospects is at the top of my shopping list year in and year out. 2009 Bowman Draft Baseball is not one of the better installments in the brand, but has enough redeeming characteristics to warrant attention from moderate to serious chromies and prospectors.
Design
In the way of design, 2009 Bowman Draft Baseball doesn't stand out too much. Overall it still looks pretty good, albeit a little too dark
Checklist
Razor's aggressive pursuit of signing the 2008 MLB Draft Class to exclusive deals had many a collector wondering if Bowman was truly the "Home of the Rookie Card" anymore. Well, from 2010 on there is little question that Bowman will remain ontop for the foeseeable future. With so much more prospect potential looming on the horizon, those who are looking to do some serious prospecting (buying 4 or more boxes of a product) will be best served by waiting for the soon to be released debut of 2010 Topps Pro Debut Series 1 Baseball. This will be the company's first release under the MiLB license and looks to be a fantastic addition to the Topps lineup.
Value
This is a tough one to rate value wise. While 2009 Bowman Draft Baseball is not without its fair share of talented prospects, it will pale in comparison to the kind of prospect products released by Topps in 2010. Now that Topps holds the exclusive license to produce both Minor League Baseball and Major Leagure Baseball cards, they ca include virtually every sought after draft pick and prospect they wish in any combination of products. The net result will be that collectors get exponentially more value out of prospect sports card sets then ever before.
Enjoyability
Since returning to the hobby in 2006 I have purchased somewhere in the neighborhood of 100-200 wax boxes of sports cards. The brand I have purchased the most of is Bowman Draft Picks and Prospects baseball, although almost all of those purchases were of 2007 Bowman Draft boxes. As was the case in 2008, the 2009 Bowman Draft Baseball set just can't compete with the 2007 release.
Despite I all, in the end 2009 Bowman Draft Baseball made for a good time. I would recommend it in moderation for prospectors and chromies as a temporary fix, but more casual MiLB and prospect collectors will likely be best served sitting this one out until 2010 Topps Pro Debut hits store shelves in the near future.
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Box Breaks
Brett Lewis | Apr 10, 2010 | Reply
Prospects
Jacob Wagner | Jul 14, 2010 | Reply
I would definitely give this set a solid 5/5. At first, I looked at the checklist and said, "I'm not buying this." But in this set are autos of Mike Leake, Mike Trout, and Tyler Matzek. This set just keeps getting better!