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Bowman Chrome

The Bowman Chrome brand was first introduced to the hobby in 1997. Designed as a premium product to parallel the regular Bowman set, Chrome provided collectors the opportunity to pursue a higher end offering printed on a new and revolutionary metallic card stock. Key rookie cards in the inaugural release included Roy Halladay, Vernon Wells, Lance Berkman, Adrian Beltre, Kerry Wood, Miguel Tejada and latecomer R.A. Dickey.The release of Bowman Chrome also introduced collectors to new hobby vernacular, most notably the term refractor and its variations. A refractor was a short printed parallel to the base card that incorporated a rainbow like reflective quality to the card. Combined with the metallic card stock, these color variations quickly became a collector favorite.

Refractor Technology

As the popularity of the new refractor technology increased, manufacturer of the brand, Topps, started utilizing different refractor parallels and serial numbering to designate the self-created scarcity of the cards. By printing the cards with different colored borders and in smaller print runs, collectors, particularly player collectors, soon had several different versions of a player’s card to pursue. Since their inception, refractors have come in every color of the spectrum and have also included uniquely designed patters as well.

Bowman Chrome: The New Standard for Rookie Cards

Over time, as the regular Bowman brand evolved into a more rookie and prospect oriented product, the Bowman Chrome brand followed suit. This realignment of the brand’s focus also coincided with another baseball card innovation, the player autograph. As a means of adding more collectible value to the trading card market, manufacturers began having players sign some of their trading cards that were then randomly inserted into packs. This potent combination of autographs and refractors would help influence and shape the baseball card landscape for years to come. As a result, Bowman Chrome has produced some of the most valuable rookie card ever seen. Here is a look at the Top 15 Bowman Chrome baseball rookie cards of all time.

While the Bowman Chrome brand continues to exist as a stand alone set, the popularity of the technology, coupled with the rise of collectors interested solely in prospecting, has seen Chrome infused into other Bowman branded sets through the years. Most notable of these is Bowman Draft Picks & Prospects. Seeking to capture the first trading cards of the game’s top prospects, this brand relies heavily on the Chrome name and technology and provides collectors with a product consisting of a deep checklist of young prospects.