2019 Bowman Chrome Baseball Review | Autographs, Prospects, Inserts, Checklist, Box Break

Collectors have impatiently waited for 2019 Bowman Chrome Baseball's release the entire season. The chromium-based set casts a wider reach than 2019 Bowman Baseball, offering new rookies and prospects to enhance its desirability. The two autographs promised in each master box further increases Bowman Chrome's magnetism as fans turn their attention to next year's upstarts.

2019 Bowman Chrome Baseball / Bowman

2019 Bowman Chrome Baseball Base Set, Prospects, and Parallels

The 100-card base set features rookies from Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Keston Hiura, Fernando Tatis Jr., and the 2019 National League Rookie of the Year, Pete Alonso. To add further intrigue to the base set, 15 rookies contain rare image variations. The final three digits of the CMP code (#209) will indicate if you have one of these short-printed issues.

2019 Bowman Chrome Baseball / Bowman

The Chrome Prospects set is numbered from 151-250, hosting prospects that are likely to see the big leagues soon if they aren't already there. Collectors will find Royce Lewis, Nolan Gorman, Casey Mize, and Jo Adell among the group, as well as late-season call-ups Bo Bichette and Brendan McKay.

Both sets feature serial-numbered colored refractors that will keep player collectors on the hunt to corner the market on their favorite prospect. There are eight variations - Base Refractor #/499, Purple #/250, Blue #/150, Green #/99, Gold #/50, Orange #/25, Red #/5, SuperFractor 1/1.

2019 Bowman Chrome Baseball Parallels / Bowman

Click here for the entire 2019 Bowman Chrome Baseball checklist.

2019 Bowman Chrome Baseball Inserts

Bowman Chrome continues with a consistent prospect theme by highlighting the Arizona Fall League stars with their own 30-card insert set. The Stat Tracker insert set also contains 30 players, each recognized for an impressive feat from the backs of their baseball cards. The 15-card Elite Farmhands spotlights a narrow group that could have a massive MLB impact in the coming years. The set includes Jarred Kelenic, Jordyn Adams, and Wander Franco.

2019 Bowman Chrome Baseball Inserts / Bowman

Just like the base set, each insert set also has serial-numbered refractor parallels - Atomic #/150, Orange #/25, SuperFractor 1/1.

2019 Bowman Chrome Baseball Autographs

Each master box guarantees two autographs. For collectors lucky enough to score a 1st Bowman Chrome autograph of a heralded prospect, the return could be massive in a relatively short amount of time. Alexander Canario, Noelvi Marte, and Orelvis Martinez are among those who are the most sought after from this set.

Bowman also provides collectors with the opportunity to catch one of 14 signed Chrome rookies, including the aforementioned group of Alonso, Guerrero Jr., and Hiura. Both the prospect and rookie autographs have the following serial-numbered parallels - Base Refractor #/499, Blue #/150, Green #/99, Gold #/50, Orange #/25 (Hobby), Red #/5, SuperFractor 1/1.

Buried deeper into the release is harder to find 2018 Arizona Fall League autographs, relics, and relic/autograph combinations. Bowman doubles down on the AFL theme, offering AFL alumni signatures, including Mike Trout, Ronald Acuña Jr., and the Hall of Fame member, Derek Jeter.

The box provided for this review drew two Bowman Chrome Prospect autographs. The first autograph was a 1st Bowman Chrome from Minnesota Twins pitching prospect Jhoan Duran. The second came from Texas Rangers infield prospect Jonathan Ornelas.

2019 Bowman Chrome Baseball Autographs / Bowman

2019 Bowman Chrome Box Break Video and Final Thoughts

Collectors were able to follow their favorite talents throughout an entire minor league season, noting which stars came to prominence. As the top tier breaks away from the pack, 2019 Bowman Chrome Baseball allows collectors to keep them in focus the entire offseason.

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2019 Topps Finest Baseball | Checklist, Autographs, Box Break and Review

Topps furthers their attempts to fancy collectors with their release of 2019 Topps Finest Baseball. Minted in a glossy chrome format, 2019 Topps Finest Baseball stands out from the pack with an eye-catching design and tight checklist that sharpens the focus for the cardboard obsessed.

20919 Topps Finest Baseball / Topps

2019 Topps Finest Base Set and Checklist

The 101-card base set features an assortment of active stars and rookies, including 2019 Home Run Derby champion Pete Alonso, and a tougher to find Vladimir Guerrero Jr. in card 101. In addition to each card having a basic parallel refractor, they also carry the usual Topps serial-numbered rainbow (Purple (/250), Blue (/150), Green (/99), Gold (/50), Orange (/25), Red (/5), and Superfractors (1/1).)

2019 Topps Finest Base Set / Topps

While a few boxes can complete the base set, Topps upped the ante for the 25-card short-printed set (cards 101-125) by limiting them to 1:30 packs. Note that two cards share #101, Guerrero Jr. and Yusei Kikuchi. The former is part of the base set, while the latter is part of the short prints. These short prints have ultra-rare refractors—Gold Refractors (/50 - 1:350 packs), Red Refractors – (/5 - 1:3,462 packs), and Superfractors – (1/1 - 1:16,756 packs).

Click here to download the complete 2019 Topps Finest Baseball checklist.

2019 Topps Finest Aaron Nola Blue Refractor / Topps

2019 Topps Finest Inserts

Keeping with the narrow theme of the base set, Topps goes for simplicity with 2019 Topps Finest Baseball’s inserts. There are four insert sets: Blue Chips, Finest Firsts, Prized Performers, and a 10-card die cut set as a tribute to Mariano Rivera. These insert sets also have serial numbered refractors, as well as autographed versions.

2019 Topps Finest Baseball Inserts / Topps

2019 Topps Finest Autographs

This is where 2019 Topps Finest Baseball shines. The on-card autographs in this set help to separate this Topps issue from the myriad of sticker autographs on the market. With collectors growing even more refined in their collecting habits, the on-card signatures in this product when combined with the enhanced design help to give 2019 Topps Finest Baseball a proper niche in the hobby.

The two-mini boxes each yielded one autograph. The first autograph was a base Finest signature from San Francisco Giants rookie Chris Shaw.

2019 Topps Finest Chris Shaw Autograph / Topps

The other was a much rarer Gold Finest Origins autograph from the 2018 National League Rookie of the Year, Ronald Acuña Jr. This card was serial-numbered to 50, with the odds being 1:779 packs of landing one of these difficult hits.

2019 Topps Finest Ronald Acuña Jr. Finest Origins Gold Auto / Topps

2019 Topps Finest Box Break and Final Thoughts

With 12-pack master boxes checking in at $120, Topps has placed a premium on quality and performance with 2019 Topps Finest Baseball. With an appealing design, on-card autographs, and cards of both potential Rookie of the Year candidates, the baseball card giant is making sure that collectors take notice of 2019 Topps Finest Baseball.

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2018 Bowman's Best Baseball Review | Checklist, Autographs, and Box Break

Bowman made collectors wait until year’s end for 2018 Bowman’s Best to show that the baseball card manufacturer had one last ace up its sleeve. The high-quality chrome finished cards have a surprisingly soft finish that makes 2018 Bowman’s Best an attractive upgrade to 2017 Bowman’s Best en route to collectors’ must-have lists of the year.

2018 Bowman’s Best Base Set and Checklist

The 100-card base set consists of 70 current stars and rookies, as well as 30 top prospects. The prospects include Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Royce Lewis, Alec Bohm, and Eloy Jimenez, while the current MLB stars feature both Rookies of the Year in Ronald Acuña Jr. and Shohei Ohtani, as well as hobby mainstays Mike Trout and Clayton Kershaw. The parallels include Bowman’s Best’s signature Atomic Refractor parallels which come one per master box. Click here to view the entire checklist.

2018 Bowman’s Best Inserts

Bowman’s Best tips their cap to the 1998 design with their Best Performers inserts, which highlight a blend of prospects, emerging stars, and veterans. Bowman’s Best dedicates their minor league focus to their Early Indicators subset, while collectors will also enjoy the Neophyte Sensations and Power Producers inserts. All have Atomic Refractor and gold parallels. Highlights for this box break included a Christian Pache Early Indicators Gold parallel numbered to 50.

2018 Bowman’s Best Autographs

Bowman’s Best set high expectations by guaranteeing four autographs per master box. The extra fortunate can score coveted dual autographed cards such as those of Derek Jeter and Aaron Judge or Shohei Ohtani and Mike Trout; however, a majority of the offerings is of the prospect variety. Going into the 2019 season, Bowman’s Best allows collectors to score an attractive on-card autograph of the next Rookie of the Year before their stock doubles. This review box drew two prospect autographs of Noah Naylor and Nick Schnell, a MacKenzie Gore Early Indicators autograph, and an Estevan Florial Best Performers Gold autograph numbered to 50.

2018 Bowman’s Best Wrap Up

Bowman's Best cuts through the endless filler that flood 5,000 count boxes across basements everywhere to offer a focused and condensed collecting experience. With a focus on only the top major and minor league talents, 2018 Bowman's Best is a rich journey that is worth putting money aside for a post-holiday purchase.

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