2017 Bowman Draft Review - A fresh look at the 2017 MLB Draft class

Baseball card collectors in search of something shiny and new for the holidays have to look no farther than 2017 Bowman Draft Baseball. This set provides fans and collectors a grand opportunity to familiarize themselves with the first official baseball cards of next season’s top prospects.

Each box guarantees three autographs and plenty of chrome cards, both in the form of coveted refractors and serially numbered color variations. Two first-round picks, Minnesota Twins shortstop Royce Lewis (1st overall pick), and Tampa Bay’s two-way player, Brendan McKay, headline the set. While Sports Illustrated cover boy Hunter Greene is noticeably absent, that does not detract from the attention 2017 Bowman Draft Baseball deserves.

The box provided for this review served up a complete base set, which will please collectors looking to get into the depths of each organization’s newest additions to their minor league systems. Putting the base set aside, the chrome cards and color parallels bring the prospects to the forefront and make for attractive additions to any collection.

Bowman has expanded their Chrome Draft autographs to over 75 prospects, which allows collectors a wide assortment of players that they can land in each box. With over a dozen parallel variations of each autographed card, player collectors will be kept busy the entire offseason trying to chase down entire runs of their favorite player’s signature.

Bowman keeps it simple with the chase cards, limiting the hobby boxes to the Defining Moments, MLB Draft History, and Recommended Viewing insert sets. Both the Defining Moments and MLB Draft History sets also have autographed variations, adding to the excitement and potential of scoring a Hall of Fame signature or one from Bowman’s selected group of exclusive young superstars. While the box opened for this review did not yield any of the aforementioned insert autographs, it did provide a rare short print in the form of a Kevin Maitan facsimile signature image variation.

Debuting right in time for the holiday season, 2017 Bowman Draft Baseball makes for a wonderful gift under the Christmas tree that will provide collectors the chance to lose themselves in the 2017 MLB Draft class while they wait for spring training to emerge.

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2017 Bowman High Tek Review | Patterns, Autographs, Checklist & More

The Bowman brand is dipping its hand into the High Tek series with the release of 2017 Bowman High Tek Baseball. Each box of the prospect focused set delivers four on-card autographs, enticing collectors who are looking to get ahead of the curve on next year’s breakout stars. In the tradition of the Topps High Tek releases, collectors are kept busy with a seemingly endless variety of parallels and designs. As collectors pursue the depths of 2017 Bowman High Tek, will the combination of autographs and parallels be enough to keep them in the game during its late-season release?

2017 Bowman High Tek Baseball / Bowman

Perusing the list of prospects included in this set, collectors will be able to get their hands on sought-after autographs of National League Rookie of the Year Cody Bellinger, Philadelphia Phillies power-hitting phenom Rhys Hoskins, Boston Red Sox rookie sensation Rafael Devers, and former Atlanta Braves prospect now turned free agent, Kevin Maitan. That grouping by itself should be enough to get collectors interested in the product, as with only 60 prospects included in the set, the odds are favorable to pull a signature of one of these coveted upstarts.

2017 Bowman High Tek Autographs / Bowman

The box provided for this review uncovered autographs of two of the top four prospects from this year’s Arizona Fall League, third baseman Francisco Mejia of the Cleveland Indians, and pitcher Mitch Keller of the Pittsburgh Pirates.

2017 Bowman High Tek Designs / Bowman

While 2017 Bowman High Tek attempts to capture eyeballs with their autographs, the real intrigue is the array of designs in the set. Bowman advertises over 10 different patterns for each player, making the chase for each design a mission for individual player collectors. The box provided for this review yielded four different patterns, with one being a rare circuit board pattern of New York Mets shortstop Amed Rosario.

2017 Bowman High Tek Amed Rosario Circuit Board Parallel / Bowman

Released at the end of October 2017, Bowman High Tek has heavy competition from 2017 Topps Heritage Minor League Baseball for those who are seeking their postseason fixes for the game’s top prospects. While the assortment of autographs and designs are intriguing with Bowman’s foray into this new product, at a price point of $110 per box, Bowman is asking collectors to take a leap of faith that their selection of prospects is indeed on the money.

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