2011 Bowman Platinum Baseball Review

2011 Bowman Platinum Baseball

PRODUCT HIGHLIGHTS:

Bowman continues its great prospect cards with this Platinum product, which contains a smaller checklist than the initial Bowman and with more hits!

Configuration: 12 boxes per case. 20 packs per box. 5 cards per pack.


PRODUCT HIGHLIGHTS:
Bowman Platinum Baseball returns with 100 new hot prospects on sizzling Chrome technology and Hobby Exclusive Autograph and Parallel cards!
- 2 Prospect Autograph Cards Per Box
- 1 Autograph Relic Card Per Box
- 1 Multi-Autograph Card Per 12-Box Case
- New! 1 Team USA Baseball On-Card Autograph! Available via redemption. 1 Per 12-Box Case!
- Each pack contains 4 Bowman Platinum cards Plus 1 Chrome Prospect cards.
- All Chrome Autographs Signed Directly on Each Card!

MORE DETAILED CONTENT HIGHLIGHTS

PLATINUM CHROME AUTOGRAPH CARDS - 2 Per Box!
Forty-one outstanding Minor League players sign their names directly to each of their Platinum Chrome cards and paralleled as follows:
- Super-Fractor: 1/1. Hobby Only!
- Printing Plates: 1/1. Hobby Only!
- Red Refractor: Numbered to 10.
- New! Gold Refractor: Numbered to 50.
- Blue Refractor: Numbered to 99.
- Green Refractor: Numbered to 399.


PLATINUM REFRACTOR PROSPECT CARDS - 1 Per Pack!
100 top MLB® Prospects on Refractor technology.


PLATINUM REFRACTOR PARALLEL CARDS - 2 Per Box!
- Super-Fractor Parallel: 1/1. Hobby Only!
- Printing Plates: 1/1. Hobby Only!
- Red Refractor: Numbered to 25.
- New! Gold Refractor: Numbered to 50.
- Blue Refractor: Numbered to 199.
- Green Refractor: Numbered to 599.
- X-Fractor: 1:4 packs. New!


AUTOGRAPH RELIC CARDS - 1 Per Box!
Each of these numbered cards feature a signature and game-used memorabilia from a star veteran or popular rookie player.
- Super-Fractor Patch: 1/1. Hobby Only!
- Red Refractor Patch: Numbered to 10.
- Gold RefractorPatch: Numbered to 25.
- Blue Refractor: Numbered to 99.
- Green Refractor: Numbered to 199.


MULTI-AUTOGRAPH CARDS - 1 Per Case!
Dual Autograph Relic Cards: Twelve veterans and rookies appear 2 at a time with 2 autographs and 2 relics on cards numbered to 89.
Available in a red version numbered to 10 and a 1/1 Hobby Only Super-Fractor version.

Dual Autograph Cards: Two prospects pair up each with a signature on numbered to 89 cards.
Available in a red version numbered to 10 and a 1/1 Hobby Only Super-Fractor version.

Triple Autograph Cards: Three is better than one on these cards featuring 3 players and 3 signatures and numbered to 89.
Available in a red version numbered to 10 and a 1/1 Hobby Only Super-Fractor version.

New! Hexagraph Book Patch Card: is three-panelled book card features six rookies with six autographs and a Rookie Card logo patch numbered to 10. Hobby Only!

Hexagraph Book Card: Six players, 6 autographs adorn these numbered to 10 popular book cards. Hobby Only!

New! 60th Anniversary Autographed Cards: 3 Subjects Continuity program featuring autographed cards sequentially numbered to 60. Hobby Only!


BASE CARDS - 4 Per Pack!
100 top MLB® veteran and rookies on rainbow foilboard.


BASE PARALLEL CARDS - 7 Per Box!
100 rookies and veterans:
- New! Ruby: 1:20 packs.
- New! Emerald: 1:10 packs.
- New! Gold: 1:5 packs.


Here's what we pulled in our box of 2011 Bowman Platinum Baseball

Base Cards
The checklist for this product is smaller than 2011 Bowman Baseball, which makes it an easier challenge for set collectors. There are 100 regular base cards in this set, which includes 19 base rookie cards. For set collectors who don't want to buy as much product, this product strikes a solid balance.

The base cards have a clean look with sharp photography. There's not a lot of action in the photos which allows the focus to be directly on each player and prospect. The base cards contain very interesting, historical "Platinum Moments" on the flip side of each card. For example, on the same date (August 2) that Justin Upton made his debut, in 1938, yellow baseballs were used as an experiment in a game in Brooklyn between the Dodgers and Cardinals, and Johnny Mize tagged one for a home run. For Adam Dunn, it tells us that on the same date as his MLB debut (July 20), in 1916, the Reds acquired three future Hall of Famers (Christy Mathewson, Edd Roush and Bill McKechnie) in the same trade with the Giants. Bryce Harper is a key player of course for this product once again. A variety of numbered parallels exist for almost all cards in this set.

Bowman Platinum Prospect Set

Platinum also contains a Prospect Set that has 100 prospects. The cards are also clear shots of the player and contain minor league or other prospect information. For example, Alex Wimmers is a "proven winner" and went 18-2 over his final two college seasons, twice earning All-American honors. The card also notes that he compares to former pitcher Ben Sheets. Each prospect card has a comparison to a current or former MLB player which is very interesting. Each box will also contain about 5 X-fractor parallel cards which very flashy of course. Here we have Jameson Taillon.

Autographs and Autograph/Jersey Cards

Each box also delivers two on-card autographs as well as an autograph/jersey card. We got 2 nice autographs---Miguel De Los Santos of the Rangers and Kyle Parker of the Rockies. The flip side of the card notes that Parker is the only player in Division 1 history to have 20 TD passes and 20 HRs. The autograph/memorabilia hits are broken into 3 categories. Group C is Freddie Freeman, Jeremy Hellickson and Austin Jackson, Group B is J.P. Arencibia and Starlin Castro, and Group A contains a whole bunch, including Jhan Marinez of the Marlins, who we pulled. Some of the other great potential hits in these boxes are of course Bryce Harper, as well as USA baseball redemption cards. The Monster hits for this product are the triple autos, hexagraph Book Patch and the ultra Hexagraph Book Card (how about Harper/Heyward/Stanton, Josh Hamilton/Justin Upton and D. Brown).


Final Thoughts on 2011 Bowman Platinum Baseball

Bowman Platinum really is a solid mix of prospects and autographs for collectors who want prospects but not as many as in regular Bowman Baseball. It would be better if the auto/jersey card was also on card like the other autographs in this product. With great players like Harper and Freddie Freeman, there will be a lot to look forward to for all collectors. At about $75 per box online it's a great way for collectors to pull quality hits of prospects as well as rookies!

Here's how I would rate this product;

• Value = 4
• Innovation = 4
• Fun and Experience = 5
• Rebuy Value = 4

I rate this product an "A-" for Topps!

NPN Information;

NPN 2011 Bowman Platinum Baseball
P.O. Box 785
Pittston, PA 18640

It must be postmarked by 9/21/11 and received by 9/28/11

I would like to thank Topps along with Trader Retreat for giving me the chance to review this new product.

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