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The box: 2016 Bowman’s Best MLB (hobby box)
Where to buy: BlowoutCards.com
Packs per box: 12
Cards per pack: 6
Cards in this box: 72
Base set completion:
17 of 65 (26 percent)
Duplicates: 0
Prospects set completion:
14 of 35 (40 percent)
Duplicates: 0
Base cards – Jose Altuve, Francisco Lindor, Joey Votto, Corey Seager, Ichiro Suzuki, Buster Posey, George Springer, Jose Berrios, Miguel Sano, Max Scherzer
Rookie Cards (7) – Dansby Swanson, Tyler Glasnow, Alex Bregman, Yulieski Gurriel, Raimel Tapia, Luke Weaver, Jose DeLeon
Prospect cards – Jo Adell, Kevin Maitan, Brendan McKay (1B), Alex Faedo, Clarke Schmidt, Pavin Smith, Blake Rutherford, Austin Beck, Willy Adames, Michael Kopech, Amed Rosario, Jake Burger, Keston Hiura, Austin Meadows
Insert/short-print cards: 24 (all in gallery below with some base cards)
Refractors (10) – Aaron Judge, Cody Bellinger, Mike Trout, Ryon Healy, David Dahl, Josh Bell, Ian Happ, Franklin Barreto, Corey Kluber, Aroldis Chapman
Prospect Refractors (2) – Brendan McKay (P), Eloy Jimenez
Atomic Refractors (1) – Jose Altuve
Purple Refractors (1) – Francisco Lindor (/250)
Baseball America Dean’s List (4) – Gleyber Torres, Tony Santillana, Sixto Sanchez, Blake Rutherford
Baseball America Dean’s List Atomic Refractors (1) – Mickey Moniak
Best Cuts (3) – Mark McGwire, Jim Thome, Willie Calhoun
Mirror Image (2) – Kevin Maitan & Miguel Sano, Max Scherzer & Michael Kopech
Raking Rookies (1) – Alex Bregman
Autographs/Memorabilia: 4
Best of 2017 Autographs (3) – Royce Lewis, Keston Hiura, Logan Warmoth
Best of 2017 Refractor Autographs (1) – Kevin Merrell
What’s Buzz-worthy: An autograph of the No. 1 draft pick and Refractors of the two Rookie of the Year winners along with plenty more big names on inserts and base cards — that’s a win and it’s still a box that can be topped. The two basic sets here are tiny — they total 100 cards — and you get nearly as many inserts and hits as you do base cards. Throw in a mini box format with two autographs in each one, allowing one to buy at a lower price, and a strong design and this is a strong way for Bowman to end the year. One interesting feature here? Two-way star Brendan McKay has cards as a pitcher and as a hitter — could we see more of this with Shohei Ohtani? There also was a two-per-case Atomic version of the Baseball America insert, while the autographs are all on-card sigs. For the price and what it delivers, Bowman’s Best might be the best Bowman brand of the year with the small set size helping one collect things a bit easier but without having too much when one is done ripping.
Product Grade: A
Box Grade: A+
Fun Grade: A
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