by Rich Klein
A few Rich Klein’s Ramblings ago I wondered what the card companies would do to combat the dearth of “skill” players taken early in the 2013 NFL Draft. With so few of those players drafted in the first round many football products which get an extra boost from rookies would not appear to have as good of a chance to sell well in 2013. I’m sure the card companies have been thinking about the same issue for a long time but in 2013 Bowman football, Topps has come up with a pretty good answer.
As you may have read in the 2013 Bowman preview here on Sports Collectors Daily back in March, they’ve changed things up a bit this year with 10-pack cello boxes of 25 cards. Each box has four rookie Bowman Chrome autographs as well as a relic card. The base card design has the player photo surrounded by white borders and the team logo, player name and position at the bottom. The backs contain biographical information, a brief informational blurb and seasonal/career stats.
Collectors are chasing Cracked Ice and other colored parallels as well as the 1952 Bowman-style minis and die-cuts.
And as for the prices Nick’s Sports Cards here in the Dallas area said he had sold a ton of the product at $102.50 while leading online retailers are between $110-120. Needless to say with all the rookie autographs, this product has a good chance to remain strong for the foreseeable future.
And how did we do from our box? As usual for any Bowman box we have received for the past few years, there were no duplicates, which is always a plus.
Base Cards: 148 of 220. That is a touch less than 70 percent and thus at least two hobby boxes will be needed to finish a set—if you’re lucky. You’ll at least be close.
Black Parallels: 54 of 220. Yes, if a collector likes a challenge to build a set the black parallels would be a good set to choose. It takes a few boxes but it is doable and it makes for a nice-looking alternative set that should hold some value.
Bowman Chrome Parallels: Drew Brees, Zac Dysart, Joseph Fauria, Josh Freeman, Pierre Garcon, Ray Graham, BenJarvis Green-Ellis, Jeremy Kerley, Marcus Lattimore, Adrian Peterson, Jacquizz Rodgers, Richard Sherman. Ndamukong Suh, Ryan Swope, Markus Wheaton
Silver Ice Parallel: Von Miller
Blue Parallel for both Base and Chrome each #d to 499: Base Card Parallel– Kenny Stills, Chrome Parallel: Jonathan Franklin
Gold Parallel (#d to 399): Baccarri Rambo; Chrome Parallel Tyler Wilson
Orange Parallel #d to 299: T.J. McDonald; Chrome Parallel Marquise Goodwin
Red Chrome Parallel (#d to 199); Dee Milliner
Green Parallel #d to 99: Bjoern Werner
Navy Blue Chrome Parallel #d to 99: Reggie Wayne
Copper Parallel #d to 75: Doug Martin
Green Ice Parallel #d to 50: Ezekiel Ansah
1952 Bowman Minis: Ezekiel Ansah. Le’Veon Bell, Sharrif Floyd, Justin Hunter, Eddie Lacy, Quinton Patton, Logan Ryan, Leon Sandcastle (yes, he’s in here), Desmond Truffant, Markus Wheaton
Die-Cuts: Andy Dalton, Eli Manning Alfred Morris
Relic: Torrey Smith
Refractor Autograph: LeVeon Bell, Stedman Bailey, Kerwynn Williams
Orange Refractor Autograph (#d to 50): Conner Vernon
While we didn’t score any gigantic hits, it’s a whole bunch of pretty good stuff for the money. At the level Nick was selling the box for, the price per card is about 40 cents per card. With the prices of all 2013 cards almost any time one picks up a box and average price per card is 40 cents there is a good chance the box is a winner. In addition, the five hits makes for a nice jolt as every collector is guaranteed some good cards.
The only thing holding this product back a bit is the lack of NFL uniforms on the rookies.
As for this year’s draft class, it’s bound to produce some stars and we’ll especially be watching LeVeon Bell. Don’t count those lower round picks out. Remember Tom Brady was a sixth round pick and in the olden days Johnny Unitas was cut by the Pittsburgh Steelers before going to Baltimore and becoming a legend. Let’s see if any legends come out of the later rounds of the 2013 draft. It’s been a popular product so far. Nearly 17,000 2013 Bowman football listings are already on eBay.
Rich Klein can be reached at [email protected]
[…] though, one of the shining lights of 2013 came at the beginning of the football card season. 2013 Bowman Football was a major success because of the number of autographs in each box for a reasonable price point. […]