2020 Bowman baseball will return with its usual emphasis on the game’s top prospects. Despite some delays due to COVID-19, cases are expected to begin trickling out starting May 22 and extending into early June.
2020 Bowman Baseball Configuration
Bowman hobby boxes will include 24 packs. Each pack will contain a total of ten cards, including five base cards and five prospect cards. One chrome autograph will be inserted into each hobby box. Cases will hold 12 boxes.
Once again, there will also be a Jumbo version, with 12 packs of 32 cards and eight boxes per case. Each Jumbo box will have three Chrome autographs.
A full checklist for the product is below.
2020 Bowman Base Set
A 100-card base set will feature active major league stars and rookies. The Prospects part of the set tacks on another 150 cards with an identical Chrome Prospects set. The sets will again include the popular 1st Bowman 1st Cards of some of the top prospects in the game.
The Bowman design gets a fresh coat of paint for 2020 with full borders this year as opposed to the photo set along an edge, presenting a more traditional look.
Parallels
Base cards will include a number of parallels, including new Yellow versions and hobby exclusive Orange border cards. A full rundown of the list of base parallels is below. These parallels are included for both the Base and Base Paper Prospects cards.
- Sky blue (#ed to 499)
- Purple (#ed to 250)
- Blue (#ed to 150)
- Yellow (#ed to 75)
- Gold (#ed to 50)
- Orange (#ed to 25)
- Red (#ed to 5)
- Platinum (1 of 1)
- Printing Plates (1 of 1)
Base Chrome Prospects parallels include hobby exclusive Atomic Refractor parallels, Orange refractors, and Orange Shimmer refractors. The complete list of parallels for Base Chrome Prospects cards includes the following:
- Atomic Refractor (1 per hobby box)
- Refractor (#ed to 499)
- Speckle Refractor (#ed to 299)
- Purple Refractor (#ed to 250)
- Blue Refractor (#ed to 150)
- Blue Shimmer Refractor (#ed to 150)
- Aqua Parallel (#ed to 125)
- Aqua Shimmer Parallel (#ed to 125)
- Yellow Refractor (#ed to 75)
- Gold Refractor (#ed to 50)
- Gold Shimmer Refractor (#ed to 50)
- Orange Refractor (#ed to 25) (Hobby only)
- Orange Shimmer Refractor (#ed to 25) (Hobby only)
- Red Refractor (#ed to 5)
- Red Shimmer Refractor (#ed to 5)
- SuperFractor (1 of 1)
- Printing Plates (1 of 1)
Insert Cards
The 2020 Bowman baseball card set will also include a wide variety of insert cards. New for the first time will be Spanning the Globe. These cards will highlight the best international prospects with a display of their home country flags.
Also new will be 1990 Bowman Chrome inserts, which will be a throwback to the 1990 Bowman set, Topps’ second release of Bowman cards after reviving the brand in 1989. An assortment of stars and prospects will be available in this insert set. Additionally, autograph variations will be available with the 1990 Bowman inserts.
Finally, the Hidden Finds inserts are another new addition. These cards will feature players that were ‘diamonds in the rough’ — ones that had successful major league careers despite being taken in the later rounds of the MLB Draft.
Here’s the full rundown of inserts for 2020 Bowman including pack insertion odds and a designation of which refractor cards are available for each.
- Bowman Scouts’ Top 100 (1:4 packs with atomic, gold, orange, red, SuperFractor, autograph, and autograph SuperFractor parallels available)
- Spanning the Globe (1:6 packs with atomic, gold, orange, red, and SuperFractors)
- Rookie of the Year Favorites (1:8 packs with atomic, gold, orange, red, and SuperFractors)
- 1990 Bowman (1:8 packs with atomic, gold, orange, red, SuperFractor, autograph, and autograph SuperFractors)
- Talent Pipeline (1:12 packs with atomic, gold, orange, red, and SuperFractors)
- Hidden Finds (1:24 packs with atomic, gold, orange, red, and SuperFractors)
Autographs
Like the non-autograph parallels, Yellow refractor cards are a new addition here. Orange refractor autographs and orange Shimmer refractor autographs will also be hobby exclusives.
Here’s the full list of autographs available for Chrome Prospect cards in the 2020 Bowman set:
- Refractor (#ed to 499)
- Speckle Refractor (#ed to 299)
- Purple Refractor (#ed to 250)
- Blue Refractor (#ed to 150)
- Atomic Variation (#ed to 100)
- Yellow Refractor (#ed to 75)
- Gold Refractor (#ed to 50)
- Gold Shimmer Refractor (#ed to 50)
- Orange Refractor (#ed to 25)
- Orange Shimmer Refractor (#ed to 25)
- Red Refractor (#ed to 5)
- Red Shimmer Refractor (#ed to 5)
- SuperFractor (1 of 1)
- Printing Plates (1 of 1)
And here’s the list of autographs available for Chrome Rookies. The biggest difference is there are no Shimmer refractors and no Speckle or Purple refractors as are seen with the Chrome Prospect cards.
- Refractor (#ed to 499)
- Blue Refractor (#ed to 150)
- Atomic Variation (#ed to 100)
- Yellow Refractor (#ed to 75)
- Gold Refractor (#ed to 50)
- Orange Refractor (#ed to 25)
- Red Refractor (#ed to 5)
- SuperFractor (1 of 1)
- Printing Plates (1 of 1)
Other autographs available in the set are listed below. Hidden Finds and 1990 Bowman Buyback Autographs are new for 2020. Exclusivity for these cards also varies.
- Hidden Finds Autographs (#ed to 99 with orange, red, SuperFractor refractors)
- Rookie of the Year Favorites Autographs (#ed to 150 with gold, orange, red, and SuperFractor refractors)
- Dual Bowman Prospects Autographs (#ed to 25 with SuperFractors)
- 2020 Bowman Ultimate Autograph Book Card (#ed to 10)
- All-American Game Autographs (#ed to 199)
- 1990 Bowman Buyback Autographs (assorted numbering)
Click here to see 2020 Bowman retail, hobby and hobby jumbo boxes on eBay.
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