After several years of writing these reviews, I have a pretty good idea what the owner of my very local card store (Triple Cards in Plano TX) is going to say about a release. That understanding comes from price point, content and understanding his customer base. When we received the 2015 Bowman Inception box from Topps, I had a pretty good idea his customers were going to enjoy churning through this and I was proven correct during our conversation.
And when we opened our 2015 Bowman Inception box I figured because of the product’s nature of nothing but autograph cards and featuring young prospects and major leaguers his clientele would help him sell out. And he did and then ordered more and even sold out at a higher price. That means, at least to some collectors, the retail of Inception does exactly what it supposed to do, which is, gives you hits.
Each box contains five autographs of which one also includes a piece of memorabilia. The design is reasonably similar to 2014 with a player photo silhouetted on a white backdrop with the other colors on the side.
Triple Cards reported at least one Kris Bryant card was pulled out of both the second and the third case he opened. And he sold out at $108.50 on the restock. Meanwhile leading on-line retailers are currently between $85-90 a box before shipping.
So how did we do? These autographs are all on-card unless noted:
Prospect Autograph Blue (#d to 150): Jake Thompson
Prospect Autograph Green (#d to 99): Jung-Ho Kang
Prospect Autograph Orange (#d to 25) Kohl Stewart
Rookie Autograph: Steve Moya
Relic Autograph: Robert Stephenson (sticker)
Because we pulled a lower serial numbered Kang card our book value exceeded the retail price of the box so on that level we came out ahead and Stephenson looks to be close to the majors. But as we discussed last year, the idea of a Bowman Inception box with nothing but autographs of younger players is a true win-win for Topps, their collectors, and even investors who like to “PC” cards until they are ready to sell them.
It’s rare that a product without base cards can work but as long as one understands the pros and cons, sometimes they wind up being very popular and at least in our area, that’s definitely been the case. The pro is every card is going to be signed and mainly on-card. The con is there are no guarantees now or in the future you will get the next Kris Bryant or even Joey Gallo and it could take awhile to find out.
You can see 2015 Bowman Inception single cards, boxes and box break spots on eBay by clicking here.