2010 Bowman Sterling
Per Box Items:
6 mini-boxes per box
5 cards per mini box
1 dual autographed card per box
1 dual relic box loader card per box
The standard sized base cards feature a full color action shot of the player superimposed over a black and white background. The cards have a chrome finish and are very glossy. The card fronts are bordered on the sides and bottom. The set logo, player name and team logo are all located on the bottom. The card backs are photo-less. The backs list basic biographical information, moderate to extensive career highlights, and recent minor league statistics.
What I Pulled:
32 unique cards - no duplicates
4/50 base cards
4/50 insert prospects
4 serial numbered refractors
12/33 autographed prospects
4/42 Team USA Relics
1 Team USA Dual Relic Refractor
1 Team USA Auto/Relic Refractor
1Team USA Dual Autograph
1 Dual GU box loader
Base card front and back:
Refractors:
Ramos #/199
Wallace #/199
Sano Black Refractor #/25
Kepler #/199
Sterling Autos (not all scanned)
Walker, Puello, Lindsey, Colon, Foltynewicz, Olt, Lavarnway, Tomlin, Jay, Deglan, Lipka, Santana recractor #/199
Sterling USA GU and others
Starling, Gray, Miller, Ramirez, Dual relic refractor Soto #/199, Relic Auto Black Refractor #/25 Owens
Team USA Dual Auto Cole/Bradley Jr.
Box Loader Dual GU Teixeira/ C. Jones refractor #/99
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2010 Bowman Sterling is all about the prospects. Topps and Bowman have always been considered the home of the RC card, and this year is no exception. Sharp photography and a simple clean design make for great look cards. The box loader was sealed in a separate pack. Another nice touch is the very detailed checklist with a brief synopsis of each of the top 50 prospects. The autos are all sticker autos but are made to fit the cards nicely. On some of the refractor cards, the infamous 'chrome curl' is evident, but it is not as bad as many other chrome products and not on every card.
The Bottom Line:
I give 2010 Bowman Sterling a buy rating. The only reason why I did not score this higher is because it will be very difficult to collect any the base set. The different tiered/numbered refractor parallels will provide a fun chase. Go buy a box!
The Final Score:
Final Ratings (Out of 5):
Base set collect-ability: 1/5
Big-hit Hunter: 4/5
Prospector Hunter:5/5
Overall Design: 5/5
Fun: 5/5
Value: 4/5
Re-buy: 5/5
Overall Quality: 4/5
Overall: 33/40 (83% = B)
As always I am offering base cards to members of The Bench for a SASE
Thanks to Topps for making this review possible!
Tal
