Blaster Madness #7: 2019 Bowman (Part II)

My last post discussed my desire to try and get more value from seven blasters of 2019 Bowman than I would a single hobby box (seven blasters run about the same as a hobby box, in terms of price). If you read that post, then you know I feel like I did pretty well and got enough value from those four blasters to cover the hobby box.

Let's take a look to see if my final three blasters paid off. 

Right off the bat, I saw green.

This Ke'Bryan Hayes green refractor was in the first blaster. I like the green refractor look, but I was hoping for the green shimmer, as I like them just a bit more.

Well, I guess that counts as a win! Not a Ranger, but a green shimmer refractor of the Royals' MJ Melendez was in the second blaster. Both of these are numbered to 99. 

The first blaster also provided ink. This base paper (sticker) auto of Eduardo Jimenez was in the next to last pack. I know everyone seems to be big on the Chrome autos, but I really appreciate and like the retail paper autos more. I don't really know why, I just do. I just wish they were on-card.

But that isn't it...

The second blaster also gave me ink, in the form of this Shed Long base auto. First, heck of a name. Second, two refractors and two autos in two blasters?! Definitely a win!

If you are keeping track at home, you are probably asking, "What was in the third blaster?!"

Well.....

...

...

...nothing.

That's right, nothing of significance was in the third blaster. All base, no color, no extraordinary inserts. But hey, after two blasters like these above, you don't complain about a barren blaster.

So, after seven blasters, the final count stands as follows: three autos (one green refractor numbered to 99, two base paper), two refractors (green and green shimmer, both numbered to 99), one colored paper (blue paper, numbered to 150), and two insert parallels (gold refractor to 50, atomic refractor to 150). Not included in any of this discussion are the coveted "1st Bowman" base and Chrome cards.

So, my judgement:

Waaaay more value in the blasters than in a single hobby box. If a single hobby box had all of this in it, it would be consider loaded.

But wait, there's more.

I went back to the store a couple of days later and decided to get the two remaining blasters. So, as an added bonus, let's see how I did with those.

I'm really not sure what to call these. A speckled refractor? A disco refractor? Either way, this one features Angels' first-round pick Jordyn Adams.

How about another auto? Can I get another auto?

A gold paper auto of Sterling Sharp, numbered to 50! Nice! These blasters are killing it! Massive win!

So there you have it. If you ask me, the way to go with 2019 Bowman is definitely the retail blaster route. I hope you enjoyed reading along!

Blaster Madness #6: 2019 Bowman

I went to the Dallas Card Show this weekend on the hunt for a box of 2019 Bowman. There wasn't much to find, and the prices reflected that scarcity. A regular hobby box was running around $140. I decided against that, believing the better deal would be to grab seven blasters.

On my way home, I stopped by the local Walmart and snagged four blasters. Let's take a look and see how I did.

This was the only paper parallel I managed to pull, featuring Roberto Ramos of the Rockies. The blue parallels are numbered to 150.

I also was able to pull this Rookie of the Year Favorites atomic refractor of the Blue Jays' Danny Jansen. It is also numbered to 150. I really like atomic refractors, but I really hate the Blue Jays. Though that may not be as true now that Bautista has fallen off the face of the earth.

Speaking of parallel inserts, I also managed to pull this Top 100 gold refractor of the Royals' Khalil Lee. I know nothing about this guy, but that can be said of everyone featured so far. Also, why isn't this set called "Topps" 100 or "Topp" 100? Seems like the kind of cheesy move that Topps would pull...and I wouldn't hate it.

And we finish with an autograph:

A green refactor auto of Matt Vierling. I don't believe green refractor autos are exclusive to blasters, but I do know that the autographs that are normally found in retail are sticker autos on paper cards (rather than chrome). Regardless, I was stoked to pull this.

So after four blasters, I'm willing to say that my value is already better than what I would have pulled from a single hobby box. I've watched a few breaks online and it seems that color is a hard thing to come by. 

This would indicate that production has been ramped up even more this year. That fuels my fear that the industry is starting to edge back in the overproduction of the 80s and 90s. I really hope I'm wrong.

Have you had any luck with this year's Bowman? Are you concerned that we are approaching a second overproduction era?