Sunday Question

This weeks hot topic has definitely been the release of 2011 Bowman. The hype associated with this product has been great, but I still think last year has it beat with the Strasburg cards. I think that this year’s product will do very well with Bryce Harper as the “chase” card for the set, but it probably won’t turn into the circus we all experienced last year where you couldn’t find a pack for months in a local retail store.

I went on Card Corner Club Radio the other night and talked about the product for a little bit with Rob and Doug. One of the things we touched on that we all noticed was the lack of quality in the facsimile autograph scans. I don’t know if you guys noticed this on some of your cards, but you should take a look at them. (Note: Bryce Harper’s signature is pristine on scans.) Aside from that I didn’t really see much lacking in terms of the quality control aspect.

Here is what I am wondering: What was the best part of the 2011 Bowman in your eyes? What was the worst?

For me personally, I love the inserts. Now, take that in stride before you guys attack. I will say that I think there are too many inserts this year and maybe it’s turned into a bit of a mockery of the player collector in the sense that they put Best, Brightest, Future, 100, etc. and now you are stuck chasing a bunch of cards that are essentially all the same thing. What I specifically like is that Topps added some new designs and elements to the set. What I think would have served them and all of us better was separating some of these out to Chrome, Draft Picks & Prospects, and maybe even Series 2 of the flagship set.

Now the worst part…. Redemption autographs of mystery players. Honestly, what is that all about? As if it’s not bad enough for the box to not have the autograph or one of the autographs, they couldn’t even tell you who you are getting. That really annoys me. They have an autograph checklist, what is the issue here? Perhaps I should e-mail someone at Topps and ask what the deal is with this mess.