Bowman
I love baseball cards.
It’s where it all started for me, and many of us, in fact, and where I always find my heart leading me back to — baseball.
One facet of the hobby that I find both fascinating and frustrating is the subject of prospecting — investing in players who are barely old enough to vote in this country, and putting dollars behind players that will likely never see a Big League field, as a player at least.
Yet, Bowman Chrome autos, color and numbered cards frequently outsell cards from well-established veterans by large margins.
Let’s take a look at what I’m talking about here.
A 2024 Bowman Chrome Jac Caglianone refractor sells for around $20- $25 on average. A Shohei Ohtani refractor, mojo refractor, in fact, goes for about $6.
Now, I know there’s the fact that the Caglianone card is a 1st Bowman, and that mean something, but does it translate to a near 4X difference?
It does to collectors.
“I exclusively deal with Bowman Chrome stuff,” Cyril Shoemaker said, sifting through a value box of 2024 Bowman color at a local card show. “I like the excitement of finding these guys as unknowns and then watching them blossom, and watching the prices go through the roof. It fun for me.”
Shoemaker added how he rarely keeps a single 1st Bowman Chrome SP/auto past the current season.
“It’s a flipper’s dream,” he said. “With a few exceptions, you want to bring these cards in and move them out within a relatively short amount of time. That’s one part of the hobby I’ve always loved.. that churning and grinding.”
Shoemaker has been a collector for nearly 25 years, he said, and it’s only been the last few years where he’s made a complete transition into Bowman Chrome baseball.
“I use to collect it all,” he explained. “And I was pretty heavy into it. But around 2018, when I started to hear about Fernando Tatis Jr., and started hunting his cards that I really got the bug. Now, it’s 100% of what I do and I’ve haven’t looked back.”
Myself, I love it for much of the same reasons Shoemaker mentioned, but I also enjoy the fact that there is a price point for everyone in the game… Base 1sts can be very inexpensive, while some of the numbered color autos are reserved for the deepest of pockets.
Whatever draws you to this facet of the baseball hobby… good for you.
It’s fun, and I find myself paying more and more attention to this subset of the hobby, and I dare say I’m deep into now, particularly over the past two seasons.
“This is what I enjoy, so this is what I’m going to do,” Shoemaker said, smiling “And by the way, I’m on the hunt for a Travis Bazzana /25, let me know if you find one at a decent price.”