2016 Bowman Chrome Baseball preview

Topps has revamped Bowman Chrome Baseball for 2016 with several new inserts and a different configuration. 2016 Bowman Chrome Baseball will be available in hobby boxes and new 88-card vending boxes. Hobby boxes now have a master box/mini box format. Each master box comes with two six-pack mini boxes. Packs come with three Chrome base cards and two prospect cards. Hobby boxes will have two autographs and the chance to find hot packs with exclusive Prospect Blue Shimmer Refractor parallels. Vending boxes come with 33 base cards, 33 prospect cards, three autographs, five vending box-exclusive parallels and six Bowman Scouts’ Updates inserts. There will also be Orange Shimmer Refractor hot packs in select vending boxes.

The base set is made up of both current MLB veterans and members of the 2016 rookie class. Base cards have basic Refractor parallels, one-of-one printing plates and seven levels of numbered parallels: Purple, Blue, Green, Gold, Orange (#’d to 25), Red (#’d to 5) and SuperFractor (#’d 1/1). Chrome Prospects feature a similar line up of parallels with the exception of no Purple parallels and Green and Orange parallels are exclusive to Hobby boxes. Vending boxes are the only place to find Black & Gold Refractors, which land five per box.

2016 Bowman Chrome has some fresh new insert sets, two of which focus on prospects that played in the Arizona Fall League (AFL) Fall Stars Game. The AFL is a developmental league featuring AA & AAA prospects. AFL Fall Stars Game inserts highlight players from the event. Look for low-numbered autograph variations. Fall Stars Game Relics include pieces of game-used hats, bases and bat pieces. These have Orange Refractor parallels numbered out of 25 and one-of-one SuperFractor parallels. Arizona Fall League content is exclusive to hobby boxes of Bowman Chrome.

Out Of The Gate are another hobby box-exclusive insert that feature rookie players that made a splash early in their first MLB season. Bowman Scouts’ Updates highlight players that are catching the attention of scouts. Scouts’ Updates have four levels of numbered parallels and low-numbered autograph variations.

A third new insert are Refractors that Never Were. These are reprints of classic Bowman cards of legends that played before Refractors existed. As an added bonus there are low-numbered autograph versions of these reprints.

One of the most important features of any Bowman Chrome release are the Chrome Prospect autographs. These have on-card signatures and come in various levels of parallels. Hobby and vending boxes each have their own exclusive parallel level with Orange parallels numbered out of 25 found only in hobby boxes and numbered Gold parallels exclusive to vending boxes. Chrome Rookie autographs feature on-card signatures from first-year MLB players. Prime Position autographs highlight the top young players at each position. These have four levels of numbered parallels: Green, Gold, Orange (Hobby-exclusive, #’d to 25) and SuperFractor (#’d to 1/1). Bowman Chrome will also once again have All-America Game Autograph cards signed by players when they were still in high school.

2016 Bowman Chrome Baseball Hobby Box

Product Features

• Two Autograph Cards Per Box!
• Find Prospect Blue Shimmer Refractor Hot Packs!
• Two Chrome Cards PER PACK!
• Look for 2016 Chrome Rookie Autographs!
• Featuring 2015 AFL Fall Stars Game Relics!

More Info