1995 Bowmans Best Baseball

Jimmy_Commonpants

Picked up a box for the fun of it. I had quit buying wax for the most part by '95 and was just buying Puckett and other singles, so I never bought any of this. Now, by "doing the math", I knew you don't get an entire set, but man, the card distribution left a bit to be desired. I did get one each of V. Guerrero, A. Jones, H. Nomo, S. Rolen, R. Sexson and B. Abreu, but no C. Carpenter or B. Colon. I got three of Wally Joyner and somebody else who slips my mind, and duplicates of over a dozen other cards. I think I got a little better than 60% of the set. I wouldn't have complained if I got duplicates of somebody good, but that was a little frustrating. I opened over half the box before hitting any of the better cards. It was obviously sealed and legit , but I was getting worried thinking "no way, where are the good cards?". Forgot that these highly glossy cards stick together over time, but none of the good ones were damaged.

Does anyone remember - was Bowman known for card distribution like this where you'd get a bunch of duplicates even when the box couldn't have a complete set? Wonder if there were ones with 2 or 3 Guerrero's or other bigger rookies?

LarkinCollector

I've got a couple 95 boxes, but haven't ripped any. From ripping 94 & 96-00 a lot though, it sounds pretty typical. Which refractors did you pull (2 per box I think that year?) and did they have 'Refractor' noted on the back?

Jimmy_Commonpants

Thanks for the info. I'll check tonight when I get back home on the Refractors. I think I got Pat Watkins and one of the two-player cards with Ivan Rodriguez and someone else. I think there one or two more, though. They do say Refractor on the back, I know I saw that.

Jimmy_Commonpants

Ok, blue and red Refractor odds per the annual Beckett were 1:6 or four per box and Mirror Image Refractors were 1:12 or two per box. That's what I ended up with:

Pat Watkins
Wally Joyner
Calvin Reese
Julian Tavares
I. Rodriguez & Ben Davis
K. Lofton & C. Goodwin

I got 57/90 Red, 58/90 Blue and 10/15 Mirror Image ... so 64% of the set. Considering I got most of the good rookies, I guess I didn't do bad at all with that type of distribution. Crappy refractors, but that's ok.

If you have some and aren't thinking of selling, you might want to consider ripping them because the cards are all stuck together mostly and its probably not getting any better. A few were really bad, leaving obvious marks.

LarkinCollector

Wow, that was much better refractor odds than 94. I may go ahead and rip the hobby box, I've got a couple retails that are nearly impossible to find that will probably stay sealed.

If you're looking to complete the set, PM me which ones you need and I'll see what I've got to assist. I've found two hobby boxes usually gets you within a handful of a complete set and a second set 80ish% complete for the other years 94-99, before they started w/SP rookies in 00.

Jimmy_Commonpants

Thanks for the offer on the set, not sure what I'm going to do.

You aren't kidding about the Retail boxes, I can't find one available right now. Hobby aren't around too much either. I read that the production was allegedly low due to lack of interest caused by the 94 strike. I must have gotten the last Hobby box that Steel City had. Somebody on Amazon wants $250 for a hobby box. I'll pass on that.

LarkinCollector

Pre-Guerrero HOF hype, they could be had for well under $100 at auction, they've been trending more in the $130-150 range the past 6-9 months with BINs that were once ridiculous being snatched up.

I've been grabbing as many retail boxes of 90s Bowman's Best and Chrome as I can. Someday their scarcity in unopened may be recognized further, but I've noticed a lot of them going for higher than their hobby counterparts even with fewer cards and worse refractor/insert odds.