One of the big chases of the modern player collector is the rainbow. It's a term that covers the many colorful parallels that appear in a set. It can be challenging, even frustrating when you get into the rarer versions. But when they're all lined up in nine-pocket pages, a rainbow can look pretty cool. 2014 Bowman Baseball puts even the most diligent collector to the test with more than 30 different parallels for their main Prospect inserts.
Color has been a trademark for Bowman for several years. The base product combines both Bowman and Bowman Chrome. So already you've got a broad mix. But each year a couple more shades seem to be added to the rainbow to get it to where it is now.
And then there are the autographs, for many the cornerstone of not only the product but a whole segment of the hobby. While not direct parallels to the base Bowman and Bowman Chrome Prospect cards, they do share the same basic design elements.
When Bowman Chrome debuted in 1997, it had base cards and three parallels. Bowman was its own product and it had just the regular cards and International Foil parallel. So both sets combined, a player collector has five cards to collect.
With 2014 Bowman, excluding autographs, each Prospect insert has 28 total Bowman and Bowman Chrome cards.
Retail Paper Autographs are limited in number, both in the number of versions and parallels. However, the Chrome Prospect Autographs have lots of color.
When it's all said and done, if you're chasing 2014 Bowman Kris Bryant cards you've got your work cut out for you. He's in all four levels of the set (Bowman, Bowman Chrome, Paper Autographs and Chrome Autographs) and has a total of 47 different base cards and parallels (if he's in all of the announced parallel levels). And that's not counting any of the other inserts in the product like the Minis.
Below is a breakdown of all the various 2014 Bowman Prospect cards and parallels including base autographs.
What do you think? Are you a fan of lots of parallels or do you think there are too many? Let us know in the comments at the end of the post.
