Dec 27, 2012

Sterling....a question...a rare midweek thought...



As someone who normally operates, in the so-called "first world" collecting arena, I am baffled by some of the prices for the Bowman Sterling brand.  Prospect autos are all the rage, especially in the last 3 years, in which there has been a stellar or near-stellar class to pursue. 

Shown above is one of the few Bowman Sterling cards that I possess.  It´s a single swatch jersey relic.  It comes out of a $50 per pack product.   It is luminous, but is otherwise lacking in anything else that would suggest it´s from a premium, high-end brand.

But past is prologue....at least as Bowman Sterling is concerned.  Until the past couple years, it was single relics like these and autographs on shiny stickers.  It was a visual mess to say the least.  (I was not a fan to put it mildly.)

These past couple years, the on-card auto content has at least been increased, so that there is more connection.  There also is less emphasis on the relic portion of the checklist content.  It seems a smorgasbord of prospect autos is what to expect judging from the box breaks I have seen.

Questions for those who prospect....
-Are there checklist elements in this set that are more desirable than other sets?
-Since this is the last release of the year, who missed the cut in other prospect-centric sets?
-Would you rate the appeal of these prospect autos over Bowman Chrome and Topps Chrome?
-Isn´t this now just a high-end version of Bowman Platinum?
-Is there a continuity element to collecting it from year to year?

I want to understand more about the Bowman Sterling phenomenon.

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