Bowman Sterling Basketball doesn't mess around. Every card in every pack is either a relic (memorabilia) card, autograph, rookie or some combination of those three things. Add in autographed jersey letter cards for the 2007-08 edition and you've got a pretty solid formula.
Bowman Sterling Basketball is a hobby-only product that is sold in six-pack boxes with five cards in each pack. On average, each box should yield three autographed relic cards, three autographed cards, 12 relic cards and a rookie parallel box topper.
Rookie Cards
Bowman Sterling doesn't have a numbered base set per se, so it's right on to the rookie cards. Ten 2007-08 NBA rookies appear on regular cards, with Topps Chrome stock and design elements that include a silver basketball at the bottom and a photo frame that looks like a free throw circle and lane. As a total package, it doesn't stray far from the previous edition of this set.
Regular rookies appear two per pack, leading to a bit of repetition since there's only ten players - most of whom are signed to exclusive deals for autographs and memorabilia cards with another company. For that reason, the wide range of parallels is actually welcome here. There are 12 levels in all, with Refractors numbered to 399 at the high end and several colors of 1-of-1 Superfractors at the low end.
I opened a single pack of Bowman Sterling for this review and found the expected two rookie cards: former Florida teammates Joakim Noah and Corey Brewer.
Relic Cards
With two relic cards per box, Bowman Sterling sounds like it would be a memorabilia collector's dream. That's only half right, because the relic cards are just normal veteran, retired player and rookie cards with a circular jersey swatch at the bottom. On the plus side, the checklist contains many big names, and with two per pack, it's almost guaranteed a piece from a superstar or top up-and-comer awaits in each one.
The checklist includes 40 veterans and retired stars and 10 rookies. All of them come in four mirror Refractor levels with various colors and print runs.
My sample pack produced three total relic cards, with Kevin Garnett and Mike Miller representing the veterans and Julian Wright holding it down for the rookies.
Autographed Cards
Bowman Sterling probably doesn't pop right into the minds of most collectors as an autograph-heavy set, but it does have a nice variety if signed cards that average out to fall one per pack in 2007-08. Most common are Rookie Autographs (15 players falling about one in every other pack) and Rookie Autograph Relics (30 players falling about two per box).
Players who have put in time at the NBA level are featured on Veteran/Retired Autograph Relics, a set that boasts a 20-card checklist, each with a game-used swatch and an autograph from a recognizable name. There are also Sterling Dual Autograph Relics, which feature veterans, legends and rookies in various two-player combinations with a game-worn piece and signature from each athlete. None of the various autographed cards are numbered, but they do come in four Refractor levels numbered between 99 and one.
Last but not least are the Rookie Autographed Letterman Patches, cards that follow a popular trend by putting rookie signatures on entire letters from jersey nameplates. Always cool to look at, these come from player-worn but not game-worn jerseys, but that's still better than other sets that use letters not ever worn by the featured players.
Here's where the About.com sample pack came up a bit short of expectations, as there was no autograph of any kind inside.
The Last Word
I really liked the Bowman Sterling set in 2006-07, and it's still good in 2007-08. It still offers value by the pack or box, it just seems to be missing that "wow" factor that really makes a brand memorable. The design and content haven't really undergone too many changes since last year, and even the signed jersey letter cards, while cool, aren't too different from similar cards in other basketball sets.
That makes the 2007-08 Bowman Sterling experience pleasant if not especially thrilling. Fans of the previous edition will definitely enjoy it again, and other basketball collectors will at least want to take a look.