There's something to be said for having a track record for delivering what collectors expect. For Bowman Football, that's giving football fans the chance to grab plenty of rookie cards without spending tons of money, and the 2008 edition is designed to follow through on that same promise.
Hobby boxes of 2008 Bowman Football contain 24 packs with 10 cards (eight Bowman and two Bowman Chrome) in each pack. Regular boxes should yield one rookie autograph and one relic (memorabilia) card, while Home Team Advantage jumbo boxes add a second rookie autograph as a box loader.
Base Cards and Parallels
Black borders have almost become standard operating procedure for Bowman Football, so it's no surprise to see them again for the 2008 base cards. There's also always a frame whose color separates the NFL veterans (red) from rookie coaches (green) from rookie players (blue). This year those colored areas are on the sides and bottom, giving the photo area an hourglass shape. It's a little unorthodox but it looks good.
To paraphrase Neo from The Matrix, Bowman is about rookies... lots of rookies. There are 165 in the 2008 set, compared to 110 veterans and coaches. I opened a random hobby box to review and found 100 rookie cards and only 65 of everything else, so expect to find multiple new faces in each pack.
Parallels for all of the base cards start with the extra thick Gold cards found one per pack. Other levels are on normal stock and include Blue (numbered to 500), Orange (numbered to 250) and Red (1-of-1). All told, I pulled 23 Gold, 2 Blue and one Orange from my sample box.
There are also two Bowman Chrome base cards in every pack, because for several seasons, Topps has chosen to begin that product here. The first 55 Chrome cards (all rookies) are inserted into Bowman packs, and I found 47 of them in my box. Also in the mix are seven levels of Refractor parallels; I turned up a Tom Zbikowski X-Fractor numbered to 275.
Autographed Cards
Another longstanding Bowman tradition is one rookie autograph in every box, and that is again the case for 2008. Collectors who know the brand will recognize Signs of the Future, which goes 28 players deep this season and features top names like Matt Ryan, Joe Flacco and Matt Forte. There are also five dual-signed cards numbered to 50, the best of which pairs Ryan with Darren McFadden.
Other rookie autographs can be found on Bowman Chrome Green Refractor Auto Parallels, which have print runs of 150 copies each. Some of the same players from Signs of the Future are joined by some new ones for a total of 54 subjects.
Bowman also throws in a few veteran and retired player autographs in the form of the 2008 Signature Series, which has been running through many of this season's Topps brands. The 25-card checklist is highlighted by Emmitt Smith, Joe Montana and Jerry Rice.
The About.com review box contained the expected single autograph, a Signs of the Future Adrian Arrington.
Relic Cards
Relic cards (Topps' name for memorabilia cards) also combine to fall one per box on average. Fabric of the Future jersey cards make up a good chunk of these, with single swatches from 20 2008 rookies. Dual versions numbered to 50 have some interesting combos, like Arkansas teammates McFadden and Felix Jones and the top two quarterbacks selected, Ryan and Joe Flacco.
Speaking of top selections, Topps usually manages to snag the jerseys and caps handed to them on draft day, turning them into Bowman Draft Day Selections relics. The first six players picked in the draft have jersey, cap and combo swatch cards this season.
The final batch of relics comes from the NFL Rookie Premiere, which is the event held each spring where card companies shoot photos of the rookies for the first time. The aptly named Rookie Premiere Relics contain pieces of jerseys worn at the event, and they have autographed versions as well.
The relic in my box was a Fabric of the Future card of Eagles receiver DeSean Jackson.
The Last Word
Topps usually sticks pretty close to its tried and true formulas for its Bowman products, making sets like this one some of the safest bets in the hobby. You won't get your mind blown by any high-dollar pulls, but you will find one of the most comprehensive rookie checklists around, and if you're lucky, maybe a nice first-year autograph or memorabilia card too.
The abundant rookies make it fun to open a whole box or just a few packs, and this year's cards also look sharp. Add it all up and you've got a low end perennial favorite, which is exactly what Bowman Football has become.