The 2022 Bowman Baseball card set released in April 2022 marking another exciting year and player crop for the annual Bowman baseball card release. As with each year, the 2022 Bowman set features prospects, current MLB stars, and rookie cards of the game’s future icons. After a shortened 2020 season and limited 2021 Bowman release due to Covid, collectors and fans were eager to see what this year’s version would bring.
The standard 2022 Bowman base card set contains 324 cards featuring a variety of MLB player photos as well as prospect images. Some of the biggest star rookies in the set with their first Bowman cards include Julio Rodriguez, Bobby Witt Jr., CJ Abrams and Bryson Stott among many others. Bowman is renowned for featuring the game’s top prospects each year who have potential to become future superstars. This year’s crop did not disappoint with many players expected to make their MLB debuts in 2022 and beyond.
In addition to the base set, Bowman also contained several insert sets providing various parallels, autographs and memorabilia cards for collectors. The Chrome set was a fan favorite containing 125 cards with glossy refractors, including prized rookie refractors of players like Witt Jr. and Rodriguez. Chrome Update added 100 more prospects to chase. Other popular inserts included Black and Gray parallels, Refractor parallels, Magenta parallels and Green shimmer parallels providing various levels of rarity and variations to collect.
The autograph insert sets were among the most sought after categories for higher-end collectors. Two of the premiere autographed sets were Black and Gold signing day signatures containing 5 cards per pack as well as Heritage Minor League autographs which carried minimum $150 individual price tags. Bowman also debuted 1st Pitch autographs featuring MLB stars alongside Little Leaguers in their uniforms. The Prize Pack memorabilia insert debuted cards with pieces of game-warn uniforms and equipment embedded on the front of the cards.
Beyond the base release, Bowman also offered retail exclusive mega-box versions in both jumbo and hobby variations. The jumbo mega-box contained 10 packs with 11 cards per pack and extra inserts. Meanwhile, the hobby mega contained 8 packs with 10 cards each as well as guaranteed hits including autos and memorabilia cards exclusive to the high-end product. Both provided more overall cards for the money compared to the standard retail blaster and hanger box versions.
Bowman Draft was also released in June focusing on that year’s draft class. The Draft set contained 150 total cards with prospects selected in the 2022 MLB June Amateur Draft. This included first round picks like Brooks Lee, Drew Gilbert, Jacob Berry and Druw Jones. Draft also included college player images not seen in the standard Bowman release since those players retained NCAA eligibility. Chrome Draft parallels and autographed Draft picks were inserted as serial numbered chase cards.
With the success of the 2022 release, Bowman baseball remains amongst the most popular and valuable modern issues for collectors and investors to pursue each year. Strong rookie classes combined with flashy parallels and autographs make each new Bowman set a highly anticipated release. Although the mainstream retail demand has somewhat waned in recent years, the appeal of Bowman remains high at the hobby shop level due to the annual prospect chase and hit card potential in mega boxes versus standard retail packs. Given Bowman’s track record of featuring so many future MLB stars year after year through the decades, its place at the pinnacle of the modern baseball collecting landscape will likely continue well into the future.
While reseller markets saw some stratification due to economic uncertainty in 2022, overall investment demand remained steady for prized Bowman rookie cards graded and encased by authoritative third party authentication and grading companies like PSA and BGS. Top Bowman cards that commanded eBay sales prices of thousands in recent years included flagship firsts like Juan Soto, Ronald Acuña Jr., Vladimir Guerrero Jr and others. The 2022 release is poised to birth the next generation of valuable rookie cards as players like Witt Jr., Rodriguez and more make their eventual MLB breakthroughs.
As the premier issuer of baseball cards year after year for many decades, Topps and its Bowman brand maintain a strong and passionate collector base. Whether chasing prospects, building complete rainbow sets or targeting valuable hit cards, there are many collectibles within a Bowman release to appeal to all levels and interests. With the constant prospect and MLB superstar influx each season, Bowman will surely remain a pinnacle of baseball card popularity and investment potential into the foreseeable future. This storied brand that introduced so many all-time greats is a program any collector should consider exploring.
