2020 Bowman Draft released today Wednesday, December 9 and is the most anticipated and popular prospect product every year.
The primary reason for this popularity is due to the checklist’s focus on the current year’s MLB Draft players. Of the 118 Chrome Draft Picks Autographs (the core autographed card in the product), 116 of the players were selected in the 2020 draft (the other 2 were UDFA) and all of these players will have the coveted 1st Bowman logo.
The Checklist
Digging into the checklist, this product is about the 1st overall pick, Spencer Torkelson and then everyone else. Taking a look at the first market indicator for Bowman Draft, Cheap Fun Breaks (CFB/Houdini) 20 case Pick Your Player (PYP) auction, Torkelson came in at just under 10 percent of the entire amount bid across all 118 players while the second highest bid, Robert Hassell III, was at just over 5 percent. Tork’s price also lines up with the Dynasty community ratings, which doesn’t always happen (*cough* Bayron Lora *cough*). Prospects Live’s Top 500 Dynasty Prospects currently has Tork at fourth overall.
As you go down the checklist and look at the CFB market trend and Dynasty Trends, there isn’t a whole lot that stands out as completely out of line, unlike what we saw with 2020 Bowman Chrome and Bayron Lora being the biggest seller in that product. The top 16 bids were all players within the top 200 of the top 500 Dynasty Prospects, and not until you get outside of the top 20 will you find an unranked player (Owen Cassie at 21st highest bid). You can see the full list of 118 players with their Dynasty Ranks and the CFB PYP highest auction bid in the table below.
The Design
The design of the product, as usual, is the same as what you have already seen this year in 2020 Bowman Baseball and 2020 Bowman Chrome. The main difference will be with the insert cards/sets - some we have seen in previous years such as the Draft Night and Under Armour Game inserts, and some new ones such as the Applied Pressure and Glimpses of Greatness inserts.
The Configuration
The configuration of the product is pretty much a repeat from 2019 with the Hobby Jumbo box guaranteeing 3 autos and the Hobby Super Jumbo box guaranteeing 5 autos. Given the introduction of the Retail Mega Box format for 2020 Bowman Chrome this year, I would not be surprised if we saw a similar strategy for the 2020 Bowman Draft product. It’s also worth mentioning that just like 2020 Bowman Baseball, Topps released a 1st edition sold exclusively online on a per pack basis that has the same design, base checklist, and a small subset of very hard to hit autographs for 17 players. And finally, while not yet announced, there will almost assuredly be a Sapphire edition released at some point as they introduced that for the Bowman Draft product line in 2019.
Summary
In summary, 2020 Bowman Draft is following its tried and true formula. There are plenty of players to collect across teams, player types, and future potential. There’s a prospect here for every collector, and in their most-desired 1st Bowman format, which is why it is THE Prospect Product.