Bowman Gum was a manufacturer of bubble gum and trading cards in the period surrounding World War II. Originally known as Gum, Inc., it produced a series of cards known as the "Play Ball" sets each year from 1939 to 1941. Production halted after the United States entered the war, and the company did not return to making baseball, football, and other trading cards until 1948, now under the Bowman name.
For a few years, Bowman was the leading producer of baseball cards, but was overtaken by Topps. After a period in which the two fought to sign players to exclusive contracts for their cards, Topps bought out Bowman in late 1955 and shut it down. (As an aside, Bowman had already started preparations for it's 1956 set before the buyout. Noted card collector and TV personality KeithOlbermann purchased a notebook that contained prototype designs for the 1956 Bowman set. It was from these prototypes came the design for the 2003 Bowman Heritage set).
Modern Bowman (1989-present)
Over three decades after it's purchase, Topps brought back the Bowman name. The "new" Bowman -- while still continuing to feature all the top stars of the Major Leagues -- would be focused primarily on rookies and prospects. In fact Topps billed Bowman as "The Home of the Rookie Card." While the first couple of efforts (1989-91) was largely overlooked by The Hobby, Bowman really began to hit its stride in 1992 when it was repositioned as a "premium" level product on par with Stadium Club.
Since its reintroduction in 1989, Bowman has produced rookie cards of top MLB stars such as Ken Griffey Jr. in 1989, Sammy Sosa (1990), Mike Piazza, Manny Ramirez and Mariano Rivera (1992), Vladimir Guerrero (1995), Miguel Tejada and Kerry Wood (1997), Albert Pujols and Justin Morneau (2001), and David Wright (2002).
Bowman Chrome (1997-present)
After the 1996 introduction of Topps Chrome, Bowman Chrome was introduced in 1997. Initially fueled by "premium" Rookie Cards of Jose Cruz Jr. and Travis Lee, the top RC's from it now are Miguel Tejada, Eric Chavez, Kerry Wood and Lance Berkman cards. BowChro got a major jump in 2001 when Bowman decided to include autographed rookie cards as part of the base set. The key autographed card in 2001 BowChro is Albert Pujols, which continues to skyrocket in value (currently worth about $3000).
Bowman Draft Picks and Prospects (2000-present)
In 2000, Topps introduced Bowman Draft Picks and Prospects. The concept was similar to Topps Traded and Rookies; yet, as the name suggests, the checklist was slanted in favor of players selected in the corrent year's first-year-player draft, participants All-Star Futures Game and current year MLB rookies (whose true "rookie cards" have been in previous issues). For the first two years BDP&P was distributed exclusively as a factory set, but in 2002 -- following the reconfiguration of 2001 Topps Traded and Rookies -- BDP&P was distributed in pack form and "bundled" with a parallel Chrome version.
Controversially, since Bowman Draft went to its current format, the Chrome version has included additional autographed rookie cards which are unavailable in the non-Chrome set. As an example, the 2006 BDP&P has 165 cards. The Chrome version has all 165 cards PLUS an additional 30 autographed base cards NOT available in the non-Chrome set. Even more controversially, was Topps' way of marketing BDP&P: prominently featuring a player that only appears in the autographed Chrome set.
For example, the 2006 version featured Evan Longoria -- the third pick overall in the 2006 draft -- on all the wrappers and display boxes. (Longoria was one of the 30 players who only appear in the autographed Chrome set.) At the stated odds of 1:50/packs, and assuming perfect collation, a collector would have to open up 1500 packs of 2006 Bowman Draft Picks and Prospects in order to get a single card of the player whose image appears on all the wrappers.
Many stars have had rookie cards in Bowman Draft Picks. 2002 Bowman Draft has rookie cards of Florida Marlins prospect Jeremy Hermida, Oakland Athletics outfielder Nick Swisher, Atlanta Braves outfielder Jeff Francoeur, Tampa Bay Devil Rays shortstop B.J. Upton, San Diego Padres shortstop Khalil Greene and Florida Marlins pitcher Dontrelle Willis. 2003 Bowman Draft Picks has rookie cards of Boston Red Sox pitcher Jonathan Papelbon, New York Yankees second baseman Robinson Cano, Philadelphia Phillies first baseman Ryan Howard, Milwaukee Brewers second baseman Rickie Weeks, Tampa Bay Devil Rays outfielder Delmon Young and Los Angeles Angels shortstop prospect Brandon Wood.
AFLAC Redemption Set
Making it's debut in 2004, was Bowman's idea of redemption cards for a set of cards from the AFLAC High School All American game. Players included were Cameron Maybin, Andrew AndrewMcCutchen, Chris Volstad, C.J. Henry, and Justin Upton. The sets were delayed and not shipped until 2006, and the Gold Refractor cards "Accidentally" slipped into packs, which caused them to be delayed even more. Topps sent out a letter asking customers if they wanted a 3 card auto set consisting of C.J. Henry, Andrew AndrewMcCutchen and Cameron Maybin. (Justin Upton was later added as a fourth person in the set) or the Gold Refractor set. The Gold Refractor set was shipped before the Auto Set. Here are the Final Print Runs
Bowman's Best (1994-2005)
Bowman's Best started in 1994 as a hybrid of Topps' Finest brand, with Bowman. '94 Bowman's Best was well received by collectors -- despite a mediocre rookie card class. (Jorge Posada, Billy Wagner and Edgar Renteria) In terms of landmark rookie cards, and retained value, Bowman's Best hit it's zenith in 1995 with rookie cards of Vladimir Guerrero, Bobby Abreu, Andruw Jones, Hideo Nomo and Scott Rolen.
The 1997 Bowman's Best set offered collectors something new and would remain a staple of the brand for a while. Along with rookie cards of Miguel Tejada, Kerry Wood and Roy Halladay, and the refractor parallels, Topps had added autographed insert cards. Tony Gwynn and Derek Jeter were among the signers in this set, and there were refractor and atomic refractor parallels of the autographed cards. In 1999, Bowman's Best had autographed cards with 2 autographs on one card, but was also the first BowBest set to feature short-printed base set cards (the last 50 cards were seeded at the rate of one-per-pack).
In 2002, Bowman's Best was reconfigured to include autographed and memorabilia rookie cards as part of the base set. As a result, Bowman's Best had now become nearly impossible for SetBuilders to complete. (In fact beginning in 2003, Bowman's Best was no longer sequentially numbered. Instead, each card was "numbered" with the player's initials -- using the similar numbering convention used on autographed and game used insert cards.) By far, the most prominent RookieCard of this era, was Ryan Howard's autographed 2003 card. Despite these changes, the brand was overshadowed by Bowman Chrome and Bowman Sterling (see below). Topps eliminated Bowman's Best after 2005.
Bowman Sterling (2004-Present)
Bowman Sterling was introduced in 2004, and was an immediate hit with "high-end" rookie card collectors. The base set is made up of Rookie Cards, Veteran GU cards, Autographed Game Used cards featuring a jersey swatch from the players jersey alongside an autograph and autographed RC's. Just like Bowman's Best, each card is not sequentially numbered, and is instead identified with the player's initials -- thereby making set completion futile. BowSter was released again in 2005.
Regular Refractor cards are limited to 199 copies and are in regular packs. Black Refractors (limited to 25 copies) and Red Refractors (limited to 1 copy) and buyback cards, which are already released Bowman and Bowman Chrome cards which are purchased by Topps and signed by players, are inserted into the box loader packs. Box Loader packs are one per box and encased in a special topps holder.
Bowman Heritage (2001-present)
Introduced in 2001, Bowman Heritage was created to capitalize the success of 2001 Topps Heritage and to produce even more cards of the stellar rookie class of 2001. Unlike Topps Heritage, BowHer has not proceeded in a year-by-year chronological order. 2001 Bowman Heritage uses the same design of the original 1948 Bowman black-and-white set. However, for the 2002 version, Topps skipped ahead and used the design of the 1954 Bowman set. Topps was set to pull the plug on Bowman Heritage, that is until Keith Olbermann convinced Topps to produce a set for 2003 using the design of the "phantom" 1956 Bowman set.
Just like Topps Heritage, Bowman Heritage has all the bells-and-whistles that collectors in the 1940s and 50s would be unfamiliar with: such as autographed inserts and game used cards. And even though the design pays tribute to older Bowman sets, the abundance of rookie cards of prospects and MLB Draft Picks, and short-printed base set cards, makes Bowman Heritage very much a modern card set.