Buzz Break: 2019 Bowman Sterling baseball cards (hobby box)

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The box: 2019 Bowman Sterling baseball cards (hobby box)
First Buzz preview & checklist: Click here
Where to buy: Click here

Packs per box: 5
Cards per pack: 6
Cards in this box: 30
Base set completion: 
22 of 100 (22 percent)
Duplicates: 0

Prospect cards – Victor Victor Mesa, Gavin Lux, Jesus Sanchez, Jazz Chisholm, Keibert Ruiz, Seuly Matias, Jo Adell, Hunter Greene, Taylor Trammell, Alec Bohm, Forrest Whitley

Rookie Cards (11) – Jeff McNeil, Nick Senzel, Michael Kopech, David Fletcher, Ryan O'Hearn, Dakota Hudson, Kevin Newman, Touki Toussaint, Kyle Tucker, Brandon Lowe, Dean Deetz

Insert cards: 3 (all cards from box in gallery below)
Gold Sterling Retrospect (1) – Luis Severino (/50)
Prospect Refractors (1) – Estevan Florial (/199)
Gold Rookie Refractors (1) – Fernando Tatis Jr. (/50)

Autographs/Memorabilia: 5
Prospect Autographs (3) – Dustin May, Sheldon Neuse, Brock Burke
Prospect Refractor Autographs (1) – Logan Gilbert (/150)
Gold Prospect Refractor Autographs (1) – Travis Swaggerty (/50)

What's Buzz-worthy: A glance at the odds shows how this box might be better than others out there beyond its obvious Fernando Tatis Jr. highlight -- that's a one in 21 packs find, by the way. The Gold Sterling Retrospect card is one in 84 packs -- one in 17 boxes -- while even the standard base card Refractor isn't in every box at one in six packs. (I'm sure some type of Refractor is found in every box.) The Gold auto is one in 38 packs and the Refractor auto is one in 13. Statistically, this box delivered better than it should have and the Tatis gets it a higher mark in my book. Without it and some of the rarer inclusions here? Feels pretty average.  The base card design here is very simple -- perhaps too simple -- but that might be a move to make it more traditional for Bowman and a little less like the previous incarnation of the brand, which was at times complicated on the aesthetic side. The presentation of this brand also is an interesting one with the single packs coming in boxes (not unusual for Sterling) but they are all placed flat into a smaller pizza-style box when they ultimately don't need to be. (Previous ones were more of a tray with them stacked on their sides.) Perhaps this is all to make it feel a little different from other stuff out there while delivering some of the typical stuff that Bowman fans chase. An autograph in every pack here is a good thing but I think it could have used more variety and more different looks at cards here and there. The base set is solely prospects and rookies -- numbered together this time with a slight lettering change on the back. The fronts have a slightly different frame for each grouping, too. All in all, I don't mind this one returning because I'm sure it will fill a spot for hit-chasing, break-inclined prospectors. The design is probably a little too simple for me on this one but the parallel cards will look pretty good here when you build rainbows.

Product Grade: B+
Box Grade: A-
Fun Grade: B

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