All serious investors in prospects eye the three major Bowman releases.  They are as follows:

Bowman:  Usually releases in May and is dedicated to international prospects and MLB Draft prospects withheld from the previous year’s sets. 

Bowman Chrome:  Usually releases in August/September and is dedicated almost exclusively to international signings.

Bowman Draft:  Usually releases December/January and is dedicated almost exclusively to players from the MLB Draft.

There are other sets from Bowman (Bowman’s Best, 1^st Edition Bowman, etc), but these are the three main releases investors focus on. 

Topps will offer “pre-sales” on their websites for hobby boxes, jumbo boxes, hobby cases, jumbo cases, breaker’s delight boxes, blaster boxes, mega boxes, etc.  Each of the boxes and cases have different exclusive parallels and guaranteed autographs. 

Topps usually sells out within hours of starting the pre-sale.  Oddly enough, they sell out within hours and often don’t even release a checklist prior to the pre-sale.  That means people spend hundreds or thousands of dollars on these boxes and cases without even knowing the players in the sets.  I equate it to the new I-Phone releases.  Investors don’t care who is in the sets because they know the insatiable appetite collectors and investors have for these prospects. 

In a future article, we will review the differences in the boxes/cases, types of cards collectors value, different parallels, and when to buy/sell.