1997 Bowman's Best

Description

1997 Bowman's Best is a 200-card, rookie and prospect-themed set printed on chromium card stock. The set is divided into 100 current stars and 100 top prospects.

Rookie Cards include Adrian Beltre, Roy Halladay, Miguel Tejada and Kerry Wood.

Distribution

Hobby: Six cards per pack, 24 packs per box (MSRP $4.99/pack)

Retail: Three cards per pack, 24 packs per box (MSRP $3.00/pack)

Reviews

Stale Gum

Insertion Ratios

Cards	Total Cards	Numbered To	Hobby Odds	Retail Odds
Base	200	-	6:1	3:1
Refractors	200	-	1:12	1:20
Atomic Refractors	200	-	1:24	1:40
Best Cuts	20	-	1:24	1:40
Mirror Image	10	-	1:24	1:80
Best Cuts Refractors	20	-	1:48	1:80
Mirror Image Refractors	10	-	1:48	1:160
Best Cuts Atomic Refractors	20	-	1:96	1:160
Mirror Image Atomic Refractors	10	-	1:96	1:320
Mirror Image Inverted	10	-	?	NA
Mirror Image Inverted Refractors	10	-	?	NA
Mirror Image Inverted Atomic Refractors	10	-	?	NA
Autographs	10	-	1:170	NA
Autographs Refractors	10	-	1:2,036	NA
Autographs Atomic Refractors	10	-	1:6,107	NA

Checklist

Base Set

Veterans (Golds)

<sql2wiki database="carddb"> SELECT num,player,info from cards WHERE (year = '1997') AND (setname='Bowman\'s Best') AND (num < 101) ORDER BY num +0 ASC; </sql2wiki>

Rookies & Prospects (Blues)

<sql2wiki database="carddb"> SELECT num,player,info from cards WHERE (year = '1997') AND (setname='Bowman\'s Best') AND (num > 100) ORDER BY num +0 ASC; </sql2wiki>

Parallels

Refractors

All 200 base cards are available in the following Refractor parallels.

• Refractor (1:12 packs)

• Atomic Refractor (1:24 packs)

Jumbos

This partial-parallel features 16 cards in a 4" by 6" jumbo format. These cards were available exclusively as a set to members of Topps' Stadium Club. Only 675 sets were printed and each set included three Jumbo Refractor and one Jumbo Atomic Refractor parallels.

• Refractor (Three-per-set, limited to 169 copies)

• Atomic Refractor (One-per-set, limited to 56 copies)

1 Ken Griffey Jr.

5 Mike Piazza

9 Chipper Jones

11 Kenny Lofton

29 Tony Gwynn

33 Paul Molitor

38 Frank Thomas

45 Mark McGwire

64 Cal Ripken Jr.

73 Barry Bonds

74 Juan Gonzalez

82 Derek Jeter

101 Vladimir Guerrero

177 Nomar Garciaparra

186 Andruw Jones

188 Jose Cruz Jr.

Inserts

Best Cuts

This 20-card set has holes burnt into the card with a laser. Each card is available in the following Refractor parallels. These are called Laser Cuts on retail packaging.

• Refractor (1:48)

• Atomic Refractor (1:96)

<sql2wiki database="carddb"> SELECT num,player,info from cards WHERE (year = '1997') AND (setname='Bowman\'s Best Best Cuts') ORDER BY num +0 ASC; </sql2wiki>

Mirror Image

This 10-card set features four players (two veterans and two rookie/prospects; one on each side) who all play the same position. The veteran players are displayed in the larger photos with the rookies appearing in smaller corner photos. Each card is available in the following Refractor parallels.

• Refractor (1:96/packs)

• Atomic Refractor (1:192/packs)

MI1 N. Garciaparra/D. Jeter/H. Bocachia/B. Larkin

MI2 T. Lee/F. Thomas/D. Lee/J. Bagwell

MI3 K. Wood/G. Maddux/K. Benson/J. Smoltz

MI4 K. Brown/M. Piazza/I. Rodriguez/E. Marrero

MI5 J. Cruz/K. Griffey/A. Jones/B. Bonds

MI6 J. Gonzalez/J. Guillen/R. Hidalgo/G. Sheffield

MI7 P. Konerko/M. McGwire/T. Helton/R. Palmeiro

MI8 W. Guerrero/C. Biggio/D. Sadler/C. Knoblauch

MI9 A. Beltre/C. Jones/M. Williams/R. Branyan

MI10 V. Guerrrero/B. Abreu/K. Lofton/A. Belle

Mirror Image Inverted

This variation parallels the regular Mirror Image set, except that the photographs on each side are swapped -- i.e. younger players have the bigger photos and the veterans are relegated to the inset. Each is available in the following Refractor parallels.

• Refractor

• Atomic Refractor

Autographs & Game-Used

Bowman's Best Autographs

This 10-card set is a skip-numbered, de facto, partial-parallel of the base set. The odds of finding an autograph are 1:170/packs. All autographs are on-card and available in the following Refractor parallels.

• Refractor (1:2036/packs)

• Atomic Refractor (1:6107/packs)

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