One of the most important products of the year for baseball collectors arrives this week, while basketball fans get another high-end chrome release filled with autographs and memorabilia.
Here’s a glance at the key things you should know before you buy.
2024 Bowman Chrome Baseball
Release date: Wednesday
Overview: One of the most important baseball sets, 2024 Bowman Chrome arrives with a 100-card base set and a 100-card Chrome Prospect set. Collectors will largely be hunting for baseball’s top prospects and the coveted “1st Bowman” cards.
Inserts: While far from the focus for most collectors, 2024 Bowman Chrome does deliver a handful of inserts worth chasing. The popular “IT came to the League” inserts return for another year while all-new sets include “International Impact,” “Gladiators of the Diamond,” and “My 1st Bowman.”
The new “Etched In Glass” variations, which look much like Panini’s “Stained Glass” set, will fall just once in every 720 packs.
Garbage Pail Kids also make their Bowman debut, with a number of players getting a short-printed GPK variation.
Parallels: As usual, parallels for the key 1st Bowman cards will be highly coveted, especially color matches and the typical favorites like Orange /25 and Red /5.
Retrofractors return as well, with cards for Lou Gehrig and Sandy Koufax — a $100,000 bounty has already been placed on the Gehrig Retrofractor Superfractor.
Autos and relics: Along with 1st Bowmans and their variations, autographs for the top prospects will be the top chases for 2024 Bowman Chrome. The Chrome Prospect Autograph and Chrome Rookie Autograph sets will likely be among the most coveted cards, while Koufax has a Retrofractor Autograph variation with numbered parallels.
- Hobby configuration: 12 packs per box, five cards per pack
- Box break: Two autographs, one shimmer parallel, one My 1st Bowman insert, four International Impact inserts
- Secondary market value: $899.95 (subject to change)
2023-24 Spectra Basketball
Release date: Wednesday
Overview: One of Panini’s most expensive chrome products returns for another year with a variety of parallels, die-cuts and case hits.
Like many of the most expensive products, Spectra arrives with just 20 total cards per hobby box, making it a boom-or-bust rip.
Inserts: Spectra’s lineup of inserts returns with sets such as Full Capacity and Titan, but is anchored by the ultra-popular Color Blast set.
Color Blast remains one of the most popular sets in the hobby and often sells for extremely strong prices on the secondary market as a key card for nearly every player included.
Parallels: Similar to chrome sets such as Prizm and Optic, Spectra is heavily built around a lineup of parallels ranging from Astral to the Mojo-like Meta. Marble and Nebula return as key chases in addition to the regular lineup of color parallels.
Autos and relics: Spectra delivers a variety of ink and memorabilia, led by the Rookie Jersey Autographs. Among the memorabilia-only cards are the Aspiring Patches, Brilliance, and Next Era set.
- Hobby configuration: Four packs per box, five cards per pack
- Box break: Four autographs, four parallels, two memorabilia cards
- Secondary market value: $299.95 (subject to change)
Other releases:
- 2024 Panini Score Football (Wednesday)
- 2023 Leaf Trinity Baseball (Friday)
- Pokemon Scarlet & Violet Stellar Crown (Friday)
- 2023 Topps Motif Football (Friday)
Ben Burrows is a reporter and editor for cllct.