2010 Bowman Sterling: The Results of a Single Pack

Bowman Sterling was the final baseball product put out by the Topps trading card company in 2010. Well, technically 2010 Bowman Sterling was the final product of the year, but it was released in 2011. At a hefty price tag of $300 a box, was it worth the wait?

I could not afford an entire box of 2010 Bowman Sterling, so I bought a single pack at $60. It is possible to land these packs cheaper on Ebay, but I wanted the instant thrill of opening a high-end pack from my local card shop. When buying a single pack you are hurting your odds in the lottery sense of pulling that really high end WOW card, but then again if you do pull the card you look really smart. Some people will buy an entire box and not even pull something with WOW factor, so if you prefer to lose small, a single pack may be the way to go.

You only get five cards in a pack! The packs are plain silver foil and inside of a hexagram shaped box, which is neat. Jason Heyward is the poster boy for this product, featured on the front of my box with baseball bat in hand. I don't know about you, but even at $60 my box is going in the trash. I'm here for the cards! Here is what I pulled:

1. Matt Davidson base card: Matt Davidson is a third baseman with the Arizona Diamondbacks team. The Diamondbacks had a fairly awful season in 2010, so I have never heard of this guy and looking at the stats on the back of the card I may not hear much about him in the future. The value of the 2010 Bowman Sterling card is zero to me and will most likely be given away as a freebie.

2. Danny Valencia base refractor rookie card: Danny Valencia has quite a few fans, having done well with his time in Minnesota during the 2010 season. This rookie card will sell I am sure, but value-wise it appears that not having an autograph kills it and I'll probably get 99 cents. Maybe the serial numbered out of 199 aspect will net me over a buck.

3. Brett Mooneyham GU jersey card: Who? Which is exactly what Ebay buyers are thinking as this card does not seem to hold any value beyond the occasional 99 cents or less sale. It features this USA baseball team pitcher and a small piece of grey cloth from his jersey on the front.

4. Justin Wilson AUTO card: An autographed card of Justin Wilson from the Pittsburg Pirates. This is another player I know nothing about and judging by Ebay sales I'm guessing only a diehard Pirates fan is going to fork over 99 cents for it.

5. Tim Beckham AUTO Refractor card: An autographed card that is also a refractor, meaning it is serial numbered out of only 199 printed. Well, 199 is still quite a few printed and in some people's minds might be too many printed of whoever Tim Beckham is. This card is also going in the 99 cent range on Ebay.

So, it looks like for $60 I've netted about $5 in resale value. However, 2010 Bowman Platinum is about prospects and finding cards of people who are not superstars yet. Who knows: if I held on to these they could be the next big thing in a few years.

The quality of the cards is good. They have a lot of silver and not much actual baseball action or photography going on. They also suffering from the "warping" effect lots of the Topps chrome style cards have; though not as bad as 2010 Topps Chrome themselves did. The autographs are sticker autographs, which means the player signed a sticker which was then place on the card. This is not as cool as an on card autograph, but the autos I got were nice and bold.

If you are looking for immediate value, buying a single pack of 2010 Bowman Sterling is risky. If you want to give the product a spin, I say go all out with a full box and better your odds of pulling one of the hot rookies from 2010, or a neat auto, GU, or printing plate. Or stay away and just buy some of the cards you like from Ebay where I'll be selling them for 99 cents apparently.