2014 Bowman Platinum - The Only Look

Bowman Platinum, although I kind of like it's looks, is not a set I care much about. So I generally buy the bare minimum to insure I'll get enough to add to my reference book. Any Phillies or Astros I get are a bonus.  This year I bought a blaster box and a value pack for the Purple Haze cards. Looks like I didn't do a dedicated post for Bowman Platinum last year, I just included it in my year-end-wrap-up.

I'll say that I like this year's design better than the past few years. It's a very plain, full-bleed design, with just the player's name and a strange device with the BP logo on the side of the card.

The background holo foil is different this year but it's hard to put my finger on it.

You can see that part of the device is colored to match the player's team colors. There was a fairly good mix of fielding, batting and running cards for the players.

They moved the name and the device from side to side to accommodate the photo. The pitcher cards all pretty much look the same, catching the pitcher in about the same place in his delivery.

I guess the background looks like some weirdly lit fog has descended on the field.

There are, of course, multiple different colored parallel cards. Last year they went for a cracked ice background which they abandoned this year.

You got your Gold parallel which looks like the fans are trapped in a fiery inferno.

You got your blood-soaked Ruby parallel.

And you got your arctic wasteland Sapphire parallel.

There are 100 cards in the base set. As is usual in Bowman sets, you also have a 100-card Prospects set.  These look pretty similar except the device has lost it's wings and gained fangs, or something.

One of two Astros I pulled.

The only Phillie I pulled.

The parallel prospects cards are Chrome Refractors.

It's hard to tell in the scan but these have a much higher gloss than the base cards.

I believe Nicolino was beamed up to the mother ship just as this photo was taken.  There were three purple refractors in the Value pack.

I pulled only one of these fabulous X-Fractors. It looks like a rip in the space-time continuum is opening just behind Gallo's butt.

Then you have your inserts. Bowman seems to be really into die-cut cards this year. I pulled 3 different inserts, all with die-cutting. 

This is from the 50-card Toolsy Die Cuts set. I'd have never guessed the name of the set from looking at a card from it. Pretty intricate die cutting here, including a 7-point star in the bottom corner. I'm guessing this set was named by Pee-Wee Herman.

The 30-card Top Prospects Die-Cut is not so elaborately carved.

And finally:

The 20-card Cutting Edge set. The front of the card does not look so green in person. It looks more or less just like the back. But you never know how that holo-foil finish is going to scan. And as you may be able to guess from looking at it this comes in an autographed and relic version. I've said it before and I'll say it again, I hate cards that leave a big blank space on the front to accommodate autos or what have you.