2012 Bowman Preview Images and Type Collection Update (if you care about that sort of thing)

Be aware.

First, what you're most interested in, preview images for 2012 Bowman.

The previews are all bling - no look at the base card or any inserts.

 I wonder if they're going to have Wavefractors next year, or if this is just a blue refractor.

 This must be the Atomic Refractor, as this style of broken-glass design was used for the atomics this year.

Of course, we have refractor autographs.

 And they will come in pretty purple color, and a whole rainbow of other colors, I'm sure.

This card looks great, though. If it has the right amount of refractor or chrome-shine (or even if it doesn't), a silver pen autograph on a black background will be pretty cool. I like the design here, even if it fits better in the Platinum line.

Speaking of design, it looks like there might be some minor changes. In the past, Bowman borders have been red, blue, or green, for veterans, rookies, and prospects. Since these are previews, they may not have finalized card borders for each particular card, but it looks like they might be using team colors for borders (see Cole, especially). The Bowman Chrome logos are blue or green, though the Bowman logos are not. It would be nice to see a little change, but this early in the game there's no telling what they'll do. I'm impartial.

Regardless, the design is okay. It follows the same basic concept as before, though with the cutout at the bottom I'm going to go ahead and call this the Rolodex set. I'm sure the sell sheets are coming within a couple weeks, and we'll get a look at the upcoming inserts.

Now, on to the Cardboard Zoo collection. I was very happy to pass 20% completion overall with last week's card store purchases. I did a bit more work on the list, inputting my current Check Out My Cards (COMC) inventory and moving some type sets (2005 Throwback Threads Polo Grounds variations, for instance) to the real type collection. I also essentially eliminated the "multisport" category, keeping the inventory the same way I keep the oddballs. I'll probably go back and redo it, voiding some of the results from today.

I attacked 1995 on COMC. Of the 535 card sets issued that year, I now have representatives from 274 (51%). Most of the remaining 261 sets are team and minor league issues.

I also went after a good bit of inexpensive 2010 and 2011. 2010 is now at 30% and 2011 is over 36% - making 2011 the most-complete year other than 1995.

As I said, I wanted to pass 20% by the end of the year, and with today's work I'm at 21.5%. I've purchased a Japanese card checklist/price guide book which will help me eliminate the Japanese sets from the master list and put them in their own database, which means I'll be closer to 25%. Yay! (But then, the Japanese list will be at something like 0.1% to start.) I'm excited! I never thought I'd reach 25% this quickly. I know it wouldn't be possible without COMC.