Just ahead of the NFL Draft, Topps trotted out its first product under the new “Bowman University” brand. A few weeks later, 2021-22 Bowman University Basketball will arrive with a focus on some of the top NBA prospects.
Without collegiate licenses, Topps will have to get creative with its imagery but it’ll be among the first releases in the annual race to get products to market that feature members of an upcoming draft class.
2021-22 Bowman University Basketball Configuration and Base Set
Fuschia Mini Diamond Refractor parallel
Each Hobby box will hold 24 packs of four cards. Each case will hold 12 boxes. Boxes should have two Chrome autographs.
The base set will have 100 cards–likely on paper stock with a mountain of associated Chrome Refractor parallels including:
• Refractor– 1:6 Packs
• Shimmer Refractor – 1 Per Hobby Box – Hobby Only
• Purple Parallel – #’d to 299
• Aqua Refractor – #’d to 250
• Blue Refractor – #’d to 199
• Fuchsia Mini-Diamond Refractor – #’d to 150
• RayWave Refractor – #’d to 100
• Green Refractor – #’d to 99
• Green Shimmer Refractor – #’d to 99 – Hobby Only
• Yellow Refractor – #’d to 75
• Gold Refractor – #’d to 50
• Gold Shimmer Refractor – #’d to 50 – Hobby Only
• Orange Refractor – #’d to 25
• Orange Shimmer Refractor – #’d to 25 – Hobby Only
• Red Shimmer Refractor – #’d to 10 – Hobby Only
• Red Refractor – #’d to 5
• Black Shimmer Refractor – #’d 1-of-1 – Hobby Only
• SuperFractor – #’d 1-of-1
There will also be image variations of at least some of the base cards.
Inserts
Found once in every six packs, 2003 Bowman is a throwback to the 2003-04 Bowman Basketball issue.
They’ll have Aqua (# to 150), Orange Foil (# to 25) and 1/1 FoilFractor parallels.
Heat Check (1:8 packs) cards focus on players who “are money from mid-range or deadly from deep,” according to Topps, with the same parallels as the 2003 style inserts.
Bowman Invicta will be a little tougher at 1:12 packs. Parallels will include Lava Refractors (# to 150); Orange (# to 25) and 1/1 SuperFractors.
Far more rare will be The Big Kahuna inserts. Found only in Hobby boxes at a rare of 1:288 packs, they’ll highlight the best players who are expected to enter the draft. Orange (# to 25) and 1/1 SuperFractors will be in the mix.
All of the inserts will have autographed versions, too, with Orange Refractors (# to 25) and 1/1 SuperFractor parallels.
Autographs
Beyond the insert autos are Chrome Prospect Autographs, which will have a big lineup of parallels once the checklist is released. They’ll include:
• Lava Refractor Parallel – #’d to 199
• Green Refractor Parallel – #’d to 99
• Yellow Refractor Parallel – #’d to 75
• Gold Refractor Parallel – #’d to 50
• Gold Lava Refractor Parallel – #’d to 50 – Hobby Only
• Orange Refractor Parallel – #’d to 25 – Hobby Only
• Orange Shimmer Refractor Parallel – #’d to 25 – Hobby Only
• Red Refractor Parallel – #’d to 5
• Red Shimmer Refractor Parallel – #’d to 5
• SuperFractor Parallel – #’d 1-of-1
Prime Chrome Signatures is another autograph subset, with cards numbered to 50 along with Orange Refractor parallels numbered to 25 and 1/1 SuperFractors.
2021-22 Bowman University Basketball has a release date of June 1.
About Rich Mueller
Rich is the editor and founder of Sports Collectors Daily. A broadcaster and writer for over 35 years and a collector for even longer than that, he’s usually typing something somewhere. Type him back at [email protected]