Hobby Box Break and Review: 2011 Bowman Platinum

This years Bowman Platinum has come a LONG way from last year if you ask my opinion. The veteran base cards are on a higher quality card stock than last year, and the design is much cleaner.

I have seen a good variety of the 2011 Bowman Platinum set having opened some rack packs before the hobby box as well as seeing a ton of these cards around the show floor at the National.

The hobby boxes promise 3 autographs per box including one dual autograph game used card. The box retails for around $80 per box, and for that price you do get 3 hits plus a bunch of parallels.

These x-fractor type parallels of the prospects are cool for one reason- the card stock doesn't coil like older types. If you are someone who collects prospects, it's just another version to chase.

I love this years base card design, much nicer than last years design and card stock. There are many times where I hate multiple versions of the same card in different colors, but this set I love collecting the rainbow of colors. When cards are shiny, I think it makes collecting a rainbow more fun.
These were the only two base prospects that are already in top loaders and that I had any interest in holding onto. I really think Ackley is going to be a great player and obviously Bryce Harper will be the next God among men.
Here are the rest of the prospects.
Red parallel of Jayson Werth.
Green parallels (non-serial numbered)
Pedro Alvarez and Dan Haren
Gold parallels (non-serial numbered)

Here is the dual game used autograph card /1166 of Edwin Encarnacion... (whoohoo, party hats!!)
Yankees prospect Anderson Feliz auto

Dodgers prospect Leon Landry auto.
Cito Culver gold refractor /50 might just be the best card in the box. Love that he is pictured doing the "Jeter jump throw" move.
Garrett Richards green refractor /599

This is one of those products where retail and hobby version both have something cool to offer if you are a player collecting, more so a prospect collector. The retail rack packs which you can get in Target (not sure what WalMart offers since mine doesn't carry cards), contain 3 exclusive purple refractors + 3 packs for $8.99. I got a couple of cool purple refractors in my rack packs for my PC.

2011 Bowman Platinum Report Card:

Design: A-

I think the design on the cards is clean and simple while still using some great action shots on some cards. I enjoy collecting the rainbow of these types of cards when they don't coil or bend and look nice in an album.

Value: A-

For what is supposed to be a higher end product, Edwin Encarnacion as the "bigger" of the three hits was just disappointing. Maybe that's just me. However, at around $80 per box, you can't beat three autos and a ton of parallels. Oh and a chance at a Bryce Harper auto that could pay for the box and then some if you flip it.

Quality: A

I couldn't really find anything wrong with the quality of the product from the box. There were no mis-cut cards, no dinged corners and no doubles.

Overall: A

My general opinion of this set is that it's great. I think this set is what kept me interested in cards around this time of year because Ginter and Lineage just did nothing for me. Lineage inserts were great, but the base product left something to be desired. The 2011 Platinum has a solid base set with a nice design, and the back of the cards look like they are a finished product. The inserts and autographs are well done, and we all know I will love any product with a chance to make a rainbow of Cano or Pujols cards.

Did anyone pull any cool auto's from Platinum? Better yet, anyone pull any Cano or Pujols parallels for me? =)