Now that the first two REAL products of the 2013 football season are out, there is going to be obvious competition between the two. Which product is the better break? Which product is better overall? If you are a collector, which product do you think should be hailed and which should be axed? Both Bowman and Score both have plusses and minuses, and I want to break it down category by category.

Rookie Cards

Score was released first, and has found ways to get the rookies in their NFL jerseys for one subset in the boxes. On all the other cards, its a college sideline photo or head shot with the pro logo in the bottom right. For Bowman, the rookie cards are retouched college action shots with the team logo above the nameplate. There is no second rookie card set.

2013 Score Mike Glennon 1989 Throwback RC

2013 Score Geno Smith Hot Rookies RC

Personally, I hate the rookie cards in Score. I think they might be some of the worst in recent memory. Not only is the photoshop work poorly done, and the design of the cards mind numbingly awful, but the effect is lost because all but one rookie has double zero as their number. On the 1989 Throwbacks, there are INSANELY MAJOR issues with the way the rookies are presented, as each of the pictures are basically not worth looking at. At least with Bowman, the cards have action shots, and the retouches are just to hide the college logos. The design is simple and cool, which for a pre-premiere product is pretty much unheard of.

2013 Bowman EJ Manuel RC

2013 Bowman Tavon Austin RC

VERDICT: BOWMAN BY A MILE

Rookie Autographs

This is a matter of on card versus stickers, as Bowman’s are all Chrome and on card, while score is 100% stickers. I did not purchase a single Score rookie auto because of all the issues mentioned above, and I dont plan to. The hot rookies all use the big white box technique, usually without need, and the cards look awful to begin with. When you slice the pics off at the knees its even worse.

2013 Score Marcus Lattimore Auto

2013 Score Cordarrelle Patterson Hot Rookies Auto /99

Bowman’s autos are the same pictures from the rookie cards, but with no team logo. They are all on Chrome Stock and all use the NFL logo instead of the team logo. Topps included all the normal parallels, including Superfractor auto 1/1s, which make the cards that much more worth chasing. I love the different refractors and always have, and it doesnt bother me that much that they were unable to get the NFL logos on there. The cards look great. I didnt even get to the Mini Autos.

2013 Bowman Tavon Austin Orange Refractor Auto RC /50

2013 Bowman Marcus Lattimore Blue Refractor Auto

VERDICT: BOWMAN AGAIN BY A MILE

Veteran Content

I was literally shocked by how much veteran content that Panini was able to sacrifice for a product like this, and most of it was the best they have had in a long time. The Veteran Patch autos are absoltuely awesome, and the Score Inscriptions were a great retro design to go with. Its too bad how much of a sticker dump this is, but singles are worth the look.

2013 Score Inscriptions JJ Watt Auto

2013 Score Future Franchise Alfred Morris Auto Jersey

2013 Score Franchise Fabrics Adrian Peterson Auto Jersey Logo

Bowman just has jerseys, and they arent even done that well. I was hoping that Topps would dedicate more to the veterans this year, and this is not a good start. They need to do better or their products will not stand with such a weak rookie class.

VERDICT: Not even a contest – SCORE DOMINATES

Box Value

Bowman has already jumped significantly since release, mainly because each box has at least one color auto. Not only that, but the massive amounts of parallels are incredible for adding value, which add to everything. If you havent bought one buy now, you are basically too late.

Score is dropping every day, and its mostly because the best autographs you can pull cant really carry the price of a box. That is not a good thing. If you pull a top auto in Bowman, you get more than you would if you pulled a top PARALLEL auto in Score. Bowman looks nicer and uses Chrome, so the cards are worth more. Its that simple.

VERDICT: BOWMAN MAKES SCORE LOOK SILLY

Non Auto Parallels

Score really captialized on adding parallels to this set, but Bowman did as well. The problem with Bowman is that there are so many different ones that its hard to keep them straight. For some, this might be a plus, but for me, it just got me confused.

2013 Bowman Colin Kaepernick Orange Foil /50

2013 Bowman Jonathan Franklin Purple Ice /10

The Artist Proof and Red Zone parallels have been around forever, and Panini did a good job getting them built out. Each set has extra value in the parallels, and I dont think one does it better than the other. This is as close as it gets.

2013 Score Doug Martin Artists Proof 1/1

VERDICT: Tie

Overall

Since 2009, I have been partial to Topps products because they are the best looking ones around. Panini’s idea of good design is how many breaks the patch in the card has. Outside of that, they rarely succeed in making good looking cards. Score is a perfect example of this, and that is undeniable. The only complaint that people have is that Topps opted for a more Leaf-y approach by using retouched college photos, but this is the way it has to be, in order to make the set the way they need to. The cards all look great, even the foil cards, which have found a way to be cool even on the rainbow stock. I can overlook the jerseys for now. The bottom line is that Topps will eventually HAVE pro jerseys to pair with TOP NOTCH design, while Panini will just have poorly composed and unappealing examples.

WINNER: BOWMAN

I know, you guys are probably sick of hearing about Yasiel Puig, but man this guy’s cards are absolutely crazy right now. Obviously, lack of licensed options are going to factor into it, but I STRONGLY suggest sorting through your 2013 Bowman cards as soon as you can. If you havent already posted them on eBay, now is the time to get moving.

Here are some of the recent ending prices after last night’s grand slam:

2013 Bowman Chrome Yasiel Puig Top Prospect Insert Die Cut /99

2013 Bowman Chrome Yasiel Puig Mini Refractor

2013 Bowman Chrome Yasiel Puig Top Prospect Insert

2012 Leaf Ultimate Draft Yasiel Puig Auto Silver /25

The crazy thing is that this is more similar to the Mike Trout situation from last year than the Harper and Strasburg situation from 2010 and 2011. Back when Strasburg was as hot as Puig is, his cards STARTED higher than ever. Harper was very similar in 2011, only because he was the number 1 pick and had already been on the cover of Sports Illustrated twice.

Even Trout’s experience had its differences, because his cards had already been around all through 2009, 2010 and 2011 before he exploded. There were more of them to go around, so the prices didnt get to the level they are with Puig. They were and are still absolutely astronomical, but the situation may be apples and oranges. Puig only has 2 licensed cards right now, the mini out of 2013 Bowman Chrome, and the top prospect card from the same set. As an exclusive of Leaf until his call up, there is much more demand than supply. That greatly complicates things.

Lets say he goes onto win rookie of the year, and eventually becomes a perennial all star. Will his cards continue to be as valuable as they are now? Its unlikely, and that’s why I never understood why people are buying now, rather than waiting for the off season. Even Trout dropped down to earth after the season ended, and I would expect the same here. His cards will become more available as Topps is already announcing plans to exploit him like a child in a sweatshop, and that is music to many collectors’ ears.

SELL NOW. GO. WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?

If you are a casual basketball collector like myself, it probably isnt as obvious how much focus is placed on high end. Exquisite is the biggest in the game, but it kind of goes without saying that the higher end the product is and looks, the more popular it will be. This is why there was such a collector outcry over UD leaving, and why people have been less than lukewarm about Panini’s time as the exclusive provider.

Here is what high end SHOULD look like in Basketball:

2010 Exquisite Basketball Michael Jordan Auto Patch

2009 Exquisite Basketball Kevin Durant Auto Jumbo Patch RC

2008 Exquisite Basketball Michael Jordan / Lebron James Dual Auto Patch

2003 Exquisite Basketball Kobe Bryant Auto Patch

Panini hasnt been as committed to high end as Upper Deck was, even though they have their moments. Because there is such a huge focus on the international side of the hobby in basketball, the amount of people that are chasing certain cards can be astronomical. Obviously, more demand means higher prices, and the more rare a card is, the more people want it. There is also a sense of vanity unlike any other sport, where basketball collectors need to have the best of what they chase. High end fits that bill, and that is why its so important. Being the top of the mountain is just the culture.

Yesterday, Panini gave us the first glance at National Treasures basketball, the first NT set in two years. National Treasures has definitely had a huge impact in its first couple of years, but how much of it was due to lack of options? Blake Griffin continues to be the most valuable NT card ever produced, but its definitely not as pretty as the Upper Deck RAPs of years’ past.

For this year, they decided on a white dominated design again, but I really think the composition is less than stellar. Let me put it this way, Panini’s obsession with the big white box extends into on card signatures too. Instead of ghosting the area below the player where they will sign, they decided to do a clean slice below the waist and give a clean white area to house the signature. No gradient fade, just a clean slice. As a result, the card’s visual appeal is severely handicapped, to the point where it just looks odd.

They employed the same tactic in National Treasures football this year, ruining a stunning design. You will notice they even sliced off the smoke effect in the background by accident too. Its just not a good use of the artistic elements that we see all the other companies use much more effectively.

Here is the thing. People will drool over these cards because of the content of the patches. This is standard, and like I have said before, presents an unfortunate reality in our hobby. People care more about patches than they do about design, and that is freaking sad as hell. Even sadder is that the design COULD have been amazing if they had just used basic photoshop effects to ease the white area for the signature into the design instead of just amputating the bottom half of the player.

Im just happy I am not a basketball collector, because I would be banging my head against a wall right now.

Yasiel Puig has arrived.

So much so that Topps has already promised he will be a feature in many of the products through the rest of 2013. Obviously he meets a lot of the qualifications for huge marketing potential. Five tool player and top prospect, hits 2 homers in his second game, plays in LA, you cant beat that. Collectors are going nuts over his cards, as I mentioned a few days ago, but in the immortal words of Ron Burgandy – “wow, that escalated quickly.”

Craziness in action:

2012 Leaf Valiant Yasiel Puig Base Auto RC

2013 Bowman Yasiel Puig Top 100 Prospect RC

2013 Bowman Yasiel Puig Mini Refractor

2013 Bowman Yasiel Puig Mini Refractor – BLUE WAVE

When you have base cards selling above 20 bucks, and unisigned refractors selling around 100, you know this guy has really made a splash. Although he has had a bunch of autos in Leaf products over the last few years, his first Topps cards came in 2013 Bowman as a mini and top 100 prospect card. People obviously want the licensed stuff, and it shows in the way the cards are performing. Topps also announced that Lucky redemption 4 will be an auto blue sapphire refractor, which has made the cards go for hundreds more.

Remember, he has only played 3 games.

Panini has also said that they will be putting him in their products as well, but I just dont see them doing anything of note without any autographs. Why buy an unlicensed unsigned card, when you can get the real thing?

Ill tip my hat to Bryan Gray for going out of his way to get Puig under the Leaf banner prior to being called up, as this is the time where he turns in his chair and you see him smiling devilishly. “Well, what took you so long?” Leaf has a history of taking big gambles like this, and like with Puig, it has paid off in spades for Ichiro and Damian Lillard. He puts his money where his mouth is, and though I hate that exclusives are in place, Leaf has become a player as a result.

The only question that remains is whether or not Puig can put together a whole season worthy of recognition from collectors, and where his first official autographs start to sell. There is a lot of time between now and when the live autos are in packs, and we all know what can happen. Im sure Dodgers fans dont really care.

I have posted a few times on Bowman Football over the last few days, and after getting the chance to see what is popping up already on eBay, I think this stuff might actually turn out much better than expected. I was also able to bust a few boxes myself, and the product is definitely a blast to open.

Some of the big hits have already started to pop up, and for the most part, it looks like they might be more valuable because so little of this product seems to have been made.

2013 Bowman Chrome EJ Manuel Superfractor Auto 1/1

2013 Bowman Chrome Geno Smith Gold Refractor Auto /75

2013 Bowman Chrome Tavon Austin Orange Refractor Auto /50

2013 Bowman Chrome Matt Barkley Red Refractor Auto /25

2013 Bowman Chrome Eddy Lacy X-Fractor Auto /10

I know that people have either poo-pooed this product because of the airbrushed jerseys, but everyone still should consider that Chrome is king. When you also factor in a lot of numbered parallels that are easy to pull, and all of a sudden things look a lot better in a box break that is under 100 bucks. I was able to pull three cards numbered 25 and under, including a red ice /25 for Broncos’ Running Back Montee Ball. Although I didnt hit a red auto, I did do pretty well.

My best card of the break was the Geno Smith refractor auto that should end up being a pretty short printed auto. I also pulled two mini autos, two blue refractor autos, two gold refractor autos and an Orange refractor auto (ERIC FISHER) all in 4 boxes. LOADED.

From what I saw during when I was at the shop, autos were falling 4 per box, with 1 colored auto per. That is crazy compared to what we saw in baseball, and we all know how Chrome parallel autos tend to sell. Mini autos were falling one every other box, and the NFLPA bonus autos (making five per box) were falling 1 every other as well.

The cards do look really cool, especially on the autos, and it goes without saying that for a pre-premiere product, this is a great way to whet people’s appetite. Although its not going to be on the same level as a Topps Chrome or a Topps Inception in terms of design, refractors are something that drives this hobby more than one would think.

The true equalizer, If I had the choice between Bowman and Score, im taking Bowman, its as simple as that.