They all look the same

 

Just a quick observation while I'm dealing with more visiting and various summer activities.

 

I received these two 2026 Bowman cards from The Shlabotnik Report about three weeks ago. They were my first look at this year's Bowman. I don't buy those cards anymore.

 

One of the many reasons I don't is because Bowman has no interest in distinctive designs, which can be attached to a respective year. They look far too similar to me every year.

 

In general this is an issue with modern cards. Having grown up with cards in the 1970s, I need my cards to look vastly different from year to year. So it's a generational thing, I have a feeling.

 

So when I saw the two 2026 cards I thought they didn't look any different from the previous year ... or the previous five years. And then I realized it has been this way now for 15 years.

 

 

This is a Bowman card from 2011. Those of you who were collecting then know that Bowman liked its black borders at the time.

 

The 2011 set was the 10th straight year of some sort of black border, although technically the true black border Bowman run didn't start until 2003 and lasted through 2011.

 

Admittedly, it got a little tired as far as a design. This is when I was still buying Bowman packs.

 

But this is what has arrived since:

 

That is one card from each year of the main Bowman set from 2012 through 2026. Fifteen years. Looks pretty similar to me. Maybe I just don't like subtlety. I did start collecting with 1975 Topps, you know.

 

But if I jumbled all of the cards above so the years were mixed up, would you be able to pick out each of the years correctly? Maybe I should have shown that instead of letting you know they were in order.

 

More power to you if you know exactly which Bowman design goes with each year. Bowman was made for you, man.

 

But again, I don't think anyone is buying Bowman for the design.