Buzz Break: 2022 Bowman Sterling baseball cards

From time to time, Buzz will break a box of something and post the results here. Like this and want to see more? Or maybe there's a box you'd want to see busted? Send Buzz an email at BlowoutBuzz@blowoutcards.com.

The box: 2022 Bowman Sterling baseball cards (hobby box)
First Buzz preview & checklist: Click here
Where to buy: Click here

Keep reading for a full breakdown and gallery of what was in this one.

Packs per box: 5
Cards per pack: 6
Cards in this box: 30
Rookies set completion: 
7 of 50 (14 percent)
Prospects set completion: 
15 of 50 (30 percent)
Duplicates: 0

Rookie Cards – Spencer Strider, Reid Detmers, Steven Kwan, C.J. Abrams, Edward Cabrera, Jake Meyers, Vidal Brujan

Prospect cards – Henry Davis, Pedro Pineda, Sal Frelick, Liover Peguero, Nelson Velazquez, Misael Urbina, Wilman Diaz, Denzer Guzman, Jonathan Clase, Trey Sweeney, Yiddi Cappe, Dauri Lorenzo, Roberto Campos, Cristian Santana, Aeverson Arteaga

Insert cards: 3 (all cards from box in gallery below)
Rookie Refractors (1) – Bryan De La Cruz (/199)
Mini-Diamond Refractors (1) – James Wood (/150)
Rookie Blue Refractors (1) – Alejo Lopez (/25)

Autographs/Memorabilia: 5
Prospect Autographs (3) – Victor Acosta, Cristian Santana, Colson Montgomery
Prospect Refractor Autographs (1) – Miguel Bleis (/150)
Prospect Wave Refractor Autographs (1) – Harry Ford (/125)

What's Buzz-worthy: When I was done opening this one, I wondered one thing -- and not on an insert level but in general -- where's the color? This one is packaged with a high-end diamond-style package in its vibe but the cards feel like they need either to all be Refractors as base cards for a more dazzling feel or perhaps this is a set that should be color itself in its base form. Why? Just to mix things up. This one is basically 50 prospect cards, 50 Rookie Cards, parallels and ink -- it's very simple -- and as you can see the parallels don't flow all that heavily in this one. If there was some more color or base cards having more energy I feel like this one might be more popular. I landed some names here that sell pretty well in other Bowman formats -- with colors -- but here I'm not sure. (It's early on in its release life, so the markets have yet to develop per se, and I'll also add that prospecting isn't really my main focus with MLB right now ... I tend to wait until they arrive.) This one did include the No. 1 pick, Henry Davis, and some top prospects for some teams in all areas. My favorite here isn't that pricey -- I like the Strider RC here but it's not that big of a deal vs. other stuff. This one over-delivered a bit with the Mini-Diamond parallel (every other box) and the Refractor auto and Wave auto also every fourth one statistically (I suspect the mix includes something like it every box). The Blue parallel here is one in 56 packs, too, so all that gets this one to an A- grade to me. Just like I said last year, these feel like they should be two-hit packs to offer some safety -- or some type of insert or colorful card here in every pack would help in the cases where you don't land a bonafide really big card.

Product Grade: B+
Box Grade: A- (Some rarer finds but perhaps not the biggest names this time ... it can be topped.)
Fun Grade: B (Packs again really feel bare-bones just like last year. Perhaps the base design could use more color?)

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