The Definitive Guide to First Bowman Cards
When it comes to the most sought after cards for today’s baseball stars, not much beats the Topps Flagship rookie card. However, as prospecting continues to grow in popularity, a player’s “1st Bowman” card has almost come to rival the rookie card in collector’s wish lists. Since many players can play in the minor leagues for several years before getting the call, it can be a challenge to know which of the many Bowman sets contain the first Bowman card of your favorite player.
That’s where this site comes in. Topps first started using the the 1st Bowman” designation in 1996. They continued to use it in 1997, but for some reason did not use that identifier from 1998 - 2002. In those years only a “rookie card” identifier was used. A first Bowman or first year indicator returned in 2003, and each year except 2013 has had one in place.
Included in each blog post is a listing of every First Bowman card found in the set. I only included cards which display the 1st Bowman logo, so if Topps left the logo off of a players first card it won’t be listed in that set. On the flip side, if a player has multiple cards with the logo on them, then they will be listed multiple times.
Enjoy!
Enter a player in the Search field below to see what set(s) they have first Bowman cards in!
Checklist of 1st Bowman Prospect cards from 2024 Bowman