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The Stephen Strasburg 2010 Bowman Prospects baseball card, regardless of style or version, is one of the most iconic cards in the entire hobby. Stephen Strasburg appeared on quite a few versions of his two 2010 Bowman Prospects products, which include the paper and the Chrome. Showcased here is information on, and depictions of many of the different cards.
2010 Bowman Chrome Prospects #BCP1
Shown above is the single and only complete run of the Stephen Strasburg 2010 Bowman Chrome Prospects #BCP1 card. Between the paper and the Chrome, the Chrome is the more popular version. This was the one card that drove sales for the product when it was released back in summer of 2010. I saw many of the base Chrome examples pulled from packs but, outside of a Blue Refractor encounter someone bought online, I never saw a parallel.
Regarding the set design, it features the same great taste found on other Bowman Chrome releases and the refractors scan beautifully. The 2010 Bowman Chrome’s struggled with one manufacturing flaw, however. They have a slight bend making them not ideal for One Touch Magnetic cases and sometimes PSA slabs. It’s because of this that I prefer my 2010 Bowman Chrome cards to be housed in BGS slabs but that’s just me and there’s no wrong answer. Something else that’s common with 2010 Bowman Chrome is the consistent lack of quality centering making centered examples command higher prices. 2010 Bowman Chrome Prospects come in 8 different parallels + 4 Printing Plates. Shown here is each of the 8 parallels from left to right, or from common to rarest. Here’s the list of what’s available.
- Base: This is the standard base card. It features a flat chrome finish.
- Refractor: This version features the classic refractor finish and is serial numbered to 777.
- Purple Refractor: This version features a purple border and is serial numbered to 999. This version was released exclusively via retail packs.
- Blue Refractor: This version features a blue border and is serial numbered to 250.
- Gold Refractor: This version features a gold border and is serial numbered to 50.
- Orange Refractor: This version features an orange border and is serial numbered to 25.
- Red Refractor: This version features a red border and is serial numbered to 5.
- Superfractor: This is the legend card. It features the superfractor finish and is serial numbered to 1.
- Printing Plates: 4 plates exist, one for each of the following colors: Black, Cyan, Magenta, and Yellow. Each has a print run of 1.
2010 Bowman Prospects #BP1a
As with other Bowman releases, a paper version exists. Here’s what they look like:
Shown here is a partial run of the Stephen Strasburg 2010 Bowman Prospects #BP1 card. These cards are printed on sturdy white cardstock, feature a facsimile signature, and come with a variety of colored borders and print runs. The following is a list of what’s available.
- Base: This is the standard base card. It features a white border.
- Black: This version features a black border and was issued via wrapper redemption.
- Blue: This version features a blue border and is serial numbered to 520.
- Orange: This version features an orange border and is serial numbered to 250
- Red: This version features a red border and is serial numbered to 1.
- Printing Plates: 4 plates exist, one for each of the following colors: Black, Cyan, Magenta, and Yellow. Each has a print run of 1.
2010 Bowman Prospects AU #BP1b
For ambitious collectors, autographed examples are available. For obvious reasons, these were highly popular upon product release. Due to the way it was issued, the Black bordered version is the only one that’s not found with an autograph. The following is a list of what’s available.
- Base AU: This is the standard base card with an autograph.
- Blue AU: This is the blue border parallel with an autograph and a print run of 250.
- Orange AU: This is the orange border parallel with an autograph and a print run of 25.
- Red AU: This is the red border parallel with an autograph and a print run of 1.
- Printing Plates: 4 plates exist, one for each of the following colors: Black, Cyan, Magenta, and Yellow. Each is autographed and has a print run of 1.
2010 Bowman Prospects AU #BP1b Proofs:
These examples have the same Certified Autograph Issue stamps but don’t possess autographs or serial numbers. These weren’t meant for public release but in 2017, multiple copies of each of the Blue, Orange, and Red parallels surfaced.
2013 Bowman Rookie Reprint Blue Sapphire Refractors #SS
To commemorate the iconic Stephen Strasburg 2010 Bowman Prospects card, regardless of style or version, it was included in a set that features reprints of some of the hobby’s most popular rookie cards from past Bowman flagship releases. With a beautiful blue sapphire refractor finish, this reprint is a nice addition to the run even though it’s not part of the 2010 release.
Stephen Strasburg made a huge impact on the desirability of the 2010 Bowman Prospects and 2010 Bowman Chrome Prospects sets when they hit shelves in 2010. It was because of him that prices for single packs of 2010 Bowman Prospects soared from week to week. The 2010 Bowman Prospects Strasburg card remains as one of the hobby’s most iconic cards.
To view the current eBay auctions for 2010 Bowman Stephen Strasburg baseball cards, click here.
One thing I’d add: purple refractors were retail exclusive parallels. That’s the only card from the whole run that was limited strictly to retail.
I remember that. Thanks for the recommendation. That fact has been included.
Great summary here Patrick, although I do think it is another reminder of the oversaturation of parallel cards in the modern hobby. Strasburg had a great 2017 season. It would be cool if he keeps building up his career over the next few years. His 2010 Bowman cards would start to soar in desirability again.
Thanks, Brian. Hopefully, Strasburg continues to have productive years.
Patrick, any idea where those test proofs came from? I just picked up an orange version and can’t find anything about it other than this article. I imagine they were a hot commodity in 2010, but strange they just started showing up in 2017 based on what you said.
Hi Jordan,
Thanks for the comment. Since those cards are identical in every way to their pack-issued counterparts, but with the exception of no serial numbers or autographs, one could make the assumption that they were made with the intent to be used as replacements. In situations of signed cards, however, the only thing that’s missing are serial numbers because adding serial numbers is very simple, but having players resign cards is not. That the autographs don’t exist makes me believe they were printed to be checked for quality before sending Strasburg a batch to sign. Unfortunately, there’s no way to back any of this up with any degree of certainty. The reason why you cannot find anything published about these cards beyond my post is because these were never meant for public release. I believe they only entered the secondary market from an employee back-dooring examples and I don’t believe these entered the market until we saw them in 2017. I hope this helps.