2017 Bowman Mega Box Includes Exclusive Refractors, First English Shohei Ohtani Baseball Cards
Looking for more Refractors? Exclusive cards? The Target-exclusive 2017 Bowman Mega Box has them both.
Few will argue against the dramatics of the 2017 World Baseball Classic. But as great as it was, an ill-timed injury kept the game’s biggest international player out. Inevitably, there were no 2017 Bowman Shohei Otani.
Not so fast.
The Japanese phenom may not be in regular packs, but there are Ohtani cards among the exclusives (although his name is spelled “Otani”).
What’s in a 2017 Bowman Mega Box?
Each 2017 Bowman Mega Box comes with two types of packs. The configuration is similar to Topps Mega Boxes from the past few years that have Topps Update and exclusive Topps Chrome Update packs.
First, there are five regular 2017 Bowman Baseball retail packs. The big draw for these boxes are the two exclusive Mega Box Chrome packs. Each has five cards not available anywhere else.
For starters, there are the Chrome Prospects Mega Box cards. These are similar to the 2017 Bowman Chrome Prospects cards except they have a patterned background like that used for past Asia-exclusive Japanfractors. Panini uses a similar pattern for their Mojo Prizms. Nearly 20 years ago, it was in Flair Showcase as well.
Besides the regular versions, Prospects come with four addition parallels:
- Purple Refractors – /250, 1:6 packs
- Green Refractors – /99, 1:15 packs
- Orange Refractors – /25, 1:56 packs
- Black Refractors – 1/1, 1:1,396 packs
Autographs are also available at a rate of 1:18 Mega Box packs. The signers are in line with the other 2017 Bowman Chrome Prospect Autographs for the most part. However, some players aren’t in the main set and not all the photos are the same for those who are. Some, but not all, also use stickers for the signatures. So it’s not simply a parallel version for the autographs.
However, the 2017 Bowman Mega Box Autographs do have their own parallels: Green (/99, 1:82 packs), Orange (/25, 1:274) and Black (1/1, 1:6,838).
A pair of 2017 Bowman Baseball inserts get the Mega Box treatment as well. ROY Favorites has a regular patterned version landing 1:4 of the exclusive packs. Parallel come in Purple (/250, 1:28), Green (1:71), Orange (1:280), and Black (1/1, 1:6,979).
Select cards also have ROY Favorites Autographs (1:122 packs). These have just two parallels, Orange (/25, 1:365) and Black (1/1, 1:9,117).
Rounding out the exclusives is Talent Pipeline, which has a regular version (1:2 packs) plus Purple (/250, 1:19), Green (/99,1:47), Orange (/25, 1:187) and Black (1/1,1:4,653).
Although they carry a $14.99 price tage, 2017 Bowman Mega Boxes are already strong sellers on eBay.
2017 Bowman Mega Box Shohei Otani
Shohei Ohtani made the jump to MLB in 2018. Thanks to his prowess with both the bat and pitching off the mound, he has drawn many comparisons to Babe Ruth. While the career numbers are unlikely to add up to the Bambino’s, there’s no denying that Ohtani is one of the game’s most exciting players.
Other Shohei Ohtani baseball cards are out there from Japan. The 2017 Bowman Mega Box Shohei Ohtani is important because it’s his first English card. It’s similar to past World Baseball Classic cards for players like Yu Darvish and Yoenis Cespedes.
Not surprisingly, prices for the 2017 Bowman Mega Box Shohei Ohtani cards have been popular on eBay and other secondary market spots since their release..
People are WAY overpaying right now.
Some quick math gives you over 6000 of each chrome made. This means the base will ultimately become readily available, though the parallels will legitimately be hard.
I’m not sure how many of these boxes are making it into the stores and how many are being sold directly to dealers. All I can tell you is I never saw a single one hit the shelves and I don’t expect I ever will.
I’m not going to predict where the Otani will eventually settle, but I suspect there’s going to be a ton of international appeal. With nothing else like it — yet — 6,000 isn’t a huge number. The other factor is the Target-exclusive nature. So the international market can’t simply get boxes.
Obtain as many Otani bowman refractors you can this kid is a beast , you got a whole international market , this will easily be a 1000$ card , babe Ruth of Japan , kid is fire
$1,000? Highly doubtful for an unsigned WBC card. Interesting and popular? Yes, but big difference from being a mega-dollar card.
I visited 6 targets in the area. Two had 5+ mega boxes. I bought them all. The other four didn’t even have blaster boxes much less megaboxes.
Anyone have a SKU or any type of tracking info to check Target stock before going out? I went to 8 in the past 2 days and nothing.
You won’t find them online, the sports cards are done by outside vendors responsible for stocking.
As to being a $1000 card, given that most of Ichiro Suzuki cards are available for far less than that, and he’s a legitimate Hall of Famer, the idea is laughable.
This is especially true since this card is not autographed, relatively high in production, and not a RC.
Now if he’s the real deal, perhaps he will sell close to Ichiro levels eventually, which do include cards that have sold that high, but were serial numbered and autographed.
Picked up 6 boxes at my local Target. Pulled a Shohei Otani so was happy but was stunned when i pulled a Nick Senzel Orange Chrome autograph 9/25. Hope to find more boxes.
Have yet to find any in the 7+ targets in my area. Continue to look with low expectations. Maybe I will be lucky enough to find them. I won’t be paying $50+ /box on ebay when they retail at 14.99+ tax. Love the mojo refractor.
Loved reading these comments from 2017, mark them under comments that did not age well!