Topps says “Happy Holidays” in familiar fashion with the release of 2009 Bowman Draft Picks and Prospects, a hobby staple since its inception in 2000.

Thankfully, the successful formula that has been in place since the product was changed from set to wax box form in 2002 has not changed. By that formula, I’m referring to refractors and certified autographed “on-card” Chrome masterpieces that have helped this product line sustain years of tremendous success.

Some of the highlights of this product include the strong, albeit unspectacular, autographed Bowman Chrome prospect checklist as well as the increasingly popular AFLAC certified autographs, which incidentally contain both a serial-number and a Topps certified holograph sticker on the back.

The vast majority of the Bowman Chrome autographed subjects were first-round picks from the 2009 Draft, with pitchers Zack Wheeler (San Francisco Giants) and Tyler Matzek (Colorado Rockies) leading the way, followed by hotshot outfield prospects Mike Trout (Anaheim Angels) and Jared Mitchell (White Sox), and catching prospect Max Stassi (Oakland A’s), who was one of the few non-first round autographs, as he was expected to attend college but ended up signing with the A’s.

As an added bonus, many box breaks have yielded more than the stated (and expected) one autograph per box, with many sporting two or even three certified autographs. That’s great news for collectors who have been reaching far less into their pockets in recent months due to the recession.

Also new to Bowman Draft Picks and Prospects in 2009 are the retail-only purple colored refractors. These are seeded roughly 1:6 retail packs and are not sequentially-numbered. Back for an encore are the customary refractor, x-fractor, blue refractor, gold refractor, orange refractor, red refractor and superfractor parallels.  Printing Plates are also randomly inserted, with some containing autographs.

The suggested retail price (SRP) for Bowman Draft Picks and Prospects is $2.99 and each hobby box contains 24-packs, each of which contains two Bowman Chrome and five Bowman cards, one of which may be either a gold, blue, orange or red parallel.

In addition to the retail-exclusive purple refractors, look for retail-exclusive Bowman certified autographs, which unfortunately are not signed on-card, but rather contain a topps certified autograph sticker.

Bowman Draft Picks and Prospects went live on December 23, 2009.

Look for a breakdown of my box break coming soon.