Question about 2004 Bowman Chrome

Topnotchsy · Nov 30, 2018

Over the years of collecting I've seen my share of cards that were a bit small, and might have been suspect for trimming.

One of the things I've noticed is that (unlike any other set), a pretty significant percentage of the 2004 Bowman Chrome card I have had was a drop small. Back when I was buying rookie autographs of guys like Felix Hernandez, I would inevitably request a return from the seller in a pretty large percentage of cases because matching up the cards against other cards, they were a drop small. At that time it was definitely when trimming was viewed as a serious concern, and I just assumed I was getting unlucky.

Having spent years collecting and only very rarely coming across cards that are even the slightest drop small only on rare occasions, I've started to wonder whether that set might have just been made a drop small for some reason and they weren't actually trimmed.

I know it's a set from a while back but I wanted to check whether anyone else had noticed this and whether my hypothesis is reasonable.

Thanks!

metallicalex777 · Nov 30, 2018

Hey [MENTION=2002]Topnotchsy[/MENTION]

I collect Felix Hernandez, and ran into this exact same thing. I have a 2004 Bowman Chrome Felix Hernandez X-Fractor Autograph that I am attempting to get slabbed. When BGS was at my LCS the last two summers, that card came back "trimmed". I brought this exact topic up to the grader on sight and he loosely stated that 2004 is always tough, and he chose to mark it as trimmed as it wasn't easy to identify if it was or not. This card I have compared to all of my other 2004 Bowman Chrome Felix Hernandez cards, all of which are the exact same size together, which does seem a drop smaller when compared to other sets. I'll see what I can do to take some photos of the sizing comparisons and such.

Topnotchsy · Nov 30, 2018

metallicalex777 said:
Hey [MENTION=2002]Topnotchsy[/MENTION]

I collect Felix Hernandez, and ran into this exact same thing. I have a 2004 Bowman Chrome Felix Hernandez X-Fractor Autograph that I am attempting to get slabbed. When BGS was at my LCS the last two summers, that card came back "trimmed". I brought this exact topic up to the grader on sight and he loosely stated that 2004 is always tough, and he chose to mark it as trimmed as it wasn't easy to identify if it was or not. This card I have compared to all of my other 2004 Bowman Chrome Felix Hernandez cards, all of which are the exact same size together, which does seem a drop smaller when compared to other sets. I'll see what I can do to take some photos of the sizing comparisons and such.

Hey! Long time no speak. Hope you are doing well!

Glad to hear I'm not completely crazy. I'd definitely love to see any photos you have and to see if we can find more info to corroborate.

metallicalex777 · Nov 30, 2018

Right back at you!

I'll post here once I get some card time later and at least take a picture of the X-Fractor auto. Sadly, I don't have any other raw auto copies to compare to at this direct time but I do have plenty non autos from that set to size against. Due to this, the X-Fractor I own I got for pennies from another collector on here. He was about to cut it/put a hole in it as it came back trimmed when he submitted it so I offered a trade deal which worked out more than simple for us both.

Austin · Nov 30, 2018

Yep, I have an ‘04 BC Felix rookie auto that’s a touch smaller and it’s always bugged me because I know 100% it’s not trimmed. I remember a thread about this on here a while back but I can’t find it.

Topnotchsy · Dec 2, 2018

Austin said:
Yep, I have an ‘04 BC Felix rookie auto that’s a touch smaller and it’s always bugged me because I know 100% it’s not trimmed. I remember a thread about this on here a while back but I can’t find it.

If you come across the thread I'd definitely love to see it. I had assumed it couldn't just be me, but hadn't seen anyone else post about it and so I couldn't help wonder.

It sounds like may be as widespread as I had suspected.

Austin · Dec 2, 2018

Topnotchsy said:
If you come across the thread I'd definitely love to see it. I had assumed it couldn't just be me, but hadn't seen anyone else post about it and so I couldn't help wonder.

Here's the thread I remembered:

https://www.freedomcardboard.com/fo...owman-Chrome-Felix-Hernandez-auto-cut-smaller

And this one you made 8 years ago is similar but went in a different direction:

https://www.freedomcardboard.com/fo...rds-that-are-a-hair-small?p=917266#post917266

Topnotchsy · Dec 2, 2018

Austin said:
Here's the thread I remembered:

https://www.freedomcardboard.com/fo...owman-Chrome-Felix-Hernandez-auto-cut-smaller

And this one you made is similar but kind of veered off topic:

https://www.freedomcardboard.com/fo...rds-that-are-a-hair-small?p=917266#post917266

Wow, I had totally forgotten about those posts, but as you say, I started one of them, and I commented in the other.

Thanks for digging them up.

Jaypers · Dec 3, 2018

I redeemed hundreds of 2004 AFLAC Chrome sets (including parallels), and at least 10% of them were cut shorter than others.

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Question about 2004 Bowman Chrome

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