Two Colorado Hobbyists Love Chrome Day
The evening before the biggest night of the year, Patrick Kernan neatly lays out his Bowman baseball jersey and color-matched hat.
Kernan will proudly sport those items the next morning. After all, collectors who celebrate Bowman Chrome Baseball release day as if it were a sacred event go all out.
“Bowman Day, I wouldn’t say it’s a national holiday. It’s not quite up there with Opening Day here in Denver, but it’s well-received,” Kernan said.
Kernan works at Mike’s Stadium Sportscards in Aurora, Colorado, where droves of passionate prospecting collectors invade the hobby shop on Bowman Day. This year’s drop on September 11 marked another monumental annual event.
Along with being an employee at the popular card store, Kernan, who is 34 years old, is an avid Bowman Baseball collector. Working at the shop and being a Bowman chaser allows Kernan optimal access to product.
“It’s a blessing and a curse,” joked Kernan, who goes by the nickname PK. “I’m a Marvel, Star Wars guy, too, so whenever there’s new Marvel, Star Wars, or some flavor of Bowman coming out, the running joke is, ‘Most of PK’s paycheck is not coming home with him this week.’ It’s like, ‘Don’t even cut the check. Just keep it this month, guys. We’re good.’ It’s a blessing and a curse when you work at the candy store.”
Ripping for Rockies
Kernan got into collecting Bowman Chrome heavily about 10 years ago. As a fan of the Colorado Rockies, Kernan loves getting his hands on cards of the organization’s top prospects.
“I like to get the purple parallels out of 250. I think those look nice with the team color match,” Kernan said. “Cubbies prospects out of 150 with the blues look great.”
Kernan is also a loyal follower of LSU baseball. The program has had a good run of talent — especially lately — with pitcher Paul Skenes and outfielder Dylan Crews, the top two picks of the 2023 MLB Draft.
“I’m usually watching who the LSU guys are in a product,” Kernan said. “Last year in Bowman Draft, there were six Tigers off the national championship team.
“I always look at the top 100 prospect list on MLB Pipeline, so I know who to tell collectors to look for when they’re buying. The more product knowledge makes me better at my job here at the shop, but also just to rip Bowman.”
Witt Jumpstarts Collecting
Andy Passen is another chrome-crazed collector whose favorite hobby shop is Mike’s Stadium Sportscards. His love for the product stems from an online break in 2020 when the store owner, Mike Fruitman, pulled a Bobby Witt Jr. 2020 Bowman Chrome Prospects Autograph /99 that went straight into Passen’s collection.
“I didn’t know anything about Bobby Witt, but owning that card turned me back into a collector,” Passen said. “I’ve always been kind of a baseball stats guy, so I fell in love with the prospecting aspect of Bowman after pulling that card.”
The 41-year-old has three teenage boys who enjoy collecting. It’s Passen’s 14-year-old Weston who shares his dad’s love of prospecting.
When Passen buys boxes of Bowman Chrome, Draft, and the regular Bowman brand products, he loves the chase of pulling a lot of up-and-coming young players. He isn’t looking for certain players to collect; he lets his pulls dictate which players’ careers he’ll follow in the future.
“I’m not a rainbow collector or a set collector by any means. I’m not even a name chaser,” Passen said. “I get who I get, and then I fall in love with those players when it comes to their careers,” Passen said. “I try to find the best players, of course, but any autos or low-numbered parallels is kind of what I do. Then I try to get to know the guys that everyone else doesn’t.”
Chrome Cookies
Collecting is Passen’s main hobby, while his wife, Danay, turned her passion for baking into a profession. Six years ago, Danay started The Sugar Cookie Store, sugarcookiestore.com, an online company that screen prints corporate logos onto sugar cookies and ships them worldwide.
When Bowman Chrome Day arrives, Danay commemorates the occasion with cookies. She has made it a tradition to make cookies for her family members — not for resale — that feature the delicious Bowman Chrome logo. The card-themed cookies for Danay, her husband, and her four kids are always a hit.
Passen picked up his son after school on Bowman’s release day this year, and the duo drove about an hour to Mike’s Stadium Sportscards. In the last couple of years, Passen has purchased four boxes of Chrome on the first day it’s available; equipped with two boxes apiece, Passen and his son, Weston, will have box battles. Passen also bought more boxes during Topps Hobby Rip Night last Saturday.
“I don’t buy many packs throughout the year. I try to buy the boxes at release time,” Passen said. “Prices get crazy pretty fast with some of this stuff, so I plan my purchases. “Since I don’t rip packs every day, I just look forward to the feeling of being able to rip through those packs,” Passen said. “It reminds me of childhood. I think that’s part of the reason I love this hobby; it connects me and makes me feel young.”
