Panini Limited Vs Bowman Sterling

In what hopefully will be my last pack of Panini Limited, as I move on to other releases, I decided to give their baseball line a try. I really liked the hockey and football releases I opened, but I wanted to see if the licensing, or lack thereof, would make an overall difference. In my opinion, it did.

Clayton Kershaw Jersey 214/377
Mike Mahtook Auto 202/299
Hernan Perez Auto 273/499
Danry Vasquez Auto 417/499

Now I shouldn't complain about getting four hits out of a three-hit-per-pack product, but the problem that a lack of licensing causes, is the necessity to work around it by throwing in a ton of prospects. My relic, of course, is from a Cy Young Award winner, which is great, but then the other three are players in Class A ball. 

Michael Choice 9/199
Jacoby Ellsbury 102/249
Tyler Collins 178/199
Branden Kline 28/199

Same issues here. 25% are in the majors. Now this wouldn't be a problem if it were a prospect-specific product, but when it is billed simply as a baseball product, you expect to see a bit more familiarity with the players you pull.

At about half the price of a Limited pack was Bowman Sterling. This product, like limited, has a three-hit guarantee, with two autographs and one relic. Here's what I got.

Sterling Marte Auto
Jake Skole Auto
Alexi Ogando Jersey 22/199

I know there are some Rangers fans out there who would have loved to open this pack. The upper swatch on the Ogando card also has some kind of stitching toward the bottom, which is pretty cool.

Fransisco Lindor Refractor 133/199
Yonder Alonso

Nothing special here with the two base cards.

The big difference here has to do with price. They both contain the same number of guaranteed hits, but since Bowman Sterling is understood to be a prospect-heavy set, they have the lower price point. The problem with Limited is that I am paying the same for a (mostly) prospect issue as I am for hockey and football, which are loaded with current pro stars. As much as I have loved limited this year, when it comes to baseball, just save a little bit of money and go with Bowman Sterling instead.