3 New Releases But No Clear Standout

Today was a significant day as far as Baseball card products are concerned, for there were 3 new releases that were released, all of them being vastly different.

2019 Panini Prizm, 2019 Topps Big League, and the 2019 Bowman Mega Box cards hit the market, but I'm not sure whether I'm interested in purchasing any packs from these products. That's the main reason why I'm writing this post today; to further my knowledge about these various sets.

Panini Prizm is a product that I'm not overly familiar with, especially as Baseball cards are concerned. Although my major problem with Panini products, the lack of an MLB license, still stands, the product itself seems extremely fun.

There are around 24 different parallels within this set, ranging from orange donut holes to snakeskin. Clearly, Prizm is an extraordinarily creative release that Panini puts a ton of effort into. In a way, without the MLB license, they have to make up for the logoless cards. 

Big League, on the other hand, is a product that I know something about after opening a couple blasters of the 2018 set. There's a lot to like about last year's product, from the photography to the set design. 

Before buying any 2019 Big League, however, I'll have to see if I like this year's product as much as the previous release.

Finally, 2019 Bowman Mega Box combines 4 packs from the highly sought after 2019 Bowman set with 2 exclusive mojo refractor packs. I did pretty well when I bought a box of Bowman Mega Box in 2017 where I pulled 2 Acuna 1st Bowman cards and a Vladimir Guerrero Jr mojo refractor.

I've already talked very briefly about the 3 recently-released products. Now, I'll go a bit more in-depth as I try to decide which one, if any, I'll be interested in purchasing.

I familiarized myself with the 2019 Bowman product by opening a couple loose packs and rack packs from the set when it was released around a month ago. Now, I could have an opportunity to open some more packs from this product that's delivered some unbelievable valuable prospect cards.

Although landing a major prospect card can make buying 2019 Bowman worth it, there's no guarantee that my Target will still have any mega boxes by the time I end up going. 

This particular product is notorious for selling out quickly, so I can't trust that I'll be able to track down any Bowman Mega Boxes if I decide to buy a box or 2 from this set.

As I mentioned earlier, I did well when I purchased a Mega Box of Bowman back in 2017. Not only did I pull the 2 Acuna's and the Guerrero Jr card, but I also landed a purple mojo refractor that I've since sold. 

It doesn't matter what the Bowman design looks like, for the mojo refractors look absolutely incredible, both online and in-person. I just wish Topps would include 3 packs of these awesome refractors instead of only 2 5-card packs.

In the past, these boxes have delivered 5 regular Bowman packs in addition to the 2 mojo packs, all for $15. Now, Topps has risen the prices and included 1 fewer packs per box. 

Don't get me wrong, having 4 Bowman packs instead of 5 isn't the end of the world. Rather, the $5 increase in price is my problem with this new format.

Next up is Panini Prizm, a Baseball card release that we haven't seen since 2015 apart from being included in the 2018 Panini Chronicles set. While I prefer last year's Prizm cards to the new design from 2019, this revived release has a lot of appeal for collectors, like myself, who love unusual modern parallels. 

2019 Panini Prizm features a 300-card base set that includes both active and retired players. While no logos remain a problem, the plethora of bright and bold parallels will certainly help to distract me from the missing team logos and names.

Last year, Panini Chronicles gave collectors a small sampling of what Panini Prizm has to offer. If nothing else, it'll be interesting to see what Panini does with 300 cards instead of only 25 or 30. 

Clearly, parallels, both numbered and non-numbered, will be a fixture, but I'll also be interested to see what the inserts and hits look like in the 2019 Panini Prizm set. Although the 2019 rookie class isn't too strong, I'm sure that Panini will compensate with a wide range of different cards within this set.

Considering the low cost, 2018 Topps Big League was one of the most enjoyable products to break. Finally, Topps provided collectors with an inexpensive set with a respectable set design that wasn't Topps Opening Day. 

Big League is marketed primarily towards kids, but the set appeals to all sorts of collectors. In addition to veterans and rookies, there are retired players and even ballpark attractions included within the 500-card checklist.

For $10 a blaster box or roughly $40 per hobby box, Topps Big League delivered a ton of beautiful base cards along with some parallels and the occasional insert/variation. In a way, the product combines modern and vintage cards into 1 set that impressed me through its inaugural release.

However, I made up my mind about whether or not I'd be purchasing any 2019 Topps Big League as soon as I took a look at the base set mockup on Cardboard Connection.

Unfortunately, I'm going to have to pass on 2019 Topps Big League all together based solely on the mediocre set design. It's hard to find a place to start with my critiques, but the uneven photograph is my primary issue.

In a way, 2019 Topps Big League is reminiscent of 2016 Topps; it's overly complicated and unnecessarily modern for my taste.  

While I commend Topps for bringing back Big League for a 2nd straight season, this set simply can't compare to the 2018 design, so I'm going to have to pass on this product this year.

If I'd have to purchase 1 of these sets, I'd likely lean towards 2019 Panini Prizm in order to get a sampling of this revived release. The parallels intrigue me, and I don't mind the design of this year's set. If the actual Prizm product is anything like we saw in Chronicles, I'll be quite pleased.

However, this doesn't mean I'll end up buying any of these sets. Bowman Mega Box is very hit or miss, Big League took a huge step back this year, and the logoless Prizm cards still bother me.

I might end up passing on all of these products, or I could end up purchasing some Panini Prizm. Still, I'm grateful that this post gave me a better idea of what I'd like to buy, even if I don't go through with purchasing any of these recently-released sets.