Buying to Sell

Virtually anytime I purchase Baseball cards, whether I buy packs or individual cards at the show, I'm selecting these cards for my own personal collection. I mean, why else would I dedicate an entire blog to Baseball cards? 

My primary goal is usually to buy cards for my collection, not necessarily to sell them online. Sure, I sometimes list cards from box purchases on eBay in an effort to make back some money, but I don't collect cards to make a profit. 

That's the reason why I've been collecting Baseball cards for most of my life. I grow too attached to many of the cards that I pull from packs which stops me from turning this hobby into a business of sorts where I buy and sell cards predominantly for profit.

With that being said, there are some instances in which I will buy cards as an attempt to profit off a purchase and put the funds towards cards for my personal collection.

I can't think or a better example of this than the Target-exclusive Bowman mega boxes, a product that is absolutely loaded with valuable cards of Baseball's top prospects.

Unlike most other sets, I have no intentions of holding onto expensive cards from the Bowman mega boxes, and I have no qualms about selling them in order to make back the money that I spent on the box itself as well as a profit of some sort.

I actually purchased a 2019 Bowman mega box earlier this year and have since made back the money that I spent, but I never expected to see the product restocked at my local Target roughly 6 weeks later.

After pondering the decision for a while, I realized that purchasing another mega box or 2 was the perfect opportunity to make a reasonable profit and put the money towards upcoming Baseball card expenses, maybe even The National.

The likelihood of making money back from Bowman mega boxes is extraordinarily high, and I hoped that my luck didn't run out as I decided to test my luck with a few more of these incredibly sought after boxes.

In addition to the much-desired mojo packs, each mega box delivers 4 regular packs of 2019 Bowman, but there's no possibility of pulling any inserts or parallels. Otherwise, they would simply have too much value.

While the probability of pulling something valuable out of the Bowman base packs is slim, all the top prospects from the set are included, including Joey Bart and Wander Franco. They may not be worth a fortune, but the chrome Franco comes close to paying for 1 of the boxes, so I can't really complain.

Clearly, the main thing attracting collectors to the 2019 Bowman mega boxes are the 2 exclusive mojo packs. With 5 cards per pack, there's a significant chance of pulling a valuable mojo refractor as well as numbered refractors, autographs, and even image variations.

I've seen some unbelievable pulls from these boxes on Twitter and YouTube, and I've also discovered that it's uncommon for there to be a terrible box. 

Usually, collectors walk away with at least a couple of decent cards, though it's absolutely dependent on luck; the player whose card you pull plays a pivotal role in determining the value of a card.

There are serial numbered insert refractors as well, but I've only seen them listed on eBay, not pulled by any particular collector. The mojo inserts themselves aren't too valuable, but I assume that the numbered versions are rather expensive.

As I've mentioned earlier regarding 2019 Bowman, Wander Franco and Joey Bart are the top prospects across the entire checklist, both in standard Bowman and the mojo refractor checklist. 

In my first Bowman mega box, I pulled a Wander Franco mojo refractor, and I was thrilled and surprised to land another my subsequent box. Soon after listing the 2nd on eBay, a buyer made an offer for both of the Franco refractors, and I accepted.

Thus, I was able to make back the money I spent on 2 of the mega boxes with this one purchase even taking into account that I gave the buyer a very fair price.

Even though, as far as numbered cards are concerned, the mojo refractors are somewhat common, I took a reasonable amount of time before I landed one in one of my mojo packs. Nonetheless, I was quite pleased with the outcome, for I landed a 1st Bowman purple refractor, numbered /250, of Victor Mesa Jr.

As far as the mojo refractor checklist is concerned, I could've done a lot worse than Victor Mesa Jr. He's a respected 1st Bowman prospect with enough upside that this card could certainly sell for a moderate amount of money.

I don't typically obsess over value and profit when it comes to cards, but I'm treating these Bowman mega box purchases as an investment. Thus, it is imperative that, if nothing else, I make back all the money that was spent on these boxes.

In the exact same mojo pack as my 2nd Franco card, I pulled my first ever Bowman mega box autograph of Diamondbacks prospect Alek Thomas. The on-card auto, I must admit, looks gorgeous with the mojo refractor design.

After doing a little bit of research, I learned that Thomas is the #7 prospect in Arizona's organization. While that may not be fantastic, he's only 19 years of age, and he's had a fantastic year so far in single-A. 

Usually, an autograph, especially out of a retail product, is the crown jewel of all the cards that one pulls. However, as I mentioned earlier, the most valuable cards in 2019 Bowman feature the top prospects.

One of those prospects is Wander Franco, a guy who I pulled 2 mojos of. The other is Joey Bart.

I'm not always the biggest fan of image variations and those kinds of SPs, but none of that truly matters to me when it comes to this SP 1st Bowman card of San Francisco Giants prospect Joey Bart. 

Immediately upon pulling this card, I knew it was an SP, for I already pulled his base mojo and knew what it looked like. The largest shock, however, came when I looked up what this card was going for on eBay and discovered that sellers were charging anywhere from $90-$100 for this image variation.

Despite the fact that this card will go down as one of my greatest retail pulls ever, I 100% intend to sell it on eBay. I've already listed the card and obtained numerous views and a watcher, so I feel confident that this sale will come through.

If I'm able to sell the major cards that I pulled, especially the Bart image variation, I'll more than make back the money that I spent on these Bowman mega boxes, and I likely won't have any regrets about making these sales.

Sure, Joey Bart, Wander Franco, Alek Thomas, and Victor Mesa Jr could blossom into the next superstars of Baseball, but I don't have any qualms about listing and selling these prospect cards. 

My primary goal when purchasing these boxes was to make money to spend on cards for my own collection. While I truly appreciate the cards that I pulled, I'd much rather convert these cards into select cards for my PC.

Zebra Stripes and Donut Circles; Card Show Recap #2 Part 2

As I alluded to during my first recap post from Monday's Baseball card show, the Memorial Day visit to the Mansfield show was bizarre, even by my standards. Though it started off with some simple player collection purchases, I soon found myself going in a ton of different directions that I never would've expected.

Going into the show, one of my goals was to sample a few of the different parallels from 2019 Panini Prizm, and I accomplished that feat soon after I began browsing the floor. What I did not anticipate, however, was that I'd end up buying an entire hobby box of the 2019 Panini Prizm product.

I didn't envision purchasing more than a few singles and a hobby pack of the set, but my Dad and I were eager to open packs later in the day. Besides, it was in our price range, and we didn't want to open another box of 2019 Topps Gypsy Queen or Heritage and risk pulling numerous doubles.

Alas, the only option that was within our budget and wouldn't deliver a ton of doubles was Prizm. So, despite the fact that the product doesn't have the MLB license, we decided to look past that in favor of the eye-catching parallels.

Each hobby box promises 3 autographs and 15 parallels (on average). From the breaks that I've seen, you usually pull 2 Prizm parallels per pack, 1 of them serial numbered. I've also noticed that people usually pull 1 insert card per pack as well, so there's a lot of variety within this set besides the standard base cards.

The 2019 Panini Prizm hobby format is very similar to that of Topps Chrome jumbo, only the price isn't close to as high. There are 12 packs and 12 cards per pack, so you still end up with a reasonable number of cards when all is said and done.

The base cards, even without logos, look incredibly sleek while staying true to the Panini Prizm brand. The silver-bordered cards feature little designs that form a frame around the photo of the player, leaving a reasonable amount of space for the colors of the various parallels to pop.

Even in a convoluted product like Chronicles, Panini isn't big on over-complicating their set designs, so it stands to reason that the Prizm base cards are somewhat simple. Like any Baseball card set, Panini included quite a few interesting photos that, especially the Treinen, distract from the logoless caps and jerseys.

While I fully expected Prizm to feature retired players in the checklist, I was surprised by the players that were actually chosen. While George Brett is often a go-to choice, I find it interesting that Panini put Juan Gonzalez in the checklist as well. 

Recently-retired guys like Alex Rodriguez and Adrian Beltre are also intriguing options, for I didn't expect either of them to be featured so soon after their retirement. This choice is aided by the fact that A-Rod is shown as a member of the Mariners, not the Yankees which would've been a more traditional option.

As I previously declared, I opened 12 packs of 2019 Panini Prizm and accumulated cards from 9 different insert sets, all of which look fabulous on the signature silver Panini Prizm cardstock. Sets like Instant Impact and Star Gazing showcase beautiful and colorful set designs, even though I feel the borders for the Kris Bryant card don't do the rest of the design justice.

Illumination and Machines, another duo of colorful insert sets, also feature some of the game's brightest stars. I'm guessing that the latter is reserved for hitters only while, Illumination, although it lacks a true theme, has a stunning and vibrant background.

Other insert sets, like Lumber Inc and Numbers Game, combine bold designs with creative concepts, although this isn't the first time that we've seen a Numbers Game insert (2016 Topps A&G). 

I'm thrilled that, out of the 13 inserts I pulled (12 base cards + 1 silver Gary Sanchez Lumber Inc), I landed the 2 Red Sox cards above as well as 2 Cubs inserts (Bryant Star Gazing + Baez Fireworks).

I may not have displayed every one of the 9 insert sets that I pulled cards from, but I made certain to include my personal favorite. Out of all the different designs, I'd build the Numbers Game insert set if I had the choice.

The variety of different insert sets is sensational, and I'm thoroughly impressed by the base card design as well. With that being said, if I'm going to invest in Panini Prizm, the main thing that I'm looking for is parallels. Thankfully, I ended up with a little more than 15 Prizm parallels that each box averages.

While the box breaks that I had previously watched delivered roughly 2 parallels per box, I managed to hit a hot box in which I found 2 of the blue prism cards above in every one of the 12 packs. Thus, by the end of the break, I wound up with 24 of these cards, including the highlight of the group, Mike Trout.

Before I continue onto the rest of the parallels, I'd like the point out how gorgeous these parallels are, especially considering that they're not serial numbered. They look like enhanced versions of the hyper Prizm parallels from last year's Chronicles set, and I really dig how all these different Prizm parallels look.

If we're talking solely about the blue prisms, I already exceeded the odds by pulling 24 different parallels. However, I mentioned that this was a hot box. In addition to the 2 blue prisms per pack, I also pulled 2 other parallel cards, 2 of them serial numbered, in all 12 of the packs that I opened.

As a result, I ended up with 60 total parallels across my 12-pack hobby box break; 24 serial numbered, 24 blue prisms, and 12 other non-numbered cards (silver, red, or blue parallels).

Running at 3 per hobby box on average, the silver parallels are something that I recognize from Prizm Basketball and Baseball as the rookie silver cards are highly sought after in both of these sports. 

Andrelton Simmons and Miles Mikolas were nice enough as far as these silver parallels are concerned, but the best silver of the box, by a long shot, is the Pedro Martinez card above. I can't imagine how much improved this card would be if Martinez was shown in the powder blue Expos uniform instead.

The blue parallels may not be numbered, but the bold color truly pops more so than many of the other Prizms in this set. I landed 4 of them in my box, but the best of these parallels were, yet again, a retired player. The combination of the dark blue parallel with Kirby Puckett's powder blue jersey is quite sensational.

The red parallels, on the other hand, don't stand out nearly as much as the bold blue Prizms, but I, nevertheless, enjoy what they contribute to this product. In a set that features extremely complicated Prizm parallels, it's nice to have a simple alternative like the red parallels of which I pulled 5 in my box break.

Taking the blue prism parallels into account, I pulled 3 non-numbered Prizms in every single pack. Conversely, I found 2 serial numbered refractors in every pack, and there were a ton of different options within that category.

Out of all the serial numbered Prizms in this year's product, the blue mojos have the highest print run at 399 copies. Upon looking at these cards, you'd think that they'd be numbered out of 99 or 150 copies, but 399 seems absurdly high.

On the bright side, this allows me to acquire these stunning cards more easily and for a lower price. Dating back to last year's Chronicles set, I've been fond of these mojo refractors, and these light blue cards and their unique color are no exception. 

Before I opened this hobby box, I sampled a few different parallels from this complex product, one of them being the red mojo cards, numbered out of 299 copies. Again, I feel as if the print run is a little high for such an intricate Prizm card, but I'm also not complaining. I landed around 7 of these beautiful cards, including stars like Miguel Andujar and Corey Kluber.

In Panini Prizm Basketball and Baseball, these cards are referred to as speckle parallels, as far as I know, yet the Baseball product decided not to use that name. Rather, the Prizms above are referred to as lime green and orange donut circles respectively. Yes, you heard that right; donut circles.

The greens (#/199) and the oranges (#/150) were surprisingly prevalent across the box despite their shorter print run. I showcased the other orange donut circles parallels, Roberto Alomar, at the top of this post while I pulled 2 additional neon green parallels.

I was also intrigued by Panini's decision to feature Albert Pujols as a member of the St. Louis Cardinals on this card, especially since he has another card in the checklist that shows him as a Los Angeles Angel.

Like the donut circles parallels, the Zebra stripes Prizms, another bizarre choice for a parallel by Panini, appeared numerous times (3) over the course of my box break. 

Numbered out of just 99 copies, the Zebra stripe refractors are one of the most creative concepts that I've seen on Baseball cards in an incredibly long time. The biggest name that I landed was Rockies ace Kyle Freeland while the other 2 parallels that I pulled feature 2019 rookies.

Next up, the equivalent of a Topps Chrome x-fractor, the power plaid Prizms, numbered out of just 75  copies. Although I pulled just one of these brilliant cards in my break, I truly cannot complain about the players that I landed.

Rafael Devers has been swinging one of the hottest bats in Baseball over the month of May, for he's hitting around .330 as I speak and seems to be hitting dingers every other day. The refractor may not as colorful as the donut circles or as creative as the Zebra stripes, but, as far as the player is concerned, this was my greatest pull of the box.

Last but certainly not least, the cards with the lowest print run of the parallels that I pulled from this unbelievable hot box; the shimmer parallels, serial numbered out of just 60 copies. In addition to the Matt Chapman card that you see above, I also pulled a Framber Valdez shimmer parallel, bringing my grand total of Prizm parallels to a whopping 60 different cards.

Yes, I hit my 3 guaranteed (on average) autographs as well, but there wasn't anything too notable. The best of the group was a Dakota Hudson shimmer auto out of 60 copies, my 25th numbered card of the box. Thankfully, all 3 autos were rookie parallels, but only the Hudson was numbered.

However, I decided to leave them out of this post for the simple reason that they're not as significant as the rest of the cards, particularly the Prizms. Clearly, this set is more about the different parallels that you can pull and less about the autographs, especially since the rookie class isn't too strong.

I'm still unsure as to what I'm going to do with the 60 parallels that I pulled, but I'd love to hold onto them. These cards are simply so beautiful and unique that it would be challenging for me to part with them.

Mega Mojo Luck

Believe me when I say this; I wasn't looking for Baseball cards when I went shopping at Target yesterday, especially not the recently-released and widely popular Bowman Mega Boxes.

I'd already seen numerous Twitter posts in which collectors purchased anywhere from 1 to 20 of these Bowman Mega Boxes upon seeing them at their local Target. That's why I was so shocked to see 6 of them available for sale at Target, for I assumed someone would swoop them all up and cash in on a nice profit.

The retail-exclusive boxes are notorious for their high odds at colored parallels and autographed mojo refractors of the top prospects in all of Baseball. In addition to 4 retail packs of regular 2019 Bowman, each Mega Box features 2 highly sought after mojo refractor packs with 5 cards in each.

Although I was unable to find any Mega Boxes last year, I managed to track one down in 2017, back when they delivered 5 packs of regular Bowman and cost $15 instead of $20. 

I got lucky that time and pulled some nice prospect cards, so I decided to take the risk not only of buying the box but opening the packs. I could've easily sold it for $35 online and made a quick and easy profit.

My primary goal, upon purchasing the box, was to sell any major pulls and make a profit. There's a significant risk associated with prospect card collecting, so it's never really been my cup of tea. 

I kept telling myself that if I landed any valuable cards, it would be worthwhile to sell them and spend the money right back on Baseball cards that I want for my collection. 

Of course, before I get into the highlight of the purchase, the 2 mojo refractor packs, I should talk for a little bit about the Bowman base cards. Unfortunately, I believe that the Mega Box Bowman base packs do not include inserts or numbered cards, so all you get is 8 paper cards and 2 chromes per pack.

In some cases, getting all base cards is beneficial, for it increases your chances of pulling a highly-desired prospect card, like Wander Franco. However, I wasn't as fortunate to land any major names as far as the Bowman base packs are concerned.

Still, I can't complain about landing 4 1st Bowman cards, especially given the previously mentioned unpredictability of collecting prospect cards. You never know; one of these guys could end up a superstar. 

Just like the regular Bowman retail packs, you can expect 2 chrome cards per Mega Box pack of the regular Bowman. As far as 1st Bowman Chrome cards are concerned, I've come up short with the packs that I've opened.

However, I still managed to pull a couple of well-respected chrome prospect cards. Both Brendan Rogers and Brendan McKay are expected to make their big league debuts rather soon. McKay, in particular, is a prospect whom I am very excited to see called up to the majors.

Moving on to the biggest attraction of these Target-exclusive boxes; the mojo refractors. Back in 2017, I landed a Vlad Jr base and a Luis Urias purple refractor, but I didn't get much as far as 1st Bowman cards are concerned.

This time, although Nova and Richardson aren't super well-known, I ended up with a few 1st Bowman mojo refractors which I believe I'll hold onto. Plus, these parallels look incredibly sharp and shiny, so much so that I wonder why Topps doesn't produce more mojo refractors like Panini does.

If I'm being totally honest, I would've preferred to pull another 2 prospect cards instead of the 2 inserts above, solely to have another couple of chances of landing mojo refractor cards/parallels of big-name prospects. 

With that being said, it's hard to complain given how stunning these mojo cards are, rather it's a parallel of a base prospect card or an insert like the Touki Toussaint and Brendan Rogers cards above.

Eloy Jimenez and Bo Bichette are both top 15 prospects in the game according to MLB.com with Jimenez ranked at #3. Thus, even though these 2 players are no longer 1st Bowman prospects, I'm very pleased with these 2 pulls.

Bichette has been a top prospect for years now and is expected to (finally) make his MLB debut some point this season. On the other hand, Eloy Jimenez already signed an extension with the White Sox before the season started and has received some playing time so far in 2019.

As beautiful as the mojo refractors are, I was really hoping to make a profit off this box with some type of autograph, parallel, variation, or another kind of valuable card.

While I didn't luck out with an autograph or numbered card pull, I'm incredibly grateful for these 2 stellar mojo refractor cards that came out of the box. 

Prospects Wander Franco and Joey Bart are arguably the 2 most sought-after 1st Bowman prospects in 2019 Bowman, and if I sell their cards for what they're currently going for on eBay, I could end up making a profit greater than the cost of the box itself.

I've already listed both of these cards for sale on my brand new eBay page, but I think I'm going to hold on to the other 48 cards that I pulled. That way, I can keep some of these sick mojo refractor cards while, at the same time, making a generous profit.

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.