A New Place to Buy Cards Part #2

Yesterday I posted some dime cards that I bought at newly discovered card shop somewhat close to where I live. Today, I will be showing off a variety of inserts and parallels from the same place. The total for all of the cards that I'm showing off today came to $15, a total that will seem like a steal after you see all of the awesome cards I bought.

We start off with not 1, but 2 2002 Topps Total inserts of Ichiro. He was a player who I got a lot of dime cards of yesterday, but these Total inserts take his cards to the next level, and even though I've never collected Total myself, cards like this make me think it's not a bad set. The first one also commemorates Ichiro's historic 2001 season in which he won Rookie of the Year and MVP. 

The next player was another player of whom I got a slew of dime cards of like Ichiro, and a player I got a nice looking insert card of, also like Ichiro. This card is a 1996 Pacific insert called October Moments and features a leaf pattern at the bottom, fitting for October. I also like how they extended the brownish-bronze October color throughout the entire background because it's able to add even more October theme to this already festive card.

The next card is a card of one of my dad's favorite player of all-time in Pedro Martinez on the former affiliate of the Padres, the Wichita Wranglers. This minor league card of Pedro shows Martinez when he was just 24 years old and just about to get his career started a few seasons later. I absolutely love this card and especially the uniform, so as a Red Sox fan I consider it a steal to get this card for just $1.

After finding a few cards of some older products, I made my way to newer sets and more sleek designs.

Topps Chrome in particular. This 2013 Topps Chrome refractor shows Sale in a throwback jersey when the White Sox wore red. I'm writing this minutes after it was announced that Corey Kluber edged him out for the Cy Young award. Of course, disappointed that Sale lost, but he had a terrible 2nd half and Corey Kluber absolutely deserved to win the award hands down. 

The next Chrome card is of another one of my favorite pitchers in baseball. This 2016 Topps Chrome card is a Prizm refractor of Jake Arrieta, another player who knows what it is like to win the Cy Young award. Unfortunately, Arrieta is 31 years old and unless he has a spectacular season next year or the year after, he won't have a season that can match his 2015 Cy Young season.

The next card is a fellow Cub and teammate of Arrieta's, 2016 NL MVP Kris Bryant. I am a huge fan of these 2017 Bowman Chrome reprint cards, paying tribute to past Bowman sets in a chrome design. This card is based off the 1948 set and even though it may be a bit unconventional, I like the idea and the direction that this set tried to go in, so I admire what Topps did with this insert set.

Moving on to some irresistible unlicensed cards like this 2017 Donruss Optic Buster Posey. This is a Prizm parallel which is their equivalent of the base refractor of Topps Chrome.

UPDATE: Max Scherzer just won the NL Cy Young for the 2nd year in a row. Congratulations Max on a great season.

Moving on we have quite a few numbered cards from 2017 Donruss, a product I have barely gotten any cards of thus far.

This Chris Davis card is numbered to 459 to commemorate his .459 slugging percentage in 2016. This card was available for 50 cents.

And so was this Yadier Molina grey parallel which is numbered 081/199. Panini really needs to do a lot more with cards of Catchers because they're able to make the cards look like they are licensed. Maybe an insert set or two of just catchers?

Here's another grey parallel, this one is the Diamond Kings card of Nolan Arenado. This, like the Molina, is numbered /199, only this one was priced at $1, which I was certainly willing to pay to get a card of one of my favorite young players in the MLB.

Now we're getting into my favorite cards of the purchase.

Including 2 Dodgers, one of Corey Seager from 2017 Topps Finest. This insert set from Finest shows players in the 1994-1995 Topps Finest Basketball set. I never really understood why they put Baseball players in Basketball card designs, but the card works and is colorful as well as a card of my favorite Dodger so I can't complain.

The other card is also from a high-end product, only this one is even more high-end than Finest. This 2017 Topps Museum Canvas Collection Clayton Kershaw card is my very first card from Topps Museum, ever. I've seen these cards before online, but to get my own, especially for only $1 is truly a treat.

Now we are moving back to numbered cards with this 2016 Topps Finest Felix Hernandez parallel (numbered 071/150). I personally think this blue and teal color combination is fabulous as it shows distinctive colors of the Mariners.

This card, on the other hand, is printed at a much higher level (1350 cards), but it is a card of Hall of Famer Johnny Bench and it was just 50 cents so I gladly picked up this card.

Along with this orange bordered Vladimir Guerrero card which is numbered 1/250. This card is from late in Guerrero's career and is from the 2007 Bowman set. This card, along with his 2007 year was fantastic as he hit 125 RBI's and finished 3rd in MVP voting.

The final card is actually of a player I didn't collect on Sunday, but after getting this card I am adding him to my list of players I collect. For 50 cents I was able to get...

A Michael Fulmer gold parallel numbered 2 of just 50!

 I was ecstatic to get this card of the 2016 AL MVP even if I didn't collect him when I chose the card. There was no way I could pass up getting this low-numbered card, especially for such a good price. After getting this I am hoping he has many more successful years, so maybe I'll have a chance to get more cards of the Tigers ace (he has to be their ace since Verlander left). If only he had a team that could produce more runs, we could possibly hear his name in the middle of November as a potential Cy Young candidate.