Today I will be showing the cards I pulled from packs 5-7 of my 2nd 2018 Topps Series 1 Blaster Box. One of these cards is the Adam Wainwright Mother's Day pink parallel card shown above, my first parallel from the set. I'll get more into the card later, but for now, I'll simply state what I think of how parallels look in this set.
I like how the parallels look this year compared to 2017, but they still seem kind of odd. I don't get why they tried to make the parallels look like curtains when they could've made the parallels the whole card which would look a lot better. The color on the parallel is also faint, which seems weird considering how colorful and different parallels are supposed to be.
Anyway, here are packs 5-7 from the blaster.
Pack 5
#14 Amir Garrett
You'd think Topps would have some better choices for Series 1 than a player with an ERA of 7.39 last season.
#16 Daniel Coulombe
This pack is off to a very boring start.
#316 Max Fried
I've said it before and I'll say it again. Too many rookie cards in Topps products.
#277 Aaron Slegers
See what I mean? Topps really needs to cut back on the number of rookies and include a good amount, but not a ton of rookie cards. I get it they want to make all these rookie cards in case the player becomes a star, but they're taking this a bit too far.
#TS-100 Sandy Alcantara Topps Salute
Sandy Alcantara is a least a bit of an interesting rookie to pull a rookie card of. He was included in the Marcell Ozuna trade and is one of the many rookies and prospects in the Marlins organization.
#KB-7 Kris Bryant Highlights
This is easily the best card I've pulled not just in 2018, but in a decent couple of months. Topps was able to beautifully recreate one of the most memorable moments in sports history.
#OD-7 Wil Myers Opening Day
At least the jersey chosen for the 2nd image on the card is able to make this bland Opening Day inserts somewhat interesting.
#144 Jean Segura
Segura is one of my favorite players in baseball who isn't a Red Sox or Cubs player. He adjusted well to his first season in Seattle and could easily be a driving force to help the Mariners make the playoffs along with his teammate Robinson Cano.
#9 Jon Gray
Whoever took this picture deserves the world of credit for capturing this image at exactly the right time.
#147 Randal Grichuk
Granted Randal Grichuk didn't have the best 2017 season, and with the Cardinals acquiring Marcell Ozuna, they decided to trade Grichuk to the Blue Jays over the offseason.
Pack 6
#269 Greg Holland
The 2017 NL saves leader had a pretty good 2017 season after missing the entire 2016 season due to Tommy John surgery. The 32-year-old chose to decline his player option with the Rockies and is currently still a free-agent.
#347 Kolten Wong
Kolten Wong remains fairly underrated after hitting .285 with 27 doubles for the Cardinals in 2017. Wong is still very young (27) and could progress and become even better if given the chance by the Cardinals.
#21 Harrison Bader
One of Wong's teammates, rookie outfielder Harrison Bader was the next card pulled. Bader was called up not once, but twice last season and played quite a lot (221 at-bats) while hitting just .235.
#LTM-MS Miguel Sano Legends in the Making
I'm losing track of the amount of these retail-exclusive inserts I've pulled.
#OD-4 Miguel Sano Opening Day Blue Parallel
It's become quite the Miguel Sano pack as I pulled 2 inserts of the Twins slugger, the most recent one being an Opening Day blue parallel. I also pulled his base card as the first card of this blaster.
#258 Tyler Saladino
I don't have much to say about Saladino or the White Sox in general, so I'll just comment on how this card is yet another example of fantastic image choices by Topps.
#212 Lance McCullers World Series Highlights
This is my 2nd or 3rd double of the box, which isn't bad considering how many base cards are included in Topps Flagship. I happen to like the World Series Highlights cards simply because of the decision to include a gold ribbon for all of the cards.
#330 Ian Kinsler
A lot of players received their final Topps base card on their former team this offseason and Ian Kinsler is yet another example of that.
#326 Joey Gallo
Gallo may have hit 41 home runs with the Rangers last year (one of them is probably the image chosen for this card), however, he hit an abysmal .209, and his WAR was somehow still 2.9. Just goes to show how much home runs are valued nowadays.
#122 Chris Owings
I know that I keep bringing up the images, but I'm very impressed with Topps' image choice, including action-shots like this.
Pack 7
#275 George Springer
The 2017 World Series MVP was able to greatly improve in 2017 in virtually every single stat category, including home runs, RBI, and batting average.
#323 Elvis Andrus
It's pretty incredible that Elvis Andrus has been around for 9 years now and is still just 29 years old. He had one of his best seasons last year when he hit .297 and hit a career-high 44 doubles, 88 RBI, and 20 homers.
#195 Avisail Garcia
I knew the White Sox had some incredibly young and talented players like Avisail Garcia, but I never knew that he finished 2nd in the AL in batting average last year, right behind the MVP Jose Altuve.
#83-52 Jeff Bagwell 1983 Insert
This is the first Jeff Bagwell card that I've seen this crazy batting stance on. He's the first retired player I've pulled a 1983 insert of, and my 4th 1983 insert overall.
#81 Adam Wainwright Mother's Day Pink Parallel Numbered 15/50
Here's the card back from the Adam Wainwright parallel that I showed at the top of the page. Wainwright has been around for quite a long time now and even though his glory years are well behind him, Wainwright still edges out quite a few players in terms of who I'd like to pull the pink parallel of.
#OD-13 Buster Posey Opening Day
I'm getting so tired of seeing these Opening Day inserts that have become so common in 2018 Series 1. They were kind of interesting at first, but at this point, I'm just so tired of seeing them.
#4 Kevin Pillar
I find it shocking that Topps would decide not to choose a card of Kevin Pillar in the outfield on this Topps base card. However, the Gold Glove award race has become somewhat of a joke over the last few years as Pillar along with Jackie Bradley Jr. have never, I repeat NEVER won a single Gold Glove award. That's absolutely disgraceful.
#52 Brad Hand
Hand has played very well after being claimed off waivers from the Marlins in the beginning of the 2016 season. In his 2 years in San Diego, he has struck out over 200 batters in just under 170 innings pitched.
#22 Edinson Volquez
Volquez pitched the only no-hitter of the 2017 season against the Diamondbacks on June 3rd. He later had Tommy John surgery and missed the remainder of the season, and was later released by the Marlins in December of last year.
#337 Nick Ahmed
I'm tired of pulling Diamondbacks cards. I know they were good last year, but I don't need 5 different base cards of Dbacks players.
I still have 3 packs remaining in the box plus the Players Weekend card which I plan on showing in a post tomorrow. I just hope that the Diamondbacks don't continue to haunt me in those final packs.
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