The Last of My Series 1 Purchases Part 3

Today I will be going over the final 3 packs of my 2nd blaster of 2018 Topps Series 1 and will be keeping with the theme of the last 2 posts and will be showing every card.

I decided to go super in-depth with this blaster and show every card as well as write a few sentences to describe the card. This gave me the ability to share my thoughts on everything in the set from the design to the number of rookie cards and everything in between.

However, I feel by now most collectors have a good idea of what they think of the set and don't necessarily need to hear something about every single card. Therefore, I will still show each picture, but I will only write something for about 5 cards from each pack.

Without further adieu, here is the final 3 packs plus the Players Weekend card.

Pack 8

#290 Salvador Perez

Perez has defined who he is as a ballplayer over the past few seasons. He may not have the best batting average, but you can certainly count on him for 20 home runs per season. 

#83 Howie Kendrick

#192 Nolan Arenado League Leaders

Normally, 130 RBI would be more than enough to lead the NL. But with Giancarlo Stanton edging Arenado out by a mere 2 RBI last year, Arenado finished 2nd in the National League.

#MLBA-28 Mookie Betts Award Winners

Betts brought home his 2nd Gold Glove in a row last season and was included in the 50-card MLB Awards insert set that includes the major awards as well as Silver Slugger winners.

#192 Nolan Arenado League Leaders Rainbow Foil Parallel

2 cards after the base league leaders card, I pulled the Rainbow Foil parallel. These parallels haven't been something I've enjoyed over the past few years, but for whatever reason, they do look a lot better in this years' Topps.

#LTM-CS Chris Sale Legends in the Making Blue Parallel

The huge contrast between the red on the bottom and the blue on the top causes this card to confuse me, and give me a bit of a headache as well.

#167 Dansby Swanson

#286 Yankees Team Card

#127 Byron Buxton

I think I might do a top 10 base cards post from what I've pulled from 2018 Series 1 just so I can talk more about how much I love this Byron Buxton card. I especially love his socks with the red stripes and how immaculate every detail on the card looks, from the jersey to the grass.

#194 Lonnie Chisenhall

Pack 9

#311 Yulieski Gurriel 

#117 Kendrys Morales

The Blue Jays signed Morales as a replacement after Edwin Encarnacion left for the Indians in free-agency last season. Kendrys was serviceable in terms of home runs and RBI, hitting 28 dingers while driving in 85 runs. However, hit .250 batting average was not what the Jays were looking for after signing him to a 3-year $33 million dollar contract. 

#44 Trea Turner

Turner's sophomore season saw him receive far more at-bats than he did in 2016 but was unable to come near the .342 batting average he reached in 2016, even though he had just 307 at-bats that year.

#TS-65 Dellin Betances Topps Salute

I originally wasn't too excited to see Topps Salute be brought back this year, but I must say I've grown to like the insert set more than I thought I would, especially these Mother's Day cards that I've acquired of 3 players at this point, Betances, Bregman, and Berrios. 

#KB-27 Kris Bryant Highlights

The final Kris Bryant insert card I pulled commemorated him setting the Cubs rookie RBI record back in September of his rookie season, 2015.

# OD-1 Robinson Cano Opening Day

These are the 9 words I've been waiting to say for days; this was the last Opening Day insert I pulled. Seriously, I thought this moment would never come. Good riddance confusing Opening Day insert cards.

#181 Garrett Cooper

#138 Luiz Gohara

#274 Jeff Samardzija 

#112 Pat Valaika

Pack 10

#140 Mookie Betts

Starting off the last pack with a Red Sox player is always the way to go, especially when it's your one of your favorite current Red Sox players. Mookie may have gone down in batting average last year, but kept it consistent with over 100 RBI and a solid 24 home runs along with 46 doubles, a career-high. It's hard to believe the 2016 AL MVP runner-up is still just 25 years old. I have a strong feeling Betts is gonna be special.

#198 Marcus Semien

#270 Jackie Bradley Jr. 

The first pack of Series 1 I opened had 2 Red Sox cards, and so did the last as the next card I pulled was of Jackie Bradley Jr, my dad's favorite current Red Sox player as well as the player my dad super-collects. It's really awesome to acquire both Bradley's and Kimbrel's base cards all in 1 blaster of the product.

#273 Charlie Blackmon League Leaders

#111 Aaron Judge League Leaders

This blaster also gave me my first Aaron Judge cards of the year in the form of a league leaders card as well as a Topps Now promo card I pulled about halfway into the blaster.

#LTM-CS Chris Sale Legends in the Making

After pulling the blue parallel of this insert in pack 8, I ended up pulling the base version of the insert card in the final pack, which I believe looks far superior to the blue parallel. 

#95 Tyler Mahle

#134 Lance Lynn

#279 Jordan Zimmerman

#191 Chris Archer

I don't think I could've asked for a cooler card to end the blaster box. Definitely up there with the Byron Buxton as one of my favorite cards from the box.

Finally, onto the exclusive Players Weekend patch card. In my first blaster, I got Jacob DeGrom, nothing too exciting there. I just hope I don't get stuck with another boring NL pitcher.

Nevermind.

Don't get me wrong, Yu Darvish isn't a bad one to get. But considering the checklist had Red Sox like Devers, Betts, and Benintendi as well as other superstars from throughout the MLB, I was kind of hoping for somebody a little more exciting than Yu Darvish. Still, the card is far from bad and is available for trade if anyone wants it. And so is the DeGrom.