A Small Sampling of Series 2

Over the past few years, I've pulled the trigger and bought a blaster or 2 of Topps Series 1 as a way to kick off the collecting season. But by the time Series 2 comes around, sets like Topps Archives are typically already released, so I end up not getting too excited and barely buying Series 2 Topps packs if I buy any at all.

This year, however, Archives doesn't come out until mid-August. Moreover, I actually like 2018 set as much as I really can like a set from the 2010s. It's certainly better than 2016 and 2017 which is why I decided, earlier today, to pick up some 2018 Series 2 to get the summer collecting started. After this, big favorites of mine such as Allen & Ginter, Stadium Club, Chrome, and Archives will all be released, meaning there's a very good chance that the 2 loose packs and 1 rack pack pictured above are all I'm going to get of 2018 Topps Series 2. 

For starters, let's take a look at the base set and see what Topps brought to the table in terms of images for Series 2.

Despite the awesome action shot card of Andrew Toles shown above, I have to say I didn't pull all that many cards with interesting photos. In fact, I'd say the Toles card was the high point. Most batter cards included the same boring shot of the player ready to swing the bat at the plate while nearly every pitcher card was of the player getting ready to throw a pitch. I've seen some other bloggers pull exciting cards like this one of Toles. I just wish I was in the same boat as them.

It may not be quite as cool of a picture, but I finally have my very first card of Jake Arrieta on the Phillies. It's a cool card to have, albeit a bit bittersweet considering he's had a very solid start to the year while his replacement, Yu Darvish, has been either injured or terrible for nearly all of the 2018 season. 

One thing about Series 2 that impressed me right off the bat is how easy it was for me to pull gold parallels. I opened 2 blasters plus a loose pack of Series 1 and never pulled a gold parallel (granted I did pull a Mother's Day pink parallel of Adam Wainwright). Out of the 2 loose packs and 1 rack pack (3 total packs) of Series 2, can you guess how many gold parallels I pulled?

If you guessed 3, the same number as packs I bought, then you are correct. I've always liked the gold parallels due to them being an easy way to get numbered cards and see what the parallels of Topps flagship look like without buying too many packs unless you're 2018 Topps Series 1. Granted, none of the 3 guys I pulled cards of are big names like I would've liked them to be. But if nothing else, I can trade them or try selling them on Sportlots.

Moving on to the inserts, the likes of which are, so far, a bit better than what I saw from Series 1 Topps. For starters, we have the Target exclusive Cody Bellinger inserts. For Series 1, the Target exclusive was Jeter and the Walmart exclusive insert set was of Kris Bryant. I'm not sure what the Walmart exclusive insert set is for Series 2, but I do know that I'm getting tired of Topps hyping up Judge and Bellinger so much. I like this insert set design, but I just wish Topps would recognize someone other than Judge, Bellinger, Trout, or Harper for once.

The Instant Impact inserts may not be the best designed or most interesting cards you've ever seen, but I don't mind this insert set all that much to tell you the truth. The player I pulled an Instant Impact insert of is Ichiro, and he definitely had an instant impact and made his presence known as soon as he took the field for the Mariners in 2001. To me, he's a no-brainer for this insert set, though I'd be interested to see who else was chosen to be included.

Legends in the Making inserts are back in Series 2 as a carry-over insert from Series 1. I ended up doing very well with these inserts which happened to be some of my favorites and some of the most prominent inserts form Series 1. I pulled 2 cards out of the 3 packs I opened. 1 is of Javier Baez, which is perfect for my Cubs collection while the 2nd insert card, George Springer, will go right to his player collection.

Another carry-over insert set, though this one carries over not just from Series 1, but from 2017 as well. The insert set that groups Hall of Famers with rookies and guys in Mother's Day jerseys and somehow gets away with it, Salue returns to Series 2 but instead of continuing the checklist from the first series like they did last year, 2018 Series 2 Salute starts over at 1. I don't really know who's on the checklist and who isn't, but I have to say I probably pulled cards of 2 of the biggest, or at least most collectible, players in the 2018 Series 2 Salute checklist.

Up until this point, Series 2 had been exactly what I expected. It brought a whole lot of base with some predictable but well-done insert cards, and that's exactly what Topps flagship is. It's a predictable set in terms of design, inserts, and nearly everything. In some cases, that's a bad thing. But when you're going for affordable with a little bit of fun, I think it's a good thing.

Anyway, I had done pretty decently thus far, but I wasn't expecting all too much to come out of $9 of Series 2. However, my expectations were certainly exceeded by one card in particular.

And that card is of 2-way phenom and one of the most popular players in baseball, even when injured, Angels star Shohei Ohtani finally making it to a set that I like enough to buy and that I can get his card easily in. I actually did pull his image variation SP from Heritage, but I had to wait 3 months for my next Ohtani card. I never saw Gypsy Queen or Diamond Kings at my Target. I swung and missed with Panini Donruss on the Ohtani craze, and I originally thought Opening Day blasters were $20 because, well, they were marked at $20, something I wasn't going to pay. Therefore, it was Series 2 that eventually brought me my 2nd Ohtani card, definitely worth the total $9 spent on Series 2 today, which will likely be all I spend on the product.