The 2nd Half of Gallery

After how I excited I became after opening the first half of my 2018 Topps Gallery hobby box yesterday, I was ready to approach the 2nd half of the box feeling intrigued by what I had seen the day before. All the different colors of the artwork, exceptional insert cards, and different parallels jumped out at me, helping to make 2018 Topps Gallery all the more appealing.

If you saw the first half of the box then you already know that I've pulled 1 of my 2 guaranteed autographs so far. With the final half, or 10 packs, of the box is saved for today, there's an abundance of new cards in addition to the ones I pulled yesterday, including the final autograph.

So far, I've stumbled upon quite a few cards that have drawn my attention due to their stellar artwork background. Better yet, I haven't found a single base card so far that I haven't liked, something that happened, albeit only once or twice, in last years' Gallery product.

First things first, the base cards remained equally as eye-catching in the 2nd half of the box as they were in the first. One thing I immediately noticed, especially after scanning these 4 cards, is that 2018 Gallery is way more about solid color backgrounds whereas 2017 Gallery had backgrounds that resembled more of an actual baseball field.

While some cards have realistic backgrounds this year, the prominent solid color backgrounds shown above are something new, and I have to say I might even like them more than what I saw from Gallery last year. The simplicity of the background draws more attention to the rest of the artwork. Considering that the set name is Gallery, this is most definitely a good thing.

If the 1st half of the box was good for rookies, then I don't even know what to call the 2nd half which, among other cards, included rookies of the top 3 vote-getters from the 2018 NL Rookie of the Year voting along with an eye-catching Ozzie Albies. 

Out of all 4 All-Star caliber rookies above, the abstract nature of the Walker Buehler card would have to make his rookie my favorite of the group with Albies serving as a close 2nd.

Mere moments after I got done praising Topps' improvement in quality control to prevent pulling doubles in the same box, the 2nd of 2 Willson Contreras cards from the 2nd half of the Gallery box was pulled out of a pack, not that it's a big deal given it's just an extra base card. 

Because Contreras is a Cub and the artwork is some of the best I've seen throughout the whole box, I can't be too upset. More so than anything, it was simply a surprise.

I continued my luck with green parallels in the 2nd half of the box as well after pulling a base card parallel, something that wasn't within my grasp last year, of the Reds rookie pitcher Jackson Stephens. 

It almost seems like Topps Gallery was made for these perfect parallels as they serve as different colored frames for the cards. Now, the next step is to have parallels just like the framed cards that Gypsy Queen put out for so many years.

If there's one element of the 2018 Topps Gallery set that seems to be a bit of a let down when compared to the 2017 set, it would have to be the Masterpiece inserts. Out of the 2 that I've pulled (Gleyber Torres and Victor Robles), neither of them have been able to excite me the way the 2017 versions did, though I do appreciate the contrasting black and white images.

On the other hand, the Hall of Fame Gallery insert set was able to stick to simplicity in 2018, featuring a set that's more minimal and even more exciting than the 2017 insert, all with better artwork as well.

While the 1st half of the box featured Honus Wagner, the next 2 players were guys I'm more familiar with. Rickey Henderson is great to have since it gets his player collection closer to 200 cards, but the lack of Whitey Ford cards produced today makes it even more special when I'm able to pull a card of the 1961 AL Cy Young award winner.

Though I'm not too sure what's going on with Ichiro's signature, this duo of Gallery Heritage insert cards features 2 players that I couldn't be happier to pull cards of. Ichiro retired in 2018 while Rafael Devers played in his 1st full season, making these guys opposites when it comes to the timelines of their careers.

The Ichiro card shows him in my favorite Seattle Mariners jersey, aqua blue, while the Devers rookie card features the 22-year old in the classic Boston Red Sox home uniform.

One thing's for sure, there was no shortage of green parallels in the box, especially not after I pulled my 3rd of the 20-pack hobby box, a Paul Goldschmidt green parallel from Gallery Heritage to go with the base insert that I pulled earlier on.

Though I think having Gallery Heritage inserts is a good idea, I'm confused as to why this card is numbered out of 250 when all the other green parallels that I've pulled, autograph and base cards, have been out of 99 copies instead. 

The most interesting thing about pulling a Tyler O'Neill autograph is that for likely the first time ever, both hits from the box are of Canadian-born players. The first autograph, Mike Soroka, is from Calgary while O'Neill, supposedly a very good and young Cardinals player, is from British Colombia.

I just wish the autograph was on-card. Nothing for nothing, but a set with beautiful art like Gallery merits on-card autos.

I have heard good things about O'Neill before and after the autograph pull, though my overall knowledge on him is fairly limited. Therefore, any information about him is highly appreciated.

Overall, while I didn't have to go for broke with a hobby box, I'm very, very happy with my purchase of 2018 Topps Gallery. 4 total numbered cards, 2 autographs including 1 green parallel, terrific inserts, and of course, gorgeous base cards is exactly what to expect from the product, and it's exactly what I got as well.

Along with Topps Archives, I'd call this one of the best products to by retail in 2018. From my experience with the set last year, you can pull just as many amazing base cards out of retail along with the same inserts as well. 

However, if you prefer autographs and are looking for more, a hobby box of the Walmart-exclusive product is likely meant for you.