Top 5 Cards; Cody Bellinger

Following the end of the 1st round of All-Star voting, MLB announced that Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Cody Bellinger received the most votes out of all players in Baseball.

Since his rookie season in 2017, Bellinger has been one of the most feared hitters in the game, but he's exceeded all expectations so far in 2019. He's retained his power hitting with 25 home runs so far, but he's also led the league in batting average (.356) since practically the start of the 2019 season.

Combined with his 61 RBI and respectable defensive abilities, and it seems likely that Bellinger will take home the NL MVP award this year. It should be a close race between him and the 2018 winner Christian Yelich, but Bellinger's growth and sensational batting average make a strong case for the 23-year old.

The 2017 rookie craze surrounding Bellinger and Aaron Judge led me to buy packs of cards throughout the summer of '17 in hopes of landing rookie cards of these 2 power hitting phenoms. 

In addition to pulling base rookies of the respective AL and NL ROY award winners, I landed a gorgeous Bellinger rookie auto from Allen & Ginter which has since been graded at a 9.5 by Beckett.

In an effort to showcase some of the other cards in my Cody Bellinger player collection, I opted not to include the autograph on this countdown. Instead, I selected my favorite 5 cards from the 31 cards in my Bellinger PC.

#5 2018 Panini Donruss Optic Long Ball Leaders

Now that Panini has revived the Prizm set for Baseball cards, the Donruss Optic set has virtually no appeal to me anymore. I haven't opened a pack from that brand since 2017, and I don't see that changing anytime soon.

Nonetheless, Optic turns up fairly frequently in the dime bins at the Baseball card show, and I often grab base cards, parallels, and inserts for my player collections. While I was at The National last year, I picked up a few Optic cards of Bellinger during one of my only PC-oriented purchases. 

This haul included the vibrant Long Ball Leaders insert card above, noting his 39 home runs from the 2017 season. Like many of the cards in 2019 Panini Prizm, the bright colors and intricate design helps me forget about the missing logos, and that's something that all of Panini's Baseball cards should strive to accomplish.

#4 2017 Bowman's Best 1997 Best Cuts

Even though this high-end insert is from Bellinger's rookie season (2017), I surprisingly found this card in the dime box at my LCS a number of months ago along with a few other rookie year cards of he and Aaron Judge.

Without a doubt, this Best Cuts insert card was the standout of the bunch because of how it enhances and modernizes the original inserts from the 1997 Bowman's Best product. I've seen the original versions of these cards before, and I must say that Topps did a stellar job recreating them for this set.

In person, the card resembles a standard Topps Chrome refractor with a silver finish rather than a yellowish tint in the background. Like the Long Ball Leaders insert, this chrome card is busy, and I definitely like that.

#3 2018 Topps Archives

Because of how young he is, I only have around 2 1/2 years of Bellinger cards to choose from for this countdown. However, that does not mean that there were slim pickings when it came down to choosing 5 cards for this list. Case and point; this terrific card from '18 Archives in the 1981 Topps design.

I've always loved the pink bordered Baseball cards that Topps featured in Flagship sets from the 1950s-80s. Nowadays, the only time you'll see pink on a Baseball card is in parallel form or in a product like Archives or Heritage.

The pink border pairs beautifully with the classic Los Angeles Dodgers jersey, creating a combination that I wish we'd see more of in Topps' products. If the background wasn't a dirt field with a fence, I'd be willing to place this card a little higher on the list.

#2 2017 Topps Heritage High Number

To my knowledge, Bellinger's 2017 Topps Heritage High Number card was his very first rookie card, for he was not included in Topps Flagship or any of Topps' other products. Thus, this card has become somewhat iconic for those who collect Bellinger, like me.

I remember pulling this card out of a hanger box of Heritage High Number in early Fall of 2017. I bought that product solely to land this rookie card, and I was thrilled when it came out of a pack. 

It somewhat resembles his '18 Archives card except for the fact that the pink border is swapped out for burlap with a splash of red. This may have been the first Bellinger rookie card that I ever pulled, but I've saved my favorite RC for last.

#1 2017 Topps Gallery

As recognizable as Bellinger's Heritage High Number rookie card is, I cannot ignore the attention to detail and the beautiful artwork that makes up his rookie card from another set, Topps Gallery. 

Unlike Heritage High Number, I bought Topps Gallery because I've always loved the set and its artwork. It just so happened that I landed both of the big-name 2017 rookies; Judge and Bellinger. The card above doesn't even feature the most interesting artwork of the entire set, but it's quite beautiful nonetheless.

I've always been amazed by the sheer attention to detail that Topps' artists put into each and every Topps Gallery card. When it comes to a top 5 cards list, I'm looking more for my favorite cards than I am for the "best" card. To me, this Bellinger card is stunning, and that's why I ranked it at #1.