More From One of My Favorite Sets; Card Show Recap #22 Part 2

In a strange turn of events, I took a couple days off from my Baseball card show recap posts from Monday's Labor Day show.

Though I wanted to enter Collecting Cutch's newest contest ASAP, there's no real reason why I couldn't continue the recap posts yesterday other than the fact that I wanted to dedicate as much attention as I could to the next 2 posts in the series.

Back on Tuesday, I began recapping this show with a few singles that I picked up that included a small sampling of the 2019 Panini Chronicles set. After making this initial purchase, however, I found it challenging to move around the show, much less look through a vendor's inventory.

The crowdedness of this show was something I'd never experienced before at such a profound level, not even at The National. It was nearly impossible to get a good look at the tables around the show, no matter where I went.

Following almost 20 minutes of attempting to make my way through the show, I figured that the crowd wasn't going to die down anytime soon. The show was simply too crowded to hold all of the attendees, so I made a rash decision to grab a box of 2019 Panini Chronicles and head on out.

I certainly wish that I could've stayed and purchased something that I couldn't find at my LCS, but there's not much else that could be done. All things considered, I think I made the best possible choice.

Each Chronicles box promises 3 autographs and 1 relic card. With 6 packs and 8 cards per pack, I decided to split this hobby box into 2 separate posts.

Because this is such a rookie-heavy set, I'll be keeping tally of the number of rookie cards I pull.

Pack #1

#19 Nick Senzel Classics (RC Count; 1)

With all the flashy and shiny cards in this jam-packed set, I appreciate Classics because of its simplicity and retro style. Even as a returning product, this year's cards remain true to the brand while offering a brand new look.

#1 Joey Votto Chronicles

It's hard to believe how far this product has come from the disaster that was the 2017 Chronicles release. Though the base cards still don't do much for me, you only pull a few of them in each hobby box.

#1 Pete Alonso Ascension (RC Count; 2)

I recognize the first 2 Panini brands from last year's Chronicles, but Ascension is totally foreign to me. My initial impression is that the cards are comparable to Topps Fire, but barely. There isn't really a Topps equivalent of Panini Ascension.

#ARA-DP C.D. Pelham Absolute Rookie Autographs (RC Count; 3)

With 3 autographs per box on average, one should expect a couple of lackluster names. However, I was hoping for something better than a sticker auto of a Rangers pitcher who's only pitched 7 innings so far this season.

The low numbering (4/23) and the cracked ice (which is far more noticeable in-person) certainly helps this card's cause, but it's still a bit of a disappointment.

#12 Shohei Ohtani Contenders Optic

Last year, the Contenders Optic portion of this set was extremely generous to me as far as numbered parallels were concerned. I ended up with a Devers #/149, Andujar #/99, and, best of all, an Acuña Jr #/50.

Ohtani isn't a rookie anymore, and this is just the base version of the Contenders Optic cards, but I still view these cards as one of the best brands in this set.

#6 Yusei Kikuchi Titan Prizm Parallel (RC Count; 4)

There's a lot to appreciate about Chronicles, but the serial numbered parallels would have to rank as my favorite aspect of this crazy set. I've never landed all that great of a hit from any of my past packs, retail or hobby, but I can't say the same about numbered cards.

Panini featured these Prizm parallels (#/299) in certain parts of last year's Chronicles set as well. It appears that Titan, a brand-new release, is replacing Select this time around. Does this mean we could be seeing a Panini Select Baseball release sometime soon?

#25 Kyle Tucker Status (RC Count; 5)

From the box breaks that I've watched, most of the Chronicles brands, including Status, are back in the product once again in 2019. These cards tend to appear at the end of the pack, just like they did in last year's release.

#2 Chris Paddack Status Green Parallel (RC Count; 6)

The beauty of 2018 Chronicles was that Panini didn't make all that much of it, so you could expect multiple serial numbered cards in each pack. Now, given its popularity, there are non-numbered parallels, like the one above, so that Panini can produce and release more boxes.

Pack #2

#3 Fernando Tatis Jr Playoff (RC Count; 7)

This ended up being the first and only Fernando Tatis Jr card out of the entire 48-card hobby box. Though I intend to keep all the cards from this set together, for the time being, I'll make an exception and pull the Tatis card for my brand new PC.

#17 Brandon Nimmo Limited

Brandon Nimmo is an interesting choice for the Limited checklist. He's never blossomed into the player that Mets fans wish he'd be, not to mention he's struggled with injuries throughout the 2019 season.

If Panini's looking for a New York Mets player to appear in this set, why not Michael Conforto instead?

#12 Shohei Ohtani Ascension Red Parallel

I'll give it to Panini; this red foil parallel is a lot more apparent than some of their other cards, especially if you hold the card in-hand. This is only my 2nd Ascension card, but I'm already a huge fan of these vibrant cards.

I suppose, however, that pulling a Shohei Ohtani card, serial numbered out of 50 copies, helped with that.

#14 Mike Trout Spectra

Each Chronicles box also delivers 2 Spectra cards, another reoccurring part of this action-packed set. Aside from the top tier rookies, I couldn't have asked for a better player than the face of Baseball, Mike Trout.

#17 Juan Soto Crusade

As much as I loved Crusade in the 2018 set, the cards weren't quite as polished as I wanted them to be. Thankfully, Panini upped their game and brought the brand back in 2018 with a much-improved design.

#54 Luis Urias Obsidian (RC Count; 8)

Along with Titan and Spectra, Obsidian is one of the focal points of the 25+ brands in 2019 Panini Chronicles. The cards are quite heavy, especially given that they're relatively thin, and feature an all-black background.

I may not have pulled the Padres rookie that I wanted, but Obsidian has instantly become one of my favorite parts of this year's set.

#11 Eloy Jimenez Status (RC Count; 9)

Eloy's stats don't particularly blow me away, but he's put up great numbers for a rookie. I guess I prefer contact hitters to a guy who can hit .250 with 22 home runs.

#34 Darwinzon Hernandez Certified (RC Count; 10)

He may not be very well-known, but Darwinzon Hernandez has become an integral part of the Red Sox bullpen at the age of 22. With Rick Porcello likely on his way out, Hernandez could join Boston's rotation as early as next season.

#20 Shohei Ohtani Score

If nothing else, I appreciate the concept behind the Score inserts in this year's Chronicles set as they remind me of the Whammy cards from the standard Donruss set. They might not be my favorites, but there are enough other brands in the Chronicles set that I can overlook one sub-part design.

#37 Mike Trout Chronicles

First, we had a Spectra card, now a Chronicles base. I don't care if the latter of the 2 is merely a Chronicles base card. I'd call 2 Mike Trout cards in 3 packs a success by any means.

#9 Bryce Harper Timeless Treasures

Timeless Treasures is another Panini product new to Baseball in the 2019 Chronicles set. I purchased a single of Ohtani from the show's case breaker, and now I have a Bryce Harper card from this gorgeous set.

#AB-GT Gleyber Torres Absolute Gold Parallel Triple Relic

As far as relic cards are concerned, I'm pretty stoked with a triple relic, including 3 pinstripes, of one of the most talented young players in the game today. It's hard to notice when scanned, but there's a gold half-square around each jersey swatch, causing the card to be serially numbered out of 99 copies.

With 1/2 of the hits down, there are still 2 autographs as well as 1 spectra card remaining for the 2nd half of this box.

#11 Kris Bryant Phoenix

#6 Yusei Kikuchi TitanHolo Parallel (RC Count; 11)

This is my 2nd pull from the Titan Kikuchi rainbow out of the first half of this box. While the Prizm parallel was numbered out of 299, this base holo card isn't numbered, but it's just as beautiful.

#20 Chris Paddack Certified (RC Count; 12)

#32 Michael Chavis Certified Green Parallel (RC Count; 13)

Chavis may not have achieved the same hype as Andrew Benintendi and Rafael Devers throughout his rookie season, but I'm excited to see what's to come for the 24-year old. Once he comes back healthy in 2020, I fully expect him to be Boston's everyday 2nd baseman.

Maybe I'm blinded by my love of this set, but I'm pretty pleased with the 1st half of this box. The autograph wasn't too great, but Chronicles isn't necessarily about the hits.

With 2 autos to go, I'm excited to see what else this box has in store for me.