Buying to Sell

Virtually anytime I purchase Baseball cards, whether I buy packs or individual cards at the show, I'm selecting these cards for my own personal collection. I mean, why else would I dedicate an entire blog to Baseball cards? 

My primary goal is usually to buy cards for my collection, not necessarily to sell them online. Sure, I sometimes list cards from box purchases on eBay in an effort to make back some money, but I don't collect cards to make a profit. 

That's the reason why I've been collecting Baseball cards for most of my life. I grow too attached to many of the cards that I pull from packs which stops me from turning this hobby into a business of sorts where I buy and sell cards predominantly for profit.

With that being said, there are some instances in which I will buy cards as an attempt to profit off a purchase and put the funds towards cards for my personal collection.

I can't think or a better example of this than the Target-exclusive Bowman mega boxes, a product that is absolutely loaded with valuable cards of Baseball's top prospects.

Unlike most other sets, I have no intentions of holding onto expensive cards from the Bowman mega boxes, and I have no qualms about selling them in order to make back the money that I spent on the box itself as well as a profit of some sort.

I actually purchased a 2019 Bowman mega box earlier this year and have since made back the money that I spent, but I never expected to see the product restocked at my local Target roughly 6 weeks later.

After pondering the decision for a while, I realized that purchasing another mega box or 2 was the perfect opportunity to make a reasonable profit and put the money towards upcoming Baseball card expenses, maybe even The National.

The likelihood of making money back from Bowman mega boxes is extraordinarily high, and I hoped that my luck didn't run out as I decided to test my luck with a few more of these incredibly sought after boxes.

In addition to the much-desired mojo packs, each mega box delivers 4 regular packs of 2019 Bowman, but there's no possibility of pulling any inserts or parallels. Otherwise, they would simply have too much value.

While the probability of pulling something valuable out of the Bowman base packs is slim, all the top prospects from the set are included, including Joey Bart and Wander Franco. They may not be worth a fortune, but the chrome Franco comes close to paying for 1 of the boxes, so I can't really complain.

Clearly, the main thing attracting collectors to the 2019 Bowman mega boxes are the 2 exclusive mojo packs. With 5 cards per pack, there's a significant chance of pulling a valuable mojo refractor as well as numbered refractors, autographs, and even image variations.

I've seen some unbelievable pulls from these boxes on Twitter and YouTube, and I've also discovered that it's uncommon for there to be a terrible box. 

Usually, collectors walk away with at least a couple of decent cards, though it's absolutely dependent on luck; the player whose card you pull plays a pivotal role in determining the value of a card.

There are serial numbered insert refractors as well, but I've only seen them listed on eBay, not pulled by any particular collector. The mojo inserts themselves aren't too valuable, but I assume that the numbered versions are rather expensive.

As I've mentioned earlier regarding 2019 Bowman, Wander Franco and Joey Bart are the top prospects across the entire checklist, both in standard Bowman and the mojo refractor checklist. 

In my first Bowman mega box, I pulled a Wander Franco mojo refractor, and I was thrilled and surprised to land another my subsequent box. Soon after listing the 2nd on eBay, a buyer made an offer for both of the Franco refractors, and I accepted.

Thus, I was able to make back the money I spent on 2 of the mega boxes with this one purchase even taking into account that I gave the buyer a very fair price.

Even though, as far as numbered cards are concerned, the mojo refractors are somewhat common, I took a reasonable amount of time before I landed one in one of my mojo packs. Nonetheless, I was quite pleased with the outcome, for I landed a 1st Bowman purple refractor, numbered /250, of Victor Mesa Jr.

As far as the mojo refractor checklist is concerned, I could've done a lot worse than Victor Mesa Jr. He's a respected 1st Bowman prospect with enough upside that this card could certainly sell for a moderate amount of money.

I don't typically obsess over value and profit when it comes to cards, but I'm treating these Bowman mega box purchases as an investment. Thus, it is imperative that, if nothing else, I make back all the money that was spent on these boxes.

In the exact same mojo pack as my 2nd Franco card, I pulled my first ever Bowman mega box autograph of Diamondbacks prospect Alek Thomas. The on-card auto, I must admit, looks gorgeous with the mojo refractor design.

After doing a little bit of research, I learned that Thomas is the #7 prospect in Arizona's organization. While that may not be fantastic, he's only 19 years of age, and he's had a fantastic year so far in single-A. 

Usually, an autograph, especially out of a retail product, is the crown jewel of all the cards that one pulls. However, as I mentioned earlier, the most valuable cards in 2019 Bowman feature the top prospects.

One of those prospects is Wander Franco, a guy who I pulled 2 mojos of. The other is Joey Bart.

I'm not always the biggest fan of image variations and those kinds of SPs, but none of that truly matters to me when it comes to this SP 1st Bowman card of San Francisco Giants prospect Joey Bart. 

Immediately upon pulling this card, I knew it was an SP, for I already pulled his base mojo and knew what it looked like. The largest shock, however, came when I looked up what this card was going for on eBay and discovered that sellers were charging anywhere from $90-$100 for this image variation.

Despite the fact that this card will go down as one of my greatest retail pulls ever, I 100% intend to sell it on eBay. I've already listed the card and obtained numerous views and a watcher, so I feel confident that this sale will come through.

If I'm able to sell the major cards that I pulled, especially the Bart image variation, I'll more than make back the money that I spent on these Bowman mega boxes, and I likely won't have any regrets about making these sales.

Sure, Joey Bart, Wander Franco, Alek Thomas, and Victor Mesa Jr could blossom into the next superstars of Baseball, but I don't have any qualms about listing and selling these prospect cards. 

My primary goal when purchasing these boxes was to make money to spend on cards for my own collection. While I truly appreciate the cards that I pulled, I'd much rather convert these cards into select cards for my PC.

Mega Mojo Luck

Believe me when I say this; I wasn't looking for Baseball cards when I went shopping at Target yesterday, especially not the recently-released and widely popular Bowman Mega Boxes.

I'd already seen numerous Twitter posts in which collectors purchased anywhere from 1 to 20 of these Bowman Mega Boxes upon seeing them at their local Target. That's why I was so shocked to see 6 of them available for sale at Target, for I assumed someone would swoop them all up and cash in on a nice profit.

The retail-exclusive boxes are notorious for their high odds at colored parallels and autographed mojo refractors of the top prospects in all of Baseball. In addition to 4 retail packs of regular 2019 Bowman, each Mega Box features 2 highly sought after mojo refractor packs with 5 cards in each.

Although I was unable to find any Mega Boxes last year, I managed to track one down in 2017, back when they delivered 5 packs of regular Bowman and cost $15 instead of $20. 

I got lucky that time and pulled some nice prospect cards, so I decided to take the risk not only of buying the box but opening the packs. I could've easily sold it for $35 online and made a quick and easy profit.

My primary goal, upon purchasing the box, was to sell any major pulls and make a profit. There's a significant risk associated with prospect card collecting, so it's never really been my cup of tea. 

I kept telling myself that if I landed any valuable cards, it would be worthwhile to sell them and spend the money right back on Baseball cards that I want for my collection. 

Of course, before I get into the highlight of the purchase, the 2 mojo refractor packs, I should talk for a little bit about the Bowman base cards. Unfortunately, I believe that the Mega Box Bowman base packs do not include inserts or numbered cards, so all you get is 8 paper cards and 2 chromes per pack.

In some cases, getting all base cards is beneficial, for it increases your chances of pulling a highly-desired prospect card, like Wander Franco. However, I wasn't as fortunate to land any major names as far as the Bowman base packs are concerned.

Still, I can't complain about landing 4 1st Bowman cards, especially given the previously mentioned unpredictability of collecting prospect cards. You never know; one of these guys could end up a superstar. 

Just like the regular Bowman retail packs, you can expect 2 chrome cards per Mega Box pack of the regular Bowman. As far as 1st Bowman Chrome cards are concerned, I've come up short with the packs that I've opened.

However, I still managed to pull a couple of well-respected chrome prospect cards. Both Brendan Rogers and Brendan McKay are expected to make their big league debuts rather soon. McKay, in particular, is a prospect whom I am very excited to see called up to the majors.

Moving on to the biggest attraction of these Target-exclusive boxes; the mojo refractors. Back in 2017, I landed a Vlad Jr base and a Luis Urias purple refractor, but I didn't get much as far as 1st Bowman cards are concerned.

This time, although Nova and Richardson aren't super well-known, I ended up with a few 1st Bowman mojo refractors which I believe I'll hold onto. Plus, these parallels look incredibly sharp and shiny, so much so that I wonder why Topps doesn't produce more mojo refractors like Panini does.

If I'm being totally honest, I would've preferred to pull another 2 prospect cards instead of the 2 inserts above, solely to have another couple of chances of landing mojo refractor cards/parallels of big-name prospects. 

With that being said, it's hard to complain given how stunning these mojo cards are, rather it's a parallel of a base prospect card or an insert like the Touki Toussaint and Brendan Rogers cards above.

Eloy Jimenez and Bo Bichette are both top 15 prospects in the game according to MLB.com with Jimenez ranked at #3. Thus, even though these 2 players are no longer 1st Bowman prospects, I'm very pleased with these 2 pulls.

Bichette has been a top prospect for years now and is expected to (finally) make his MLB debut some point this season. On the other hand, Eloy Jimenez already signed an extension with the White Sox before the season started and has received some playing time so far in 2019.

As beautiful as the mojo refractors are, I was really hoping to make a profit off this box with some type of autograph, parallel, variation, or another kind of valuable card.

While I didn't luck out with an autograph or numbered card pull, I'm incredibly grateful for these 2 stellar mojo refractor cards that came out of the box. 

Prospects Wander Franco and Joey Bart are arguably the 2 most sought-after 1st Bowman prospects in 2019 Bowman, and if I sell their cards for what they're currently going for on eBay, I could end up making a profit greater than the cost of the box itself.

I've already listed both of these cards for sale on my brand new eBay page, but I think I'm going to hold on to the other 48 cards that I pulled. That way, I can keep some of these sick mojo refractor cards while, at the same time, making a generous profit.

3 New Releases But No Clear Standout

Today was a significant day as far as Baseball card products are concerned, for there were 3 new releases that were released, all of them being vastly different.

2019 Panini Prizm, 2019 Topps Big League, and the 2019 Bowman Mega Box cards hit the market, but I'm not sure whether I'm interested in purchasing any packs from these products. That's the main reason why I'm writing this post today; to further my knowledge about these various sets.

Panini Prizm is a product that I'm not overly familiar with, especially as Baseball cards are concerned. Although my major problem with Panini products, the lack of an MLB license, still stands, the product itself seems extremely fun.

There are around 24 different parallels within this set, ranging from orange donut holes to snakeskin. Clearly, Prizm is an extraordinarily creative release that Panini puts a ton of effort into. In a way, without the MLB license, they have to make up for the logoless cards. 

Big League, on the other hand, is a product that I know something about after opening a couple blasters of the 2018 set. There's a lot to like about last year's product, from the photography to the set design. 

Before buying any 2019 Big League, however, I'll have to see if I like this year's product as much as the previous release.

Finally, 2019 Bowman Mega Box combines 4 packs from the highly sought after 2019 Bowman set with 2 exclusive mojo refractor packs. I did pretty well when I bought a box of Bowman Mega Box in 2017 where I pulled 2 Acuna 1st Bowman cards and a Vladimir Guerrero Jr mojo refractor.

I've already talked very briefly about the 3 recently-released products. Now, I'll go a bit more in-depth as I try to decide which one, if any, I'll be interested in purchasing.

I familiarized myself with the 2019 Bowman product by opening a couple loose packs and rack packs from the set when it was released around a month ago. Now, I could have an opportunity to open some more packs from this product that's delivered some unbelievable valuable prospect cards.

Although landing a major prospect card can make buying 2019 Bowman worth it, there's no guarantee that my Target will still have any mega boxes by the time I end up going. 

This particular product is notorious for selling out quickly, so I can't trust that I'll be able to track down any Bowman Mega Boxes if I decide to buy a box or 2 from this set.

As I mentioned earlier, I did well when I purchased a Mega Box of Bowman back in 2017. Not only did I pull the 2 Acuna's and the Guerrero Jr card, but I also landed a purple mojo refractor that I've since sold. 

It doesn't matter what the Bowman design looks like, for the mojo refractors look absolutely incredible, both online and in-person. I just wish Topps would include 3 packs of these awesome refractors instead of only 2 5-card packs.

In the past, these boxes have delivered 5 regular Bowman packs in addition to the 2 mojo packs, all for $15. Now, Topps has risen the prices and included 1 fewer packs per box. 

Don't get me wrong, having 4 Bowman packs instead of 5 isn't the end of the world. Rather, the $5 increase in price is my problem with this new format.

Next up is Panini Prizm, a Baseball card release that we haven't seen since 2015 apart from being included in the 2018 Panini Chronicles set. While I prefer last year's Prizm cards to the new design from 2019, this revived release has a lot of appeal for collectors, like myself, who love unusual modern parallels. 

2019 Panini Prizm features a 300-card base set that includes both active and retired players. While no logos remain a problem, the plethora of bright and bold parallels will certainly help to distract me from the missing team logos and names.

Last year, Panini Chronicles gave collectors a small sampling of what Panini Prizm has to offer. If nothing else, it'll be interesting to see what Panini does with 300 cards instead of only 25 or 30. 

Clearly, parallels, both numbered and non-numbered, will be a fixture, but I'll also be interested to see what the inserts and hits look like in the 2019 Panini Prizm set. Although the 2019 rookie class isn't too strong, I'm sure that Panini will compensate with a wide range of different cards within this set.

Considering the low cost, 2018 Topps Big League was one of the most enjoyable products to break. Finally, Topps provided collectors with an inexpensive set with a respectable set design that wasn't Topps Opening Day. 

Big League is marketed primarily towards kids, but the set appeals to all sorts of collectors. In addition to veterans and rookies, there are retired players and even ballpark attractions included within the 500-card checklist.

For $10 a blaster box or roughly $40 per hobby box, Topps Big League delivered a ton of beautiful base cards along with some parallels and the occasional insert/variation. In a way, the product combines modern and vintage cards into 1 set that impressed me through its inaugural release.

However, I made up my mind about whether or not I'd be purchasing any 2019 Topps Big League as soon as I took a look at the base set mockup on Cardboard Connection.

Unfortunately, I'm going to have to pass on 2019 Topps Big League all together based solely on the mediocre set design. It's hard to find a place to start with my critiques, but the uneven photograph is my primary issue.

In a way, 2019 Topps Big League is reminiscent of 2016 Topps; it's overly complicated and unnecessarily modern for my taste.  

While I commend Topps for bringing back Big League for a 2nd straight season, this set simply can't compare to the 2018 design, so I'm going to have to pass on this product this year.

If I'd have to purchase 1 of these sets, I'd likely lean towards 2019 Panini Prizm in order to get a sampling of this revived release. The parallels intrigue me, and I don't mind the design of this year's set. If the actual Prizm product is anything like we saw in Chronicles, I'll be quite pleased.

However, this doesn't mean I'll end up buying any of these sets. Bowman Mega Box is very hit or miss, Big League took a huge step back this year, and the logoless Prizm cards still bother me.

I might end up passing on all of these products, or I could end up purchasing some Panini Prizm. Still, I'm grateful that this post gave me a better idea of what I'd like to buy, even if I don't go through with purchasing any of these recently-released sets.

Green Galore

In an effort to shorten the length of both my 2019 Gypsy Queen and Bowman blog posts from the last 2 days, I saved the retail pack exclusive green parallels for a separate post entirely. Now, it's time for me to showcase the final cards that I pulled thanks to the $25 off Target coupon.

Both products that I opened contained a pack of retail-exclusive green parallels, standard green for Gypsy Queen and a darker green "camo" parallel which was found in Bowman. The GQ blaster box and Bowman value packs featured 5 parallels which the GQ value packs contained only 3.

After I finished opening all the retail packs, I wound up with 36 total green parallels, 20 from Bowman and 16 from Gypsy Queen. While non-numbered parallels aren't necessarily valuable, each product had its own unique parallel which I've grown to like.

The lighter green GQ parallels work perfectly with the retro-style product. Given how uncommon parallels are in present-day Gypsy Queen, it's pretty cool to come across so many of these beautiful cards.

On the other hand, the Bowman camo parallels include only prospects, maximizing the chance of landing a big-name player. While the GQ parallels are reminiscent of a vintage card, the Bowman parallels are far more modern looking.

The fact that I find both parallels appealing, in different ways, highlights how diverse my appreciation for Baseball cards is. While being all over the place has hurt me in the past, I enjoy having a wide range of cards that I like, for it allows me to discover all sorts of new players and products that I'd otherwise be unfamiliar with.

Anyway, let's get back to the green parallels, starting with the dark green camos from 2019 Bowman.

Given Topps' notoriously terrible coalition, I feel fortunate that I didn't end up with a single camo parallel double out of the 20 parallel cards that I pulled. Moreover, I'm fairly pleased that 1/5, or 4, of my camo parallels, are 1st Bowman cards of well-respected prospects, including Julio Rodriguez of the Mariners.

While I'm on the topic of prospects, I'd be remiss if I failed to mention that Vladimir Guerrero Jr will be making his much-anticipated MLB debut tomorrow at home against the Oakland Athletics. His MLB debut has been hyped up and anticipated for months now, just like that of Bryce Harper and Shohei Ohtani earlier this decade.

Because I pulled roughly the same number of Bowman paper cards as I did camo parallels, I found a couple of player's whose cards I pulled twice, like Royce Lewis and Casey Mize. The 4 players above are prospects that I was familiar with before this product's release. 

Lewis and Mize are former 1st overall picks while I recognize Nick Senzel from Bowman's Best, and I've heard Yordan Alvarez's name mentioned numerous times before this set was released last Wednesday.

There are even a couple of players who have already made it to the major leagues by the time I pulled their parallels from a pack, like Eloy Jimenez and Cole Tucker. 

In fact, the White Sox outfielder has already signed an MLB extension while Cole Tucker, from what I've heard, is playing respectable Baseball as an infielder for the Pittsburgh Pirates. Out of all the different jersey colors, the camo green looks especially nice with the color black.

I may not have landed a mega 1st Bowman card like that of Wander Franco, but I was quite pleased with how I did with the 20 camo parallels. Next up, the Gypsy Queen green bordered cards that I wound up with.

Featuring a much lighter shade of green that works better with the GQ set design, these green parallels encompass the entire base set of Gypsy Queen, though I'm not certain if short prints are included or not.

The blaster boxes deliver 5 green parallels while value packs promise just 3. As I mentioned earlier, I ended up with 16 of these gorgeous cards, featuring rookies and veterans.

It's always a plus when I pull parallels, or any cards, of players that I collect. I'm especially happy to finally land a card of Jake Arrieta given how few cards I've been able to track down of the 2015 NL Cy Young award winner over the last few seasons.

Bellinger's card, along with Arrieta's, is a true standout, highlighting how creative and special these 2019 Topps Gypsy Queen cards are. After becoming familiar with the product through the hobby box that I opened, I'm glad to refamiliarize myself with the fabulous images included across this product.

Plus, as if the green borders weren't enough, the Oakland Athletics' green parallels take a simple color to a whole nother level. The borders, year, logo, and player's position on these 2 cards are all green, not to mention Laureano and Manaea's jerseys as well as parts of the background.

In his rookie season, Laureano has already established himself as one of the greatest defensive players in the game. Poised to take home a gold glove within the next few seasons, his highlights are worth checking out.

His teammate, Sean Manaea, pitched 1 of the 3 no-hitters of 2018. He brought the 17-2 Boston Red Sox back down to earth by no-hitting them around this time last year. The subsequent no-nos were pitched by James Paxton of the Mariners and a combined effort by the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Not to mention, I also landed a green parallel of my favorite card from the entire 2019 Topps Gypsy Queen set. Seriously, this card is absolutely breathtaking, especially as a colored parallel.

Yeah, I'm definitely thankful for Target's fabulous coupon. I've never done anything like this with retail cards before, and I had an absolute blast.

My Gypsy Queen & Bowman Splurge Part 2

After using yesterday's post to recap the highlights from the blaster boxes and value packs of 2019 Topps Gypsy Queen that I opened, it's time for me to pick up where I left off. After all, I used the Target coupon to splurge on 2 different products; Gypsy Queen as well as 2019 Bowman.

Admittedly, I was disappointed with the 2 hobby packs of Bowman that I opened pretty soon after it was released last week. Because Bowman hobby packs can be fairly expensive, I was hoping for something a little more exciting than what I actually pulled.

Regardless, I'd seen enough box breaks on YouTube to know that it is possible to luck out with 2019 Bowman. There's a surplus of prospect parallels, chrome and paper, and a wide variety of inserts as well. I didn't want to invest the majority of these funds on Bowman, so I decided on 4 value packs.

Each value pack of 2019 Bowman contains 2 standard 12-card packs from the set. Moreover, there's also a 5-card pack of exclusive green parallels in each value pack just like there was for Gypsy Queen. 

However, in an effort to keep these posts a little shorter, I'll be showcasing all the retail-exclusive parallels in a blog post tomorrow. 

As far as the Bowman product is concerned, veterans and rookies have very little importance. Although these cards have paper parallels, the veteran base cards in Bowman don't have a huge purpose. Granted, I can add some to my player collections, but that's about it.

When you're talking about a prospect-based set, especially standard Bowman, the 150-card prospect checklist is far more important than the 100 veterans and rookies, especially since this year's rookie class isn't too strong.

In addition to pulling my fair share of veteran base cards, I ended up with an abundance of rookie cards, 26 of them to be exact. Considering that I pulled 96 total cards from my 8 Bowman base packs, this is pretty shocking and a little concerning,

Like I just mentioned, the 2019 MLB rookie class isn't too strong. It's not like 2018 when pulling 26 rookies would likely entail cards of Ohtani, Torres, and Soto. This year, the best rookie cards that I pulled were of Luis Urias and Jeff McNeil.

I'm not trying to bash those guys or their talent, but it just goes to show how Topps' obsession with rookies can have its drawbacks

While I was on the hunt for set needs and PC additions while opening 2019 Topps Gypsy Queen, 2019 Bowman was an entirely different story. I may not be the most knowledgeable prospect collector, but that didn't steer my primary focus away from prospect cards during this break.

I usually pulled 3-4 Bowman paper cards per pack, allowing me to land some pretty respectable names. Again, with a set like Bowman, you never quite know if the player will end up a superstar or not.

4 years from now, Joey Bart could be an MVP catcher for the San Francisco Giants, or he could be a huge bust who's no longer in the MLB. You just have to be patient, tuck the cards away in a binder, and simply wait and see what happens.

Though I wasn't super familiar with a lot of the 1st Bowman prospects, I recognized a solid number of paper prospects from past Bowman sets like 2017 Draft and 2018 Bowman's Best. 

Although a player's subsequent Bowman prospect card won't be as valuable as their 1st Bowman card, it can be entertaining to build up a timeline of a player's prospect cards. This'll be especially rewarding if the player makes it big in the MLB just like the 4 players above are expected to do.

Appearing only twice per pack, chrome prospect cards are incredibly sought after every year that Bowman is released, likely because they also include an excessive range of colored refractors. In particular, 1st Bowman Chrome cards hold a lot of value, especially if you land a big name prospect.

Out of the 16 chrome prospect cards that I pulled, only 3 of them were 1st Bowman players, the best of which is likely Blaze Alexander of the Arizona Diamondbacks. 

I may not have come across the best 1st Bowman cards in this box, but I've lucked out before with the limited Bowman packs that I've actually opened. Back in 2017, I landed an Acuna paper and chrome 1st Bowman card in the same mega box.

Fernando Tatis Jr is already in the major leagues, meaning this is the final Bowman card of the 20-year old Padres infielder. Alongside shortstop Manny Machado, Tatis is tearing it up in the big leagues, and I fully expect him to become a star. 

He was also featured in 2018 Bowman's Best, so I've become familiar with him over the last few months. He, along with Pete Alonso, seems like the frontrunner for the 2019 NL Rookie of the Year award.

Out of all the chrome stock insert sets, Ready For the Show was the least interesting to me going into this retail purchase. Of course, that meant that I'd pull more of these cards than any other insert set. 

I did end up with some decent players like Forrest Whitley and Triston McKenzie, but there are a couple other insert sets that I much prefer, though I applaud Topps for the concept behind these cards.

As if the chrome cardstock wasn't enough, the black borders and bright backgrounds on both of these cards makes them all the more sleek and modern looking. Both of these insert sets have been featured in Bowman for the last few seasons as they give collectors an insight as to the best rookies and prospects in the game.

Specifically, I'm a huge fan of the Bowman Scouts Top 100 prospect cards as I am every single year that Bowman is released. Not only is this year's design fantastic, but the players in the checklist are incredibly talented. 

Guys like Vlad Jr and Jo Adell highlight an incredibly talented group of 100 players and help create a perfect insert set for collectors who like prospects and set building.

Considering that I only opened 8 packs of 2019 Bowman, I was thrilled to land a serial numbered parallel, especially a chrome stock card. Falling at 1:100 packs, the speckle refractors prove just how difficult it can be to land a numbered prospect card in Bowman, for you'd have to open around 100 packs to land a card numbered to 299.

Taylor Widener wouldn't have been my top choice for a numbered refractor, but he is the #78 prospect in Baseball, something that I just learned today. He's been playing very well in the minors and is expected to make his debut this year. Alright, Taylor Widener, I'll be on the lookout for you.

Like the Gypsy Queen break, however, the best card from the 4 value packs of 2019 Bowman wasn't even a question. I was absolutely thrilled to pull a 1st Bowman paper card of Wander Franco, in the same value pack as the Widener card, come to think. 

Given how much money Franco's autographs are selling for, I figure his 1st Bowman paper card will be worth a pretty penny. However, because it's not serial numbered, I think I'm going to hold onto it and wait and see what he does.

If Franco goes on a tear like Aaron Judge, Gary Sanchez, and Rhys Hoskins did, I may end up selling this card. However, as is typically the case with Bowman, I'm going to have to wait and see what happens with Franco, Widener, and everyone else whose prospect card I pulled.

My Gypsy Queen & Bowman Retail Splurge Part 1

It wasn't until last Saturday that I first learned about a coupon that Topps had available in their recent circular. They run these types of promotions every so often, and, thankfully, Baseball cards fall under the umbrella of "toys." 

Thus, collectors are able to take advantage of these incredible discounts, but they aren't made available all that often. From my knowledge, these coupons are produced once every few months. When I found out about Topps' most recent coupon, it was already the last day of the promotion. 

If I didn't take advantage of this sensational deal right away, I'd have to wait much longer before another coupon was produced. Although it was extremely short notice, my Dad and I decided to make use of this discount and take a trip to Target last Saturday as we hoped to land some blasters of 2019 Bowman.

Unsurprisingly, every last blaster of 2019 Bowman had already been purchased from my nearby Target. However, there were a couple of other options for the product, including value packs. Thus, I made the best of what was available by turning this coupon into a retail splurge of 2019 Gypsy Queen and Bowman.

Since I wrote a post on 2019 Bowman a few days ago, I'm going to hold off on the 4 Bowman value packs that I ripped until tomorrow. Therefore, today's post will be dedicated to the 2 blaster boxes and the 2 value packs of 2019 Topps Gypsy Queen that I opened. 

Although I already opened up a hobby box of this product back in March, I only ended up with about 50% of the base cards (#1-300). Because I was missing a reasonable number of cards, the retail packs that I opened delivered a ton of new cards that I hadn't already pulled. 

It's crazy, even with all the stellar cards from the hobby box I opened, that I missed out on some of the greatest cards in the set. This list includes the 4 cards above and, most definitely, the Rhys Hoskins hat tip card towards the top of this post.

It's also worth pointing out that I pulled what is likely the last original card of Bryce Harper on the Nationals that we'll ever see. Granted, there could be All-Star/milestone cards that honor his accomplishments in D.C. However, as far as originals go, this is probably it.

I haven't gone through the 2019 Topps Gypsy Queen binder to put the new cards away, but I'm certain that I was able to put a major dent in what I need from this base set. 

Although the base cards are beautiful, the standout cards from this Gypsy Queen purchase were the SPs, inserts, and variations that I pulled from these packs.

The retired player SPs can be found in hobby packs at 1:24 packs, or 1 per hobby box. However, one only needs to open 14 retail packs before they're bound to come across a card numbered #301-320. Out of all the packs that I opened, I ended up with one SP; Roberto Alomar.

Along with Don Mattingly, Alomar is the only SP that I have from the entire 2019 Topps Gypsy Queen set. Additionally, Alomar's card is simply much better than Mattingly's, for it features an image that works way better with the GQ set design.

Although inserts aren't the highlight of the Gypsy Queen set, Topps has developed 2 creative concepts for this set's insert cards. Fortune Teller tallboys have been featured for the last 3 seasons, and the design and sheer style has improved after each and every year.

After pulling Judge and Nola's Fortune Teller cards as well as Blake Snell's, I believe I have around 8 of these insert cards. Given how beautiful these cards are, especially with the purple, I wouldn't be surprised if I attempted to complete this insert set. 

The Tarot of the Diamond insert cards, introduced in 2018, fit the bill perfectly as far as Topps Gypsy Queen is concerned. Personally, I don't think Gypsy Queen should alter either of these genius topics for years to come so long as colorful designs are continuously utilized.

In addition to Corey Kluber, AKA "The Magician," I pulled a Ronald Acuña Jr insert card that I landed in my hobby box. Dubbed "The Joker," that card is available for trade if anybody is interested.

When Topps revamped the entire Gypsy Queen product back in 2017, variations became an essential part of this creative set. Because the product lacked somewhat of an identity for a few years, I understand why these various variation cards were implemented. 

It's taken a few years, but Topps seems to have finally nailed the difficult to pull of Gypsy Queen product. Although the change is very subtle, the GQ logo swap variants help the cards feel even more reminiscent of the pre-war tobacco cards. 

Although I didn't luck out with a big-name player, it was exciting to pull my first-ever Bazooka back variation from a pack of Topps Gypsy Queen. Like the Tarot insert cards, I believe that these were introduced back in 2018. Thankfully, it's incredibly easy to tell Bazooka back variations from other cards in this product.

I may or may not hold onto this card; it depends. I'm a huge fan of the retro design on the back of the card, but Corey Spangenberg isn't high on my list of players to collect. I don't know a whole lot about him, so perhaps I'll do a little bit of research before deciding to trade or sell this somewhat rare variation.

I'm not certain of the exact odds, but I recall that the missing nameplate variations are 1:28 or 1:38 retail packs, a bit tougher than the hobby box odds. I opened just 20 standard Gypsy Queen packs in my break, so it was a little surprising that I ended up with 2 of these variants.

Moreover, I'm usually unlucky when it comes to variations or parallels in both retail and hobby breaks, so it was equally shocking that I lucked out when it came to players, twice. Stanton and Kershaw are both players that I collect, so it's safe to say that I did very well as far as these variations are concerned.

With that being said, it wasn't just Stanton and Kershaw's missing nameplate cards that I landed. There was 1 more card, easily the best card of this break, that was also a missing nameplate variation. This one, however, wasn't only a base card variation.

Falling at an astounding 1:750 packs, this outstanding card of Roberto Clemente above combines 2 SPs/variations into 1 standout card. Not only is it a missing nameplate variation, but the card is also a high number SP in the checklist, making for an incredibly rare pull and a card much better than anything that I pulled from my Gypsy Queen hobby box.

Honestly, I'd take this card over half of the autographs in the checklist. That's how eye-catching and incredible the photo is. It would've been nice to pull his base SP as well just to have a card with Clemente's name on it, but I'll take a rare variation any day, especially featuring one of my favorite players in Baseball history.

At this point, I hadn't even gotten to the 4 value packs of Bowman, yet I was already incredibly pleased with how this retail splurge had gone thus far.