Ranking the 2019 Panini Prizm Inserts

Within the last month or so, the Target near me completed major renovations that altered both the appearance and the availability of products throughout the store. While the layout is more or less the same, everything looks drastically different, including the Baseball card section which I frequent often.

Beforehand, all of Target's trading cards were grouped together in an aisle near the registers farthest away from the entrance. Even though I haven't always found exactly what I'm looking for in the card aisle, I appreciate the fact that everything was grouped together in one section.

Unfortunately, that philosophy did not carry over to the newly-designed Target, for the Baseball card aisle is now a shadow of its former self. Half of the space is now occupied by an irritating wall of gift cards and 1/4 of the aisle consists of non-sport trading cards.

This leaves a tiny sliver reserved for sports cards, and not all of that is Baseball. There are some Basketball and Football products scattered about, and I didn't spot a single product that was released within the last month. 

As poor as the selection is now, I fear it will only get worse as I found no Stadium Club or Series 2 blasters on the shelf.

When walking around the redesigned store, I discovered a couple makeshift Baseball card "displays" located within the Boston sports memorabilia section. I put the word display in quotation marks because, at most, these shelves consisted of a couple of Gypsy Queen blasters and a Series 2 rack pack.

No Stadium Club whatsoever. No Series 2 hanger boxes or blasters. I fear that this is the end of my retail shopping at Target. Alas, I picked up a value pack of 2019 Panini Prizm in an effort to make progress with my insane 2019 Panini Prizm project, and I left Target for good. 

From that value pack, I got the idea to rank the inserts from 2019 Panini Prizm, for, after seeing the redesigned Target, I doubt I'll get my hands on any 2019 Topps Stadium Club unless I venture into a hobby shop.

#9 Scorching

I didn't know how to describe my dislike towards the Scorching inserts of 2019 Panini Prizm until I watched a hobby box break of this set on YouTube. The collector referred to the inserts as "cheesy," and I couldn't agree more.

The flames in the background, truthfully, look awful. Topps has pulled off insert sets in the past that utilize fire, but it seems that Panini didn't take any pointers when it came to Scorching. If Panini's goal was to display the top flamethrowers in the game, try a flaming Baseball instead.

I'll admit that it would be challenging to make these cards not appear cheesy, but Panini didn't do themselves any favors with the design. Ultimately, the cards came off, to me, as cheap.

#8 Brilliance

Like Scorching, Brilliance is an insert set dedicated solely to pitchers. Although the design is a substantial improvement from the previous entry, these inserts lack a crucial quality; uniqueness.

If nothing else, the Scorching cards had a theme behind them; they highlight the fastest throwing pitchers in Baseball. On the other hand, there's nothing that special about the Brilliance cards. 

Rather, they feature the best pitchers in Baseball, like Verlander, Sale, and Scherzer, but the cards themselves don't have much of a personality. If not for the design, I'd rank Brilliance last, but the pink and purple background elevates these inserts to the #8 spot.

#7 Machines

Conversely, the Machines inserts showcase the top sluggers in Baseball, similar to how Brilliance features the game's most dominant pitchers. As a result, I have similar problems with this insert set as I do with the previous one.

In some areas, Machines departs from the Brilliance cards, for the former has more of a distinct theme (power hitters) and an interesting design. The reason why I placed these inserts above Brilliance is that it's a slightly improved version of the pitchers-only insert set.

All in all, these inserts are on the average side, which would make their ranking a bit higher in almost any other product. However, there are some surprisingly strong inserts in 2019 Panini Prizm, so the highest I could rank Machines is #7.

#6 Fireworks

As I continue this countdown, I'm struggling to decide which quality I prefer in an insert set; a central theme or an interesting set design. Towards the top of the list, a few of the cards combine these 2 characteristics, but right now, I have to decide between the 2.

Most of the cards so far have had fairly weak themes, and the same could be stated about the Fireworks inserts, one of which is showcased above. As I mentioned, some inserts have a better them than others while additional inserts have a more compelling design. 

Clearly, the Fireworks cards have a beautiful design despite lacking a concrete concept behind the actual insert set. The cards are easily the best looking on the list thus far, and I'm willing to accept the lack of a theme behind these cards and place the Fireworks inserts at #6.

#5 Illumination

If I was determining the inserts' placements on this countdown solely based on design, Illumination would definitely crack the top 2 or 3. I pulled 6 of these from 2 hobby boxes and some retail Prizm packs, and I can thoroughly say that these cards, especially the holo versions, are stunning in person.

Unfortunately, Illumination struggles with what virtually every insert set has suffered from so far on this list; there's no real rhyme or reason behind these cards. They may be vibrant and colorful, but that doesn't tell you much about the cards themselves.

The top 4 insert sets on this list all combine a compelling set design with a profound concept. As a result, Illumination's gorgeous cards simply weren't enough to rank higher on the countdown.

#4 Instant Impact

It's taken 6 insert sets, but we finally have a set of cards that combines a distinct theme with stellar set design, resulting in a fabulous insert set overall. 

These Instant Impact cards, as the title suggests, feature players that had an immediate and profound impact as soon as they made their debut for their respective MLB teams. I assume that these cards are rarer than most of the other inserts, for I only pulled 2 out of all the 2019 Panini Prizm that I opened.

Still, the 2 cards that I ended up with (Torres and Flaherty) are awesome cards with equally impressive information on the back. Unlike most of the sets thus far, Instant Impact has a definite theme.

#3 Numbers Game

This isn't the first time that we've seen Numbers Game inserts in recent years, for Topps Allen & Ginter made a Numbers Game insert back in 2016 that differed somewhat from the 2019 Panini Prizm version.

While I'd prefer to have the background colors and numbers to be full-bleed, I have few issues with the Numbers Game insert set. In addition to including the player's jersey number in the bottom left corner, these cards feature a plethora of numbers in the background, mainly the players' stats from last season.

I'll give Panini points for uniqueness and creativity because I haven't really seen anything like this before. Also, considering that I only pulled 3 of these inserts, I'd say I did pretty well (Acuna Jr, Betts, and Soto).

#2 Lumber Inc

In the past, numerous cards and even entire sets have been based on bats and lumber (i.e. the Donruss/Panini Leather & Lumber product. In the case of 2019 Panini Prizm, they took this basic idea and transformed it into something that fit the bill for the product while also standing out.

Personally, I'd never pair lumber with chrome stock cards, but Panini opted to do so, and the results say it all. I've always thought of lumber, when it comes to Baseball cards, as bat relics or cards with a wooden finish. Never would I expect cards like this in Panini Prizm, but I sure am impressed.

#1 Star Gazing

I know that I've stressed the importance of having a concrete theme behind insert sets throughout this post, but I'm willing to make an exception if and when an insert set's design is simply phenomenal, and that's exactly how I feel about the Star Gazing inserts, my favorite of the entire 2019 Panini Prizm set.

My only issue with this set is the background is the same for all the cards, but the combination of the surplus of colors and the different positions of each player allows every card in the insert set to stand out. Seriously, it's hard not to get mesmerized by the intricate and gorgeous background.

Star Gazing may not be as conceptual of an insert set as Instant Impact or even Machines, but the cards are beautiful enough to earn the #1 spot, and this was not a decision that I made lightly. 

Even More 2019 Panini Prizm; Hobby Box Round 2

A busy blog post schedule has kept me from writing this recap post until today, but I actually purchased a 2nd hobby box of 2019 Panini Prizm last Saturday at my LCS. 

After purchasing both a hobby box at the Mansfield show and a mega box at Target over the last few weeks, I set out on an insane and (slightly) unrealistic project regarding the 2019 Panini Prizm set. 

The project is something I foresee myself gradually building over the course of many years as well as something that I can take a quick break from collecting from time to time. 

Granted, it's almost impossible to acquire over 20 different parallels from each of the 300 cards in the 2019 Panini Prizm base set, but I thoroughly enjoy opening Prizm packs in addition to all the unusual parallel cards.

To me, if Panini Prizm had the MLB license, it would be head and shoulders above sets like Topps Chrome. I've grown used to the logoless caps and jerseys so long as Panini makes up for it with a colorful and/or interesting card.

Clearly, Panini accomplishes this with the 2019 Panini Prizm product, and that's why I've been raving so much about these cards. Ultimately, this drove my decision to pick up 1 more Prizm hobby box. 

After which, I'll turn to COMC, Sportlots, and card shows for the thousands of cards remaining in this crazy project of mine.

Even though the hobby box break delivered far more doubles than I would've liked, I still pulled cards that I needed for all different aspects of this project, including the standard base cards. 

Given all the fabulous parallels and colorful cards within this product, I believe that the regular base cards are underappreciated. This year, Panini did an excellent job with the silver chrome stock cards, especially considering that they cannot use the MLB logos.

With a product like Panin Prizm, it is imperative that the base set is a perfect blank canvas for the surplus of bold and colorful parallels. The Prizm base cards accomplish that, and they allow the 25+ refractors to stand out the way they do.

As much as I appreciate the base cards, the main reason why I purchased another hobby box of 2019 Panini Prizm was the parallels. If I'm going to undertake this insane project, I need to acquire as many refractors as possible, so I was absolutely thrilled when I discovered that my 2nd hobby box was also a hyper blue Prizm hot box. 

While the plethora of hyper blue Prizms led to me pulling a reasonable number of parallel doubles, the hot box format also guaranteed 5 parallels per pack, including the 2 hyper blues. 

With 60 refractors across the entire 12-pack box, the 2nd Panini Prizm hobby box did not disappoint as far as Prizm parallels are concerned.

One of the main draws to the Prizm hobby boxes, whether it's a hot box or not, is the 3 silver parallels that you pull on average. It's challenging to differentiate the silvers from the base cards when scanned, but one of the 3 that I pulled was of Jackie Bradley Jr.

Throughout my Panini Prizm breaks thus far, I've struggled to pull virtually any Red Sox cards with the exception of Rafael Devers. I know for a fact that Andrew Benintendi, Mookie Betts, and J.D. Martinez are all in this product, so I'm surprised that I haven't landed any of their cards yet, not even base.

Hopefully, this Bradley Jr silver will jumpstart my luck and allow me to find many more Boston Red Sox Prizm parallels, even if I don't purchase any more packs of Prizm. 

At this point in the hobby box recap post, it's time to introduce the abundance of serial numbered Prizm parallels that I pulled. You may recognize many of the refractors from my initial box break, but all of the players are different 2nd time around. 

Starting with the most common of all the serial numbered Prizms, the beautiful blue mojos, serial numbered out of 399. Neither one of my hobby boxes hesitated to deliver quite a few of these refractors, but the players who I pulled were truly sensational in the 2nd box.

Rafael Devers is an excellent pull given how he's been playing so far in 2019, and Nolan Arenado is always a guy who you want to get. However, Mariano Rivera is definitely the greatest in this group. Cards like that make me appreciate the fact that a reasonable portion of the 2019 Panini Prizm checklist is dedicated to retired players.

The red mojo refractors, serial numbered out of 299, are the 2nd most common Prizm parallels within this product, and my box was generous, once again, when it came to these beautiful cards. Although the print run of these mojo cards may be high, the concept is so unique and unusual that I couldn't care less about how many are out there.

Like the blue mojos, the lineup of red mojo parallels that I pulled is very respectable. We have a player who's been swinging a hot bat in 2019 (Meadows), a reliable veteran (Freeman), and a Hall of Famer as well (Gwynn).

Plus, the combination of Corey Dickerson's gold and black uniform with the red mojo parallel is a daring yet sensational combination.

Out of all the different parallels that I landed in my original hobby box break, I most looked forward to seeing the lime green and neon orange donut circles cards in the 2nd box. Numbered out of 199 and 150 respectively, everything about these cards, from the design to the actual name, is incredibly special.

I didn't wind up with All-Stars and Hall of Famers like I did with the red and blue mojo cards, but I still ended up with 3 of each parallel. Plus, I need to acquire cards of superstars just as much as rookies in order to complete this project, so I have no problem pulling cards of players like Michael Perez or DJ Stewart. 

The donut circles parallels, regardless of the player, are exceptional. I can easily envision that one of my favorite parts of this project will be tracking down as many of these refractors as I can.

While the donut circles parallels are my favorites from the entire product, the zebra stripes Prizms will certainly go down as the most unique refractors in this entire product. I've seen these parallels in a couple of different Basketball products, and I was pleased to discover them in Panini Prizm Baseball as well.

My initial box break yielded 3 of the zebra stripes Prizms, but none of the players were of the caliber of Robinson Cano and Kirby Puckett. When you take into account how low of a print run these cards have (#/99), it's pretty incredible that I landed 5 in just 2 hobby boxes.

Don't get me wrong, I'm very pleased that I landed this card of Cano, for he's one of the greatest active hitters in Baseball in terms of career stats. However, it's almost impossible to beat the combination of Kirby Puckett, the powder blue Minnesota Twins uniform, and the zebra stripes along the sides of the card.

Not only are these parallels incredibly interesting overall, but I'm also intrigued by the number of each Prizm refractor that I pull in each box. For example, the first hobby box delivered 2 of the blue wave parallels (Matt Chapman and Framber Valdez). 2nd time around, however, I pulled 1, but it was also an MVP caliber player (Jose Altuve).

Although the blue wave Prizms don't appear very blue neither in person nor when scanned, I appreciate the fact that Panini included them in the product. As crazy as all the different parallels are, it's nice to have something a little simpler than bright donut circles or zebra stripes.

They may not be very blue, but Panini, nonetheless, did an excellent job with the wave parallels.

In the first hobby box break, the lowest numbered cards that I pulled were the "blue" wave parallels (2 base cards plus 1 autograph, numbered out of 60 copies). However, I lucked out a lot more with my 2nd hobby box break with not 1, but 2 navy blue kaleidoscope parallels, serial numbered out of only 35 copies.

Honestly, the scan doesn't do these cards enough justice. They look far more beautiful in person, and they're definitely some of the most gorgeous cards in the entire set. Plus, it doesn't hurt that I landed 2 perennial All-Star players.

Manny Machado being on the Orioles isn't a result of Panini not having enough time to show him on the Padres. Instead, Machado, like Albert Pujols, has 2 different base cards in the set; he has 1 with the San Diego Padres and another with the Baltimore Orioles.

However, the combination of the navy blue parallel with Charlie Blackmon's Colorado Rockies uniform gives his card the slight edge, though both of the Prizms are absolutely stunning.

Even taking the navy blue kaleidoscope Prizm pulls (#/35) into account, I still pulled 1 last parallel with a lower print run; a burgundy shimmer refractor of Kevin Pillar, serial numbered out of 25 copies.

It's just a personal preference, but I actually prefer the kaleidoscope Prizms to the burgundy shimmer. Nonetheless, this low-numbered parallel is undeniably a beautiful card, and one of my favorites from the entire box. 

Like the Machado and Blackmon, this is my first look at the burgundy shimmer parallels, and I must say that I'm a fan. Kevin Pillar is a respectable veteran and one of the greatest defensive players in the league. 

He wouldn't have been my first choice for such a low-numbered Prizm, but he's also far from my last choice as well.

Truth be told, I don't even feel the need to showcase the autographs; I didn't pull anything spectacular and they're not that important to me. My love for 2019 Panini Prizm is primarily due to the extensive variety of parallels, and that's what I feel obligated to showcase in this post.

A Plethora of Prizm + My New Crazy Goal

Following a successful hobby box break of the newly-released product, I decided to move forward with my plans to open a few more packs of 2019 Panini Prizm. 

The 25+ parallels, the inclusion of retired players in the base set, and the sleek set design allows for me to look past the missing logos, to a certain extent, and appreciate these fabulous cards. I can only imagine how much more popular this set would be among collectors if Panini had the MLB license.

I went the retail route for my 2nd Panini Prizm purchase when I bought a mega box at my local Target. In addition to 10 base packs with 4 cards each, each mega box delivers 2 packs of exclusive pink parallels as well as 1 autograph (on average). 

It's also worth noting that I passed up the opportunity to purchase Bowman mega boxes that same day as I saw around 15 of them, appearing to be freshly-stocked, at Target as well. However, having already pulled the 2 biggest mojo cards, I didn't foresee myself getting lucky with a valuable refractor or autograph.

Besides, out of the 50 cards in a Bowman mega box, only the 10 mojo cards have a respectable chance of being valuable. I didn't want to take my chance on a few of the 10 cards out of 50 being sellable, so I went with Prizm instead of the highly sought after Bowman mega boxes.

With 10 base packs of 4 cards each per mega box, this purchase allowed me to inch closer towards completing the 300-card set. While some base cards, thanks to the irritating tier format, are more common than others, I was still able to find a reasonable number of cards that I need from the checklist.

For those of you who are not familiar with 2019 Panini Prizm, the checklist is separated into 3 different tiers; cards 1-100 are the most common, 101-200 are a bit more uncommon, and cards 201-300 are the rarest. 

This makes the problem of the coalition within Baseball card sets even worse, for I am already pulling duplicates of low-numbered base cards while I'm not even close to acquiring all of the cards #201 and above. 

Given the fact that every card in this set has over 25 different parallels, the last thing that Panini should do is divide the checklist into tiers and make cards less common than others. As a whole, this process seems extraordinarily unnecessary.

Surprisingly, despite the seemingly endless number of parallels within this set, I still managed to pull not 1 but 2 duplicate refractors in my mega box break. Having already pulled A.J. Pollock and Nicholas Castellanos red parallels in my hobby box, I quickly listed these cards as a 2-card lot on eBay. 

Nonetheless, given that there are over 8,000 total parallels within this set (26 times 300 equates to roughly that number), I really shouldn't have ended up with 2 after breaking 1 hobby and 1 mega box.

Thankfully, the same can not be said regarding the blue parallels as I pulled 2 that I didn't pull in my initial Panini Prizm break. Both of these refractors are well-crafted, especially. as far as non-numbered parallels are concerned. 

Nonetheless, the more packs that I open, the more certain I am that the blue parallels are my favorites. There's something about the bold color of the blue refractors that pops more so than the red cards. 

Although I can get a sense of how common the cards are if I open enough packs, I do wish that Panini would include pack odds just as Topps does. That way, I could get a better idea of how common or rare some of these parallels really are.

The silver parallels, seemingly rarer than the blue and red refractors, are highly desired in Panini Prizm Basketball and Football, as far as I know. They must hold some sort of value or significance in the Baseball product as well, for each hobby box explicitly states that 3 silver parallels can be found per box on average.

Because the Prizm mega boxes are roughly 1/3 the cost of a hobby box, it stands to reason that one would find 1 silver in this retail-exclusive box. Those odds appear to be correct, for I pulled 1 silver in my break; an Ozzie Smith card, a member of the 3rd and rarest tier. 

As I mentioned earlier, each mega box delivers 2 4-card packs of exclusive pink parallels, 1 of the many refractors within this insane product. Upon seeing these parallels, both in-person and on the computer, I'm beginning to wish that the pink refractors were featured across all Prizm formats, not just mega boxes.

While colors like red and blue have become increasingly common parallel colors in Baseball card products, pink is something I haven't seen in any set beside the rack packs of Topps Chrome. 

Panini products, including Prizm, desperately need bright, bold, and colorful cards to distract collectors from the fact that they cannot use team logos, uniforms, or even team names. 

The pink-bordered cards, in my opinion, do a superior job at covering up the logoless uniforms than both the red and the blue parallels.

Similar to the pink parallels, the Carolina blue refractors are exclusive to the mega box format of the 2019 Panini Prizm set. However, unlike the pink-bordered cards, the Carolina blues don't come in a designated pack or 2. Instead, they are incorporated throughout the mega box base packs.

While I appreciate Panini's effort to include a wide variety of different parallels, I feel like they could've chosen a color besides Carolina blue given the fact that there are 2 other blue parallels within the product (blue and hyper blue prism). Instead, an orange parallel or gold mojo would've been a better choice.

Going into this box break, I didn't know what to expect as far as serial numbered parallels are concerned. I've since seen mega box breaks in which collectors have pulled 0 or 1 numbered refractor, so I'm grateful to have landed 2 in my box break.

The blue mojo Eddie Rosario is a beautiful card of an underrated player, but the high print run of these cards is beginning to make them a bit less special. My personal favorite would have to be the neon orange donut circles parallel of Travis Shaw, serial numbered out of just 150 copies.

Come to think of it, I'd have to say that the lime green and neon orange donut circles cards are my favorite parallels of the entire Panini Prizm set. The cards themselves are busy and beautiful, and the respective print runs, 199 and 150, are perfect as it allows me to cherish and appreciate these gorgeous refractors much more.

While each mega box technically "averages" 1 autograph, I've never seen or opened Panini product in which you receive less than the average number of hits. My 2019 Panini Prizm mega box was no exception, for I landed a Carolina blue autograph parallel of Ty Buttrey, a reliever for the Angels.

Although the autographs are undoubtedly beautiful, I have no intentions to collect or even keep these cards unless I land a big name (Vladdy Jr or Tatis Jr, most likely). Therefore, I quickly listed all 4 autos that I've pulled from Prizm thus far on eBay in an effort to make some money back on this set.

I did fairly well with this mega box break even though I didn't pull anything insanely special. I had a ton of fun opening the packs and familiarizing myself with the wide selection of different parallels. 

I enjoyed this box break for all the reasons that I enjoyed the hobby box; the cards are beautiful, the parallels are crazy, and it's an incredibly enjoyable set.

Thus, it is for all of those reasons that I've decided to attempt the unthinkable and nearly-impossible. I haven't enjoyed a product quite as much as 2019 Panini Prizm before in all the years that I've been collecting, so I've decided to build a "master set" of sorts for this sensational product.

While this won't include inserts or autographs, I intend to build the rainbow for every single card in the 300-card set, excluding parallels numbered to 10, 5, and 1. 

More information on this unimaginable mission can be found on the new 2019 Panini Prizm project page, located near the header of my blog.

Zebra Stripes and Donut Circles; Card Show Recap #2 Part 2

As I alluded to during my first recap post from Monday's Baseball card show, the Memorial Day visit to the Mansfield show was bizarre, even by my standards. Though it started off with some simple player collection purchases, I soon found myself going in a ton of different directions that I never would've expected.

Going into the show, one of my goals was to sample a few of the different parallels from 2019 Panini Prizm, and I accomplished that feat soon after I began browsing the floor. What I did not anticipate, however, was that I'd end up buying an entire hobby box of the 2019 Panini Prizm product.

I didn't envision purchasing more than a few singles and a hobby pack of the set, but my Dad and I were eager to open packs later in the day. Besides, it was in our price range, and we didn't want to open another box of 2019 Topps Gypsy Queen or Heritage and risk pulling numerous doubles.

Alas, the only option that was within our budget and wouldn't deliver a ton of doubles was Prizm. So, despite the fact that the product doesn't have the MLB license, we decided to look past that in favor of the eye-catching parallels.

Each hobby box promises 3 autographs and 15 parallels (on average). From the breaks that I've seen, you usually pull 2 Prizm parallels per pack, 1 of them serial numbered. I've also noticed that people usually pull 1 insert card per pack as well, so there's a lot of variety within this set besides the standard base cards.

The 2019 Panini Prizm hobby format is very similar to that of Topps Chrome jumbo, only the price isn't close to as high. There are 12 packs and 12 cards per pack, so you still end up with a reasonable number of cards when all is said and done.

The base cards, even without logos, look incredibly sleek while staying true to the Panini Prizm brand. The silver-bordered cards feature little designs that form a frame around the photo of the player, leaving a reasonable amount of space for the colors of the various parallels to pop.

Even in a convoluted product like Chronicles, Panini isn't big on over-complicating their set designs, so it stands to reason that the Prizm base cards are somewhat simple. Like any Baseball card set, Panini included quite a few interesting photos that, especially the Treinen, distract from the logoless caps and jerseys.

While I fully expected Prizm to feature retired players in the checklist, I was surprised by the players that were actually chosen. While George Brett is often a go-to choice, I find it interesting that Panini put Juan Gonzalez in the checklist as well. 

Recently-retired guys like Alex Rodriguez and Adrian Beltre are also intriguing options, for I didn't expect either of them to be featured so soon after their retirement. This choice is aided by the fact that A-Rod is shown as a member of the Mariners, not the Yankees which would've been a more traditional option.

As I previously declared, I opened 12 packs of 2019 Panini Prizm and accumulated cards from 9 different insert sets, all of which look fabulous on the signature silver Panini Prizm cardstock. Sets like Instant Impact and Star Gazing showcase beautiful and colorful set designs, even though I feel the borders for the Kris Bryant card don't do the rest of the design justice.

Illumination and Machines, another duo of colorful insert sets, also feature some of the game's brightest stars. I'm guessing that the latter is reserved for hitters only while, Illumination, although it lacks a true theme, has a stunning and vibrant background.

Other insert sets, like Lumber Inc and Numbers Game, combine bold designs with creative concepts, although this isn't the first time that we've seen a Numbers Game insert (2016 Topps A&G). 

I'm thrilled that, out of the 13 inserts I pulled (12 base cards + 1 silver Gary Sanchez Lumber Inc), I landed the 2 Red Sox cards above as well as 2 Cubs inserts (Bryant Star Gazing + Baez Fireworks).

I may not have displayed every one of the 9 insert sets that I pulled cards from, but I made certain to include my personal favorite. Out of all the different designs, I'd build the Numbers Game insert set if I had the choice.

The variety of different insert sets is sensational, and I'm thoroughly impressed by the base card design as well. With that being said, if I'm going to invest in Panini Prizm, the main thing that I'm looking for is parallels. Thankfully, I ended up with a little more than 15 Prizm parallels that each box averages.

While the box breaks that I had previously watched delivered roughly 2 parallels per box, I managed to hit a hot box in which I found 2 of the blue prism cards above in every one of the 12 packs. Thus, by the end of the break, I wound up with 24 of these cards, including the highlight of the group, Mike Trout.

Before I continue onto the rest of the parallels, I'd like the point out how gorgeous these parallels are, especially considering that they're not serial numbered. They look like enhanced versions of the hyper Prizm parallels from last year's Chronicles set, and I really dig how all these different Prizm parallels look.

If we're talking solely about the blue prisms, I already exceeded the odds by pulling 24 different parallels. However, I mentioned that this was a hot box. In addition to the 2 blue prisms per pack, I also pulled 2 other parallel cards, 2 of them serial numbered, in all 12 of the packs that I opened.

As a result, I ended up with 60 total parallels across my 12-pack hobby box break; 24 serial numbered, 24 blue prisms, and 12 other non-numbered cards (silver, red, or blue parallels).

Running at 3 per hobby box on average, the silver parallels are something that I recognize from Prizm Basketball and Baseball as the rookie silver cards are highly sought after in both of these sports. 

Andrelton Simmons and Miles Mikolas were nice enough as far as these silver parallels are concerned, but the best silver of the box, by a long shot, is the Pedro Martinez card above. I can't imagine how much improved this card would be if Martinez was shown in the powder blue Expos uniform instead.

The blue parallels may not be numbered, but the bold color truly pops more so than many of the other Prizms in this set. I landed 4 of them in my box, but the best of these parallels were, yet again, a retired player. The combination of the dark blue parallel with Kirby Puckett's powder blue jersey is quite sensational.

The red parallels, on the other hand, don't stand out nearly as much as the bold blue Prizms, but I, nevertheless, enjoy what they contribute to this product. In a set that features extremely complicated Prizm parallels, it's nice to have a simple alternative like the red parallels of which I pulled 5 in my box break.

Taking the blue prism parallels into account, I pulled 3 non-numbered Prizms in every single pack. Conversely, I found 2 serial numbered refractors in every pack, and there were a ton of different options within that category.

Out of all the serial numbered Prizms in this year's product, the blue mojos have the highest print run at 399 copies. Upon looking at these cards, you'd think that they'd be numbered out of 99 or 150 copies, but 399 seems absurdly high.

On the bright side, this allows me to acquire these stunning cards more easily and for a lower price. Dating back to last year's Chronicles set, I've been fond of these mojo refractors, and these light blue cards and their unique color are no exception. 

Before I opened this hobby box, I sampled a few different parallels from this complex product, one of them being the red mojo cards, numbered out of 299 copies. Again, I feel as if the print run is a little high for such an intricate Prizm card, but I'm also not complaining. I landed around 7 of these beautiful cards, including stars like Miguel Andujar and Corey Kluber.

In Panini Prizm Basketball and Baseball, these cards are referred to as speckle parallels, as far as I know, yet the Baseball product decided not to use that name. Rather, the Prizms above are referred to as lime green and orange donut circles respectively. Yes, you heard that right; donut circles.

The greens (#/199) and the oranges (#/150) were surprisingly prevalent across the box despite their shorter print run. I showcased the other orange donut circles parallels, Roberto Alomar, at the top of this post while I pulled 2 additional neon green parallels.

I was also intrigued by Panini's decision to feature Albert Pujols as a member of the St. Louis Cardinals on this card, especially since he has another card in the checklist that shows him as a Los Angeles Angel.

Like the donut circles parallels, the Zebra stripes Prizms, another bizarre choice for a parallel by Panini, appeared numerous times (3) over the course of my box break. 

Numbered out of just 99 copies, the Zebra stripe refractors are one of the most creative concepts that I've seen on Baseball cards in an incredibly long time. The biggest name that I landed was Rockies ace Kyle Freeland while the other 2 parallels that I pulled feature 2019 rookies.

Next up, the equivalent of a Topps Chrome x-fractor, the power plaid Prizms, numbered out of just 75  copies. Although I pulled just one of these brilliant cards in my break, I truly cannot complain about the players that I landed.

Rafael Devers has been swinging one of the hottest bats in Baseball over the month of May, for he's hitting around .330 as I speak and seems to be hitting dingers every other day. The refractor may not as colorful as the donut circles or as creative as the Zebra stripes, but, as far as the player is concerned, this was my greatest pull of the box.

Last but certainly not least, the cards with the lowest print run of the parallels that I pulled from this unbelievable hot box; the shimmer parallels, serial numbered out of just 60 copies. In addition to the Matt Chapman card that you see above, I also pulled a Framber Valdez shimmer parallel, bringing my grand total of Prizm parallels to a whopping 60 different cards.

Yes, I hit my 3 guaranteed (on average) autographs as well, but there wasn't anything too notable. The best of the group was a Dakota Hudson shimmer auto out of 60 copies, my 25th numbered card of the box. Thankfully, all 3 autos were rookie parallels, but only the Hudson was numbered.

However, I decided to leave them out of this post for the simple reason that they're not as significant as the rest of the cards, particularly the Prizms. Clearly, this set is more about the different parallels that you can pull and less about the autographs, especially since the rookie class isn't too strong.

I'm still unsure as to what I'm going to do with the 60 parallels that I pulled, but I'd love to hold onto them. These cards are simply so beautiful and unique that it would be challenging for me to part with them.