4-Color Magic

It's become somewhat of a tradition here on Cardboard Greats. A quick trip to my LCS for supplies leads me to search through the various bins set up around the shop and before I even know it, I have new cards to go with the top-loaders that I bought. Then, the cycle repeats itself all over again a few weeks later.

If nothing else, the unplanned purchases provide content for the blog, and it's not like I'm choosing cards just for the heck of it. I think very closely about what I believe is reasonable when buying singles at my LCS, and I always try to walk away without breaking the bank.

Today, for instance, I needed some 130-pt and 180-pt top-loaders to store my abundance of new Red Sox autographs. I knew full well that this store has the best prices for supplies aside from the weekly card show, so I picked up what I needed and, while I was there, searched through the 50-cent box.

The card at the top of this post will let you know what direction I went in from there. Indeed, there was a handful of 2019 Panini Prizm parallels in that box, a no-brainer for me to scoop up to make progress with this mission of mine.

I've had much more luck with Prizm parallels over the past few weeks than I had during the 2 months prior. I wasn't able to find any while walking the floor of The National, but a casual trip to the card show as well as my LCS landed me some singles for the project.

The red and blue parallels are common to both retail and hobby boxes, so I've accumulated more of these 2 refractors than most others in the set. Still, the checklist consists of 300 cards, so completing any complete set rainbow will prove challenging, nevermind 27 of them.

Still, I envision having this project for many, many years as something that I can always add to or work on. It'll take me as far as it takes me, and I know I'm going to have fun doing it.

Plus, the missing logos and team names make the cards a bit more affordable, hence why each card in this post was found in the 50-cent bin.

Today was actually a pretty big day for the 2019 Panini Prizm project in that I picked up my very first purple parallels, cards that I believe to be blaster box exclusives.

It seems that each medium of Prizm retail has its own exclusive parallel, including different colors depending on what store you buy it from. For example, Target's mega box exclusive is pink, but I've seen other stores with cosmic haze Prizms instead.

I don't know if this will positively or negatively affect the price point of the cards, but it is going to make tracking them down a bit more challenging, hence why I hadn't come across a purple parallel until today.

The parallels themselves, nonetheless, are stunning, some of my favorites from the set thus far. Although they aren't serial numbered, you rarely see this shade of purple make it onto a sports card (Topps' shade of purple is much darker; this is more of a magenta).

The unconventional parallels, from this distinct shade of purple to the zebra stripe and snakeskin cards, are what inspired me to begin this project in the first place.

Panini makes up for not having the MLB license through their creative cards, and I hope that, even if they come to an agreement with MLB, they never lose this uniqueness.

The last of the 4 Prizm parallels that I found today is pink from the previously mentioned Target mega boxes. Unless I'm forgetting something, I only had the 8 from the box that I opened going into today, so any addition to that list would surely help.

The various tiers in this set (I-III) still feel extremely unnecessary. Though it doesn't affect the print-run of each card, it makes some base cards more expensive than others, and it could be impacting the price of parallels for all I know.

Still, I don't exactly know where this Panini Prizm project is going to take me or how close I'm going to get to complete the whole thing. It's projects like this, however, that make Baseball card collecting such an enjoyable thing for me.

I truly love finding new parallels from this set and watching them accumulate as I sort the piles by player. Granted, I may never complete all 300 of the rainbows (I'm excluding cards with print runs <25), but I'm going to do everything I can to make it happen.

Treasures From the Storage Bins

I fully recognize how unbelievably fortunate I am to have 4 sports card shops within proximity of my house.

Many collectors, from what I've read on other blogs/forums, don't have a card shop within an hour of where they live, yet here I am, sitting with 4.

There's my go-to hobby shop, a 10-minute drive from me, where I go for all my supplies and an occasional box. There's another store near Fenway Park in Boston that sells a wide range of hobby boxes dating back to the late 2000s, and there are 2 stores about 20 minutes west of where I live.

I've posted about each of these LCS' numerous times since I started blogging back in August of 2017, but there's one shop that I've only talked about once. That's because, before Saturday, I had only visited the store 1 time when I purchased a jumbo box of 2018 Topps Chrome for my birthday last year.

From the moment I walked into Gilbert's Sports Nostalgia, both 2 days ago and a year back, I was slightly overwhelmed. More so, however, I was impressed, amazed at the sheer variety of boxes, packs, individual cards, memorabilia, and craziness that this store entailed.

From the wall of individual 2010s packs to the entire room dedicated to Boston sports cards and memorabilia, one could easily spend hours at this store, but the hours simply haven't allowed for me to return in quite a while.

In need of some guidance, I spoke with the owner who couldn't have been more friendly and helpful. He directed me to a couple of plastic storage bins that housed all sorts of consigned memorabilia and cards.

The variety was unlike anything I've seen before with cards ranging from .50 cents in price all the way up to hundreds of dollars.

I figured the best and easiest place to start was to grab some inexpensive cards for my player collections and build off from that. Technically speaking, nothing in the boxes was priced, but the owner said he'd be very reasonable and give out a discount if I made a reasonable purchase.

At the end of things, for instance, these 2 Sammy Sosa cards became throw-ins along with the '81 Fleer Robin Yount, and a couple of other cards that you'd typically find in a quarter box.

In addition to the Yount and Sosa cards, this duo of Yankees cards was included with my purchase with no added cost. Until I stumbled upon this card, I had no idea that Joe DiMaggio was a coach for the Oakland Athletics.

Unbeknownst to me, he coached the newly-relocated team from 1968-1970, just before the height of the club's success. No matter how hard I try, I can't seem to picture Joltin' Joe in anything but Yankee pinstripes.

The latter of the 2 Yankees is a rather elegant 2003 Fleer Showcase card of Yogi Berra. I've always loved the look of the Showcase cards, particularly this one with the combination of a silver border and Yankee pinstripes.

Now, I'll start moving into more of the heavy hitters, starting with these 2 Roberto Clemente reprints from a set that I'm not familiar with whatsoever. Nonetheless, I rarely come across affordable cards of the 12-time All-Star, so it was an easy choice for me to pick up these reprints from '61 and '71 Topps.

I collect a reasonable number of players who, despite my semi-frequent searches, don't turn up in the bins at card shows/shops as much as other guys that I collect. George Foster is a prime example of one of those players.

There are 24 cards in my Foster player collection, and I can't even recall when the last addition was made. The scarcity of his cards only makes it more rewarding when I come across a new one, like this '74 Topps Flagship, for just $1.

The majority of this purchase was centered around 3 total cards, the first of which is Eddie Murray's iconic 1978 Topps All-Star rookie card which I've seen reprinted many a time.

Throughout the years that I've been collecting his cards, I've always considered Murray one of my favorite players to collect. The decades in which he played and the teams whose jerseys he wore allowed for oddballs, reprints, and fantastic cards galore.

Though it also has the All-Star rookie symbol, this '78 Topps card counts for Murray's rookie card as well. He also has a '78 Kellogg's rookie year card which I'd love to, someday, get my hands on.

Out of all the trips to card shows, shops, and online purchases over the years, I never had an original 1952 Topps card in my collection. All of that, thankfully, changed on Saturday, thanks to these loaded storage bins at this crazy card shop.

Better yet, my first card from the initial Topps Flagship set is a Chicago Cub, Paul Minner, graded by PSA at a 3. Considering how old this card is, I'm quite content with the grade it received, not to mention it allows the slightly-oversized card to be preserved.

Now, if I can find a way to check an original '53 Topps card off my list, I'll have a card from every single Flagship set.

Despite all the fabulous finds that I came across last Saturday, I'll stand by that this 1969 Topps card of Rod Carew was the greatest pickup of the group. Seriously, you never see such crisp corners on a piece of cardboard that's 50 years old.

The centering, clearly, is a major issue with this card, but everything else looks pristine. Carew has just 3 cards from the 1960s ('67-'69), the latter of the group being the most reasonably priced. The condition is so superb that, if I submit cards to Beckett for grading in the future, I'll have to consider this card for the group.

At the end of my visit when I was checking out and getting ready to go, the owner offered my Dad and I a $10 credit for our next visit and promised to show us the basement where he said there's so much stuff that "you can barely move down there."

I have a feeling this will be continued sometime soon.

I Guess I Didn't Miss Out

Since I started blogging back in August of 2017, I've celebrated my blog anniversary right around National Baseball Card Day. Both my first ever post as well as my 1-year post featured packs from this promotional event, so it's always been a major part of the blog.

I wasn't able to, however, continue this tradition, or so I thought, in 2019. The only participating Baseball card shop near my house was closed for vacation on August 10th, and I didn't trust that my local Target would stock the NBCD cards, to begin with.

The realization that I wouldn't participate in 2019 National Baseball Card Day was disappointing, but I moved on, nonetheless. With stacks of cards that needed to be put away, I made a couple of trips to my LCS last week once the owners returned from vacation.

One of those visits happened to be last Saturday, the 17th when I stopped by for a box of Ultra Pro sheets. Unbeknownst to me, card shops were still giving away free packs on the 17th for the 2nd installment of National Baseball Card Day.

While I knew about the Vladimir Guerrero Jr card which could only be acquired by spending $10 or more on Topps products on that particular date, I didn't realize that the exclusive packs would also be available.

After some deliberation, I bought 2 packs of Heritage High Number to get the Vlad Jr card. This forced me to break my "I'm not buying cards for at least a month because of The National" rule, and I did horribly with the Heritage High # packs.

But it's okay because I got my hands on an exclusive Vlad Jr rookie card even though I wish I'd just handed the owner $10 for the card and not suffered through 2 awful packs of Heritage.

Anyways, I walked out of my LCS with 2 NBCD packs, 2 Heritage High # packs, the Vlad Jr card, and a box of Ultra Pro sheets. After all, you can't really beat free cards.

To keep this post short, I'll recap the first pack today while saving the 2nd one for tomorrow.

#22 Josh Bell

I already like the 2019 card design more than the past 2 years during which Topps has done this promotion. The 2017 cards were over-complicated and featured silver foil names, something I cannot stand as it's near impossible to read. The 2018 design was okay, but it was far too simple and didn't do much to stand out.

This time around, the cards are still on the simple side, but this design is far more effective than years past. The Topps NBCD logo is a new addition, and the cards are just modern enough. 

For whatever reason, the full-bleed photos from 2018 didn't work for this promotion, so I'm glad Topps added the 2 logos in the top left and bottom right corners.

#16 Christian Yelich

During each of the 3 years that Topps has done this promotion, the checklist (excluding cards like Vlad Jr's) has consisted of 30 cards, one from each MLB team. For example, the Brewers, have their superstar player, Christian Yelich, featured while other clubs, like the Marlins, showcase Jose Alfaro. 

Because each club has only 1 spot in the checklist, I'd be interested to see if and how their 1 "star player" has changed over the years. Some guys have probably maintained their spot for years while others, like Ronald Acuna Jr, are featured for the first time in 2019.

#14 Clayton Kershaw

The 2019 NBCD set diverges from the past releases in that the cards feature full stats on the back. In the past, the card backs included a quick blurb about the player, but I'm always one for complete-stat card backs, and it's nice to see them, even on promo cards.

I couldn't think of a better example for the card backs than Clayton Kershaw. It's pretty unbelievable that throughout of his 11-year career, he's led the NL in ERA 5 times. 

Having complete stats is definitely a plus, but other than that, the card backs are pretty standard.

#1 Mike Trout

In the past, Trout's card has only been available with a qualifying purchase, so I was stoked to find his card in one of my 2 base packs. I'll take absolutely any card I can get of the 8-time All-Star, from a low-end base card to a high-end autograph.

Back to this specific card, I'm not sure what's going on with Trout's left hand. There seems to be some kind of cast or something on it, but I can't pinpoint what it is.

#20 Matt Chapman

After taking this trip to my LCS, I relaxed and watched the Astros battle the Athletics last Saturday afternoon before the Red Sox game at 7:00.

Through this game, I learned a lot about 2 talented teams, one of which seems destined to win the AL West while the other has a solid shot of winning a Wild Card spot.

I don't get the chance to watch a lot of west coast Baseball, so it was interesting to see how the Astros and A's players are doing, particularly Matt Chapman who's shaping up to be one of the most well-rounded players in all of baseball.

Be Back Soon

Since I started blogging in August of 2017, I haven't taken a break longer than 2 days from posting. For whatever reason, I've always felt the need to post as often as possible, usually resulting in 24 or 25 posts each and every month.

Now, for the first time, I'll be taking more of an extended break from the blog. Not because I've run out of ideas or desperately need a break from posting almost daily, but because I'm going on vacation for the next 13 days. 

I haven't been on a vacation since my trip to The National last year, and I still managed to post during some of my days in Cleveland. However, throughout my time in Washington DC and North Carolina, I'm going to be too busy to write high-quality posts. 

I value quality over quantity, and I feel like there have been some instances on the blog in which that notion hasn't held true. Thus, I have no problem taking this break from blogging, though I foresee myself returning to my normal posting schedule on July 19th or 20th.

As a result, this will be my final post for the next 2 weeks or so, and it's a quick recap of a trip that I took to my LCS earlier in the week. It's become a regular occurrence for me to, in addition to necessary supplies, pick up some dime and 50 cent cards while browsing through the card shop.

While I'm away, Panini Donruss Optic and, more notably, Topps Allen & Ginter are going to be released. While I've never opened a pack of Optic in my life, A&G is an essential release for me, year in and year out.

However, this shouldn't be too much of a concern, for I can pick up what I want from both of these sets when I arrive in Chicago for The National at the end of this month.

Since my Dad and I visited the dime boxes at our LCS a couple weeks beforehand, the selection of available cards didn't change all that drastically. However, we still found a reasonable number of cards; some were for our player collections while others were not.

Take the 4 cards above, for example. Only 1 of them (the Jimmy Dean George Brett) will immediately be going to a player collection. Truth be told, I really should start collecting Francisco Lindor along with many other players. 

I should remind myself to add some new PCs to my collection when I return home. Guys like Lindor, Freddie Freeman, Ronald Acuna Jr, and Gleyber Torres should be added to my list of 250 PCs. 

Following Ichiro's retirement after the 2-game series between the Mariners and Athletics in Japan, the 45-year old retired. This made Albert Pujols the largest of my active player collections at 161 total cards, a number that'll be boosted thanks to these 2 Stadium Club base cards from 2015 and 2016 respectively. 

I've ranted about Stadium Club quite a bit in the last week, but I just love the wide range of various cards throughout the set and even across each release. Although these 2 cards are from the same product and are just 1 year apart, they're incredibly different. That's not something that you can find in every Baseball card set.

Speaking of Topps Stadium Club, I picked up a couple of cards from the 2017 set that, come to think of it, I might already have in the Rod Carew and Paul Goldschmidt PCs. 

However, I wasn't as certain when shuffling through the dime bins, and if there's any set that I'll accept doubles from more than others, it's Stadium Club.

I'm not sure who brought that painting of Paul Goldschmidt to the Arizona Diamondbacks game, but I truly hope that he signed it. That would be a one of a kind collectible. As for Rod Carew's card, he's also signing autographs for fans before the game, a similarity between the 2 cards that I didn't notice beforehand.

The tragic death of Los Angeles Angels pitcher Tyler Skaggs earlier in the week brought back painful memories of the Baseball players that we've lost over the last few years. Jose Fernandez, Yordano Ventura, Jose Castillo, Luis Valbuena, and Roy Halladay have all passed away since September of 2016.

I remember hearing the news of all of these player's devastating deaths, and it's incredibly unfortunate that history has repeated itself numerous times over the last few years. I picked up this Halladay card the day after Skaggs' passing, and it brought all of those memories back.

RIP Tyler Skaggs.

I don't want to end this post on a depressing note, but I felt compelled to address what happened earlier this week. Moving on, we have a couple of Bowman's Best cards for 2 of the brightest stars in the National League. 

The card of Dodgers shortstop Corey Seager, who I wrote a top 5 cards post for on Thursday, is an insert from the 2016 Bowman's Best set, making it a card from the rookie season of the 25-year old. 

Although it's challenging to tell, the Paul Goldschmidt card is a refractor from the 2018 Bowman's Best set, back when he was still with the Arizona Diamondbacks. More so than most of the extensions signed over the offseason, Goldschmidt's surprised me, for he had never played a game for St. Louis at the time of the contract.

With that being said, he's been one of the most consistent players in Baseball over the last 5 years, so I have reason to suspect that the signing will work out for both sides.

Finally, we have a "felt" (I don't know what they're really called) card of J.D. Martinez from 2019 Topps Heritage, another player who I have no excuse not to collect cards of. 

Seriously, he was one of the best players on the World Champion Boston Red Sox team, and he's been an All-Star each of his first 2 seasons in Boston.

On that note, I have a few final things to do before I leave for DC tomorrow morning and take my first ever extended break from the blog. 

I hope you all have a great 2 weeks, and I look forward to getting back into the swing of things later this month.

Dependability

As usual, my LCS is far more dependable than Target as it pertains to new releases. In this case, that release was 2019 Topps Stadium Club, a set that I try to open a hobby box of each and every year.

As I explained in yesterday's post, the card aisle at the Target near my house has been reduced to a shadow of its former self. This means that I'll be doing fewer retail box breaks and more hobby openings in the future, for I don't have a dependable Target or Walmart near me.

Though I didn't open them in order, my Dad and I have ripped a box of each of the last 3 Topps Stadium Club sets, dating back to 2016. We haven't hit any major autographs or numbered cards, but we've always had a blast with this set and the beautiful photography within it.

This tradition, combined with the newly-undependable Target card aisle, prompted us to continue this custom and purchase a hobby box of 2019 Topps Stadium Club earlier today. 

The promise of 2 on-card autographs, 1 chrome card, and an over-sized box topper was appealing, but we all know the real reason why anyone buys Stadium Club. The photographs are unmatched by any other sports card release.

Not to mention that all of this year's subjects, even guys like Honus Wagner, are showcased in color. There may be black and white parallels, but you won't find those kinds of pictures in the base set any longer.

At this point, we're about 1/3 of the way through the hobby box, so I won't have a recap post until tomorrow or Monday. Instead, I have 1 pack from the box to open for the blog today, allowing me to share my thoughts on this brand new release.

Each pack contains 8 cards, including 1 insert or parallel, and there are 16 packs in a hobby box. This is one of the most sought after releases year after year, so I'm ecstatic to see what the cards look like in person.

#54 Hank Aaron

Hank Aaron's one of my top 2 favorites players in Baseball history (I consistently go back and forth between him and David Ortiz), so I'd say that this pack is off to a fantastic start. 

Aaron's been included in every Stadium Club set besides 2015 since the product's revival 5 years ago. Even though there are no more black and white base cards, I don't think I'll mind if most of the retired players' cards look like this.

I can't seem to recognize the ballpark in the background no matter how hard I try. I initially thought it was the Polo Grounds, but upon closer inspection, I don't believe that's the case.

Nonetheless, we're starting off this pack and, in fact, the entire box, with one of the best possible base cards.

#7 David Fletcher

One of my favorite things about Stadium Club, year after year, is how Topps can take the same rookies that are featured in a dozen other products and come up with some brilliant cards in this photo-centric release. 

I've already pulled a few different David Fletcher rookies this year, and I barely even know who he is. However, his Stadium Club base card, showing the Angels rookie preparing to bunt, differs completely from the rookie cards of almost any other Topps set.

I'm still not that familiar with the 25-year old rookie, but Stadium Club, if nothing else, has given me a better idea about who he is with just 1 card. That's pretty impressive, to say the least.

#239 Luis Urias

On the other hand, I'm slightly more familiar with Padres rookie Luis Urias, for he was a well-respected prospect for a number of years before being called up by San Diego in 2019.

I've pulled his Bowman prospect cards and his Topps Flagship rookie, and while his Stadium Club rookie may not be my favorite, I appreciate Topps for using an angle rarely showcased on Baseball cards as well as a throwback uniform.

Not every card can be a winner, and Urias' is by no means a bad card. It's just challenging to stand out within a set as diverse and stunning as Stadium Club.

#219 Ryan Zimmerman

I've never been overly fond of the Stadium Club card backs, but I think that's going to change in 2019. In past releases, like 2018, the card backs differed depending on the player and his team colors, but this year, each card back is the same apart from the information about the actual player.

They all feature the same brown ballpark background with glimpses of light around the basic information and player statistics. The player's name uses the same text as it does on the front of the card, and, as a whole, the backs stay true to what we've seen from Stadium Club since 2014.

Although I believe that the "Topps Stadium Club" text at the top of this post is unnecessary, I don't have many problems with this year's card backs. There definitely a step up from years past.

#PZ-4 Aaron Judge Power Zone

For starters, I'm thrilled that Topps went with numbers for their Stadium Club inserts whereas they typically use the first letter of the player's first and last name to distinguish the cards (PZ-AJ, for example).

Second, my first impression of the Stadium Club inserts this year is that they're an improvement from 2018 and beforehand, though that's not saying much. I've never been a fan of the redundant concepts and unoriginal designs, but I love how these Power Zone cards look in 2019.

I've seen autographed versions of these inserts pulled though the odds of landing one are extremely low. The blank space on the lefthand side of the card, nevertheless, is perfect for some ink.

#82 Dansby Swanson

I can't tell if something really positive or negative happened right before the photographer captured this shot of Braves shortstop Dansby Swanson. He could've just dove into home plate and gotten dirt all over his jersey, or he could've been caught stealing.

Regardless, there are a ton of dirt stains all throughout Topps Stadium Club, so I'm not surprised that I stumbled upon some on the 6th card of the first pack. Grass stains, on the other hand, don't show up that much, both on the actual uniforms and in the Stadium Club base set.

#170 Jose Altuve

This Altuve base card becomes the 4th card of a player that I collect out of 7 cards in the pack thus far, the others being Aaron, Zimmerman, and Judge. Even with all the crazy images across this 301-card set (Vlad Jr is an SP), it's nice to have something simple every once in a while.

Altuve's card fits perfectly in a set like Stadium Club, for there's room for any type of picture, simple or complex, in this set. There's something that I love and appreciate about this card, though I can't quite describe it. 

#238 Steven Duggar

Every card in this pack besides Dansby Swanson features either a rookie or a player that I collect, and I believe that perfectly encapsulates what modern Baseball card collecting looks like. 

The 3rd and final rookie, as well as the last card in the pack, is of Giants outfielder Steven Duggar, another rookie who I'm slightly familiar with thanks to previous 2019 releases like Bowman and Flagship.

Here, we see another dugout shot, this time a little more up-close as Duggar is adjusting the glove before taking the field. It's another simple shot, by Stadium Club's standards, but I appreciate the minor details such as the sunglasses on his cap.

The first pack of 2019 Topps Stadium Club was pretty much what I was expecting, and I mean that as a compliment. Stadium Club consistently features top tier photography, so I had an idea as to what I could expect.

1 pack down, 15 to go. I'm ecstatic to see the caliber of photography across the rest of the box.

A Small Sampling

When I took a quick trip to my LCS yesterday, I wasn't just looking for new cards to add to my player collections. In fact, my primary goal was to acquire a small sampling of the newly-released 2019 Bowman product.

Not only did I choose some select cards for my player collections, but I grabbed 2 hobby packs of Bowman while I was there. Considering the fact that 3 packs of this set would've equaled what I spent on PC cards, I was hoping that I'd get somewhat lucky with my pulls.

Before I go any further, no, I didn't pull any 1st Bowman cards of Rays prospect Wander Franco nor did I land the 1 guaranteed autograph of the entire box. Moreover, I didn't even end up with a single serial numbered card. 

I wasn't thrilled at this outcome, but Bowman is one of the most unpredictable releases year after year. That's why I haven't bought as much as a blaster box of this product before in my life. It's hard for me to justify spending money on cards when 2/3 of the guys in the product might be decent 4 years from now.

Regardless, I watched numerous breaks of 2019 Bowman on YouTube and was intrigued by the set. I don't feel like I went overboard by purchasing only 2 hobby packs. I merely wanted to test my luck with this release like I do for most Baseball card product throughout the year.

In a sense, the 2019 Bowman base design is reminiscent of the 2019 Topps Flagship set in terms of how half the card includes a border while the other side does not. Like past releases, this is done to differentiate the veterans and rookies from the prospects. 

All current MLB rookies and veterans' cards feature a border on the right side of the card just like Miguel Cabrera's card above. On the other hand, all of the prospects' cards include that same border, but on the left side of their respective cards instead of the right. 

Also, the prospect cards have the player's name slanted in the bottom right-hand corner while the veterans have their names on the left side. The cards are somewhat symmetrical apart from the different positioning of the player's nameplate. 

Truth be told, I didn't have high expectations for the Bowman base set design, for it hasn't been all that exciting over the last few years. We've grown to expect a modern design with minimal to no borders, but that's about it.

After all, when you have a set like Bowman where hobby box prices rise to exorbitant prices every single year, there's no real need for an extremely creative or outside the box set design. 

Some of the names, like Nick Madrigal, are guys that I recognize from 2018 Bowman's Best or breaks of Bowman Chrome/Draft. However, a decent portion of the prospect checklist features lesser known players or 1st Bowman prospects.

Out of the 20 cards that I pulled from these 2 packs, I ended up with a single 1st Bowman prospect card, a Rays catcher named Ronaldo Hernandez. Other than Wander Franco, I don't recognize a single one of the 1st Bowman prospects in the checklist.

Then again, this guy could become a superstar in a few seasons, or he may never make it big. It's all part of the well-known risk associated with purchasing packs of Bowman. 

After all, I had no clue back in 2017, when I opened a Bowman mega box, who Ronald Acuña Jr was. Now, thanks to that $15 purchase, I have his 1st Bowman paper and chrome card.

Whether you're a rookie card fanatic or not, we can all agree that the 2017 and 2018 rookie classes were loaded with promising future stars. Alas, all good things must come to an end, for the 2019 rookie class is shaping up to be rather lackluster.

I'm not sure quite yet if this means that Topps will include fewer rookie cards in their products. All I know is that I ended up with 1 rookie card in my 2 pack break of 2019 Bowman, a catcher for the Giants named Aramis Garcia.

Falling at 2 cards per pack, the Bowman chrome cards typically hold more value than the paper cards, especially when they feature a top tier prospect or a 1st Bowman player. That's why there's an entire product released towards the end of the summer called Bowman Chrome where collectors can get even more of these shiny cards.

Although my knowledge of prospects is somewhat limited, I recognized a couple of players whose chrome cards I pulled from my 2 Bowman packs. Taylor Trammell is a top prospect for the Cincinnati Reds, and I recall pulling a serial numbered insert of his from 2017 Bowman's Best.

Estevan Florial, another highly-regarded prospect, was one of the most sought after prospects in 2018 Bowman Chrome, for that product featured his 1st Bowman Chrome card. According to MLB.com, Florial is a top 60 prospect, meaning that this card has the potential to be somewhat valuable.

Although it's not his 1st Bowman card, I'd go as far as to say that this chrome card is my 2nd favorite pull from the 2 packs. In a way, it's helping me understand why people shell out so much money for boxes of Bowman year after year.

The pack odds mentioned that the Talent Pipeline inserts run at 1:12 packs, meaning you only get 2 of these cards per ~$130 hobby box. Although the Chicago Cubs may not have the greatest farm system, I've always been fond of the Talent Pipeline cards.

I'm not sure about this year's insert, but in 2018, the Red Sox's Talent Pipeline card featured Michael Chavis who was finally called up to the majors today. With Nunez, Holt, and Pedroia all injured at the exact same time, he and Tzu-Wei Lin will have to hold things down at 2nd base.

A reoccurring insert set in every single Bowman set, the top 100 prospect cards are slightly more common than the Talent Pipeline cards (1:4 packs) and feature the top prospects in all of Baseball. Unlike a lot of the base prospect cards, I recognize a lot of the players on this list, including Bryan Hayes.

Last year's insert set featured eventual rookie phenoms like Ronald Acuña Jr, Gleyber Torres, and even Shohei Ohtani if I remember correctly. In 2019, future stars like Vladimir Guerrero Jr and Fernando Tatis Jr are included. Only time will tell if they live up to their hype.

As I mentioned earlier, I didn't end up with any top tier prospects or numbered cards during this break, but, if nothing else, opening a couple packs of Bowman enlightened me as to why this product is so highly desired. 

With that being said, it would take a lot for me to justify spending $130 for a hobby box of this product, especially with only 1 guaranteed auto. I'll just as well stick to my veteran base and occasional rookies.

Passing Time At the Card Shop

Today's been a pretty gloomy New England day overall even though it hasn't rained so far at the time in which I'm writing this post. Still, clouds have been in the sky since I woke up this morning, and I don't think I'll be seeing the sun whatsoever until at least tomorrow.

In an effort to pass some time and open a couple packs of the recently-released 2019 Bowman Baseball cards, I took a quick trip to my LCS earlier today. Though I was only inside the card shop for around 20 minutes, it was a nice departure from the poor weather.

The new cards that I purchased will give me something to do tomorrow when I'll add them to my online inventories and put them in their respective collections. 

I've also started a rookie and prospect binder, for, after all these years, Topps' love for rookie cards has led me to change the way that I store a player's first-year card.

Maybe it's because I've put away a ton of dime cards over the last few days, but I wasn't feeling super inspired to search through the dime boxes. Instead, I visited the scattered 50 cents per card and price as marked boxes throughout the store.

The main difference between the dime and 50 cent boxes at my LCS is the products that are featured. Rightfully so, when you pay more per card than you do when searching through the dime bins, you'll come across more high-end products like Topps Finest and Bowman's Best.

The Altuve in the top left corner is a refractor from 2017 while the card in the bottom right corner is an insert from 2018 Topps Finest. The other 2 are replicas of the 1994-95 Finest Basketball cards, and the Ichiro insert is the only card on this page that cost me more than 50 cents ($1).

Albeit, I could've bought 25 dime cards for the same price as these 4 high-end inserts, but there comes a time when I have to choose quality over quantity. After all, it's not like I don't already have enough Ichiro or Buster Posey cards.

As I alluded to earlier, I've commenced the process of transferring my rookie and prospect cards into their own binder in order to keep these possibly valuable cards in prime condition. The only exceptions will be players I collect, but all other rookie and prospect cards, especially from the last couple of years, will be stored in this binder.

Topps has been hyping up the rookie card more so than ever before over the last few seasons, and 1st Bowman cards are not too far behind them. I figured it's time that I store these cards safely in sheets just in case one of these players ends up becoming the next Mike Trout.

That's why I sprung for an Eloy Jimenez chrome prospect card ($1) and a Victor Robles rookie from Series 1 (50 cents) at my LCS today. If they're available for a fair price, there's no harm in adding rookie or prospect cards to your collection, especially if the players have the potential to be superstars.

I may have only opened 1 "silver pack" of Topps cards in my entire life, but that hasn't stopped me from finding other means of adding these gorgeous cards to my collection. The dime bins at the Baseball card show, in particular, have been kind to me as have the various boxes of cards at my LCS.

There were around 6 or 7 cards from the 2017 silver pack promotion of players that I collect, forcing me to narrow down my choices to only 2 or 3 total cards. After much consideration, I decided to boost my gold tier player collections of guys who are still playing; Anthony Rizzo being one and Miguel Cabrera, who's turning 36 today, being another.

The final player that I chose was Joey Votto whose player collection is the 2nd largest out of any current MLB player now that Ichiro is retired. With 134 total cards in my Votto PC, the 2010 NL MVP award winner trails only Albert Pujols for most cards by a current player out of all the guys that I collect.

Moreover, Votto "accomplished" something last night that he hadn't done in any of his 6,829 career plate appearances; he popped out to the 1st baseman. That's right, after spending 11 full seasons in the majors, Votto fouled out to the Dodgers' 1st baseman Cody Bellinger for the first time in his career.

I can't believe how underrated of a player Joey Votto is. He's an established superstar with a career .310 average and likely a future Hall of Famer. As much as I'd like to see him win a ring, Votto's spend his whole career with the Cincinnati Reds, and I believe he wants to play there until he retires.

There was a time when both Hanley Ramirez and Joe Mauer were 2 of the brightest stars in all of Baseball. They made perennial trips to the All-Star game, won awards, and became the faces of their respective teams by breaking franchise records that they still hold to this day.

Although Mauer has since retired and Ramirez has jumped around with numerous teams, including his most recent stint with the Indians, I don't see a reason to ever stop collecting cards of these 2 former superstars. 

Hanley's one of my gold tier player collections with well over 100 total cards. On the other hand, Mauer is comfortably in the silver tier range with roughly 75 cards in his respective PC.

Aside from the outstanding product that was 2018 Panini Chronicles, Donruss Optic was the best effort made by Panini in 2018. When you consider the fact that they still have no logos to work with, I personally think that they did an excellent job, especially with all the different colored parallels.

For 50 cents apiece, I added a serial numbered card to 2 veteran player collections. Andrew McCutchen's aqua parallel of his DK card with the Giants is numbered out of 299 copies. On the other hand, the red parallel of Yadier Molina matches the red of his catcher's equipment and is numbered out of 199 copies.

Similar to Votto, Cutch and Yadi are established veterans who could eventually end up in the Baseball Hall of Fame. I know that Molina has a high chance because he's a catcher and there aren't many stars at that position anymore. As for McCutchen, he is an MVP award winner, so we'll just have to wait and see.

Last up is the only card that I paid more than $1 for today; a silver framed parallel of Clayton Kershaw from 2018 Panini Diamond Kings that's serial numbered out of just 99 copies. 

Panini's serial numbered cards always seem to be a very fair price, whether they're from Optic, Diamond Kings, Chronicles, or regular Donruss. I can usually expect to find numbered Panini cards for short money at the Baseball card show or the LCS. 

In this case, I coughed up $2 for this Kershaw, a price I would gladly pay again. After all, he's only the greatest pitcher of this generation.