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.

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.