Blaster Madness 5: 2019 Panini Stars and Stripes (This Was a Good One)

I've got a number of scans from other blasters that I had planned on blogging about, but the contents of a blaster I purchased yesterday forced it to the front of the queue. I had to make a quick run to Walmart for a couple things and decided to grab one of the available blasters of 2019 Panini Stars and Stripes. I'm a sucker for anything Team USA, so thee cards are right up my alley. 

Each blaster promises two autographed or memorabilia cards per box, on average. Let's take a look at what I pulled.

First was this Caleb Pendleton auto. Pendleton is a member of the 17U National Team, a squad that works in the USA Baseball development program. Like Bowman, there may be a wait to find out if he makes it to the majors.

This was the third hit of my box, a Hunter Haas relic auto. The wait for Haas will be even longer, as he is a member of the 16U team.

But here is the real beauty of the box:

This is a 1-of-1 Jack O'Dowd USA Baseball patch autograph! How awesome is that?! Again, this guy may take a while to determine if he ever makes it to MLB, but it's a beautiful card nonethelless.

What's the best card you'v pulled from a blaster (of any product!)?

Sorry for the brevity, but today has turned out to be a bit busier than I expected                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        

If Anything Can Bring Me Back, It's The Good Ol' Red, White, And Blue

Well, it has officially been close to (if not more than) two months since my last post. In it, I mentioned that I had a death in the family that sent me into a tailspin and I needed some time to get my sh*t back together and become a productive member of society again. Somehow, I accidentally deleted that post. I'm not sure when/how I did that.

I guess now is the time that I get going again. Though I haven't been blogging, I have still been collecting. I've mentioned in a few posts that I have been participating in some group breaks with a particular breaker. During my sabbatical, I participated in a few more breaks, mostly for Panini's Stars and Stripes product. This set is focused on the various Team USA baseball squads.

Why this product, you ask? Well, Steven Gingery is in the set. Who is Gingery, you ask? Gingery is the ace of the Texas Tech baseball team...at least he was entering this season, but he tore a ligament in his elbow and had to have Tommy John surgery early in the season.

Regardless, Gingery went in the fourth round to the Cardinals in the 2018 MLB Draft. I'm hoping he shows up in the Bowman Draft product later this year.

Anyway, let's get to some cards. Some cards are packed up, so I only have a few to share.

This is the base auto in the set. Though there are a few players that feature a sticker auto, most are on-card - including Gingery.

However, the dreaded sticker auto makes an appearance on these Silhouette relic/autos. To make matters worse, the signature goes off the sticker. Oh well, such is life, am I right?

This is perhaps my favorite card from the breaks I have participated in. It's numbered to 25, and all of the patches are awesome!

I will be all-in on next years Stars and Stripes, as well. A friend of mine - who I met in the card shop in Lubbock - will almost certainly be in the product. Josh Jung (pronounced like "Young") is Tech's starting third baseman. He was selected to play on the USA Baseball Collegiate National Team this summer, as soon as Tech is finished at the College World Series (hopefully winning their last game!). Josh is predicted to be a first-round pick in next year's draft, also. Regardless of how things play out, it's been cool to have him as a friend, and I am beyond happy for him and all of his successes!