Blaster Madness 2: 2018 Bowman Platinum

For the second installment of Blaster Madness, we take a look at 2018 Bowman Platinum. In terms of number of Ranger cards pulled in a single blaster, this has to be one of my better boxes. Let's take a look.

First pack Gallo mojo! When I first saw the cards, I thought I really liked them. Now that I've had some time to see them, I'm not sure I really care for the design. What are your thoughts?

Bubba Thompson was a 2017 first-round pick for the Rangers. I don't know much about him, but the talking heads that do know their stuff seem to think he will be a very important part of the Rangers' future.

Speaking of Thompson, he is featured in the Prismatic Prodigies insert set. I actually do like these.

Willie Calhoun was the key player the Rangers acquired from the Dodgers in the Yu Darvish trade. He hasn't really produced for us yet, but hopefully more time in Triple A will cure that. This is a cracked ice parallel.

I also pulled this purple parallel of Dee Gordon numbered to 250. I like the color more than I like the plain black, but that isn't really saying a lot. 

Overall, I do like this set. I'm excited to pick up the remaining Rangers!

Some Sparkly Gold Darvish!

In my post yesterday, I mentioned my love of the 2012 Topps set. That's the year I began buying cards again, so that set will always be one of my favorites. (Though, I have to say that I love 2013 Topps flagship just a tad more)

At one point, I had the gold sparkle parallel of Yu Darvish's rookie card. However, back then I wasn't terribly interested in keeping parallels. Needless to say, I no longer had it in my collection.

Until earlier this week. I found one on eBay for a reasonable price and decided to pull the trigger:

I love it. It just pops. 

I haven't been doing it intentionally, but it seems that the only cards that I have been picking up are of Darvish. 

I know not everyone is a big fan of parallels, but I know some of you are. If you are, what is your favorite parallel and from what year/set? 

If you aren't a fan of parallels, which ones do you especially dislike?

Another eBay-centric Post

I miss Yu Darvish. I was exhilarated to see him pitch well for the Dodgers leading into the World Series; I was crushed to watch him get crushed. I was furious that Yulieski Gurriel made a racist joke toward Darvish's Asian heritage, and even more pissed that MLB essentially gave him a slap on the wrist for the action.

I'm still holding out hope that he re-signs with the Rangers. 

In the meantime, I've picked up a few Darvish cards via eBay. I have to admit - these were low bids that I didn't expect would stand up...but they did! I'm not complaining. Let's get to it.

This is a gold wave refractor from 2017 Topps Chrome. I've never been one to complain about parallels, but when Topps essentially has two gold refractors, both numbered to 50...well, perhaps we've gone a bit overboard.

I also snagged this no nameplate variation from 2017 Topps Gypsy Queen. Whereas the gold wave was a bit too far, I think these are just lazy. "How can we make a new variation?" "Hmm. Let's just leave the name off the front. It worked for Frank Thomas, right?" Yet, I still purchased it.

Speaking of variations...

This is one of the photo variations from 2017. As you may remember, I complained about the over-abundance of photo variations in 2017 Topps Update a little while back. I'm clearly biased, because for some reason, I don't mind this one (or the other Darvish photo variation featuring him on the mound in a Dodgers uniform). I'm going to give myself a pass.

When I began writing this post, I definitely did not mean for it to become a gripe-fest! I apologize! What are your thoughts about some of the "variations" in the various 2017 sets? 

My Foray Into 2017 Topps Heritage Minor League

Or is it Minor Leagues? Not sure. Either way, I bought two boxes.

Last year, I purchased four boxes and was a card short of a complete base set. I also supposedly won something in the "Make Your Pro Debut" contest, but I never received my prize. Shocker - Topps fails to follow through. Oh well.

This year, the two boxes covered my entire base set. I have no need for any base cards, though I am still in need of some short prints. You can see what I need here. If you have any of those, lemme know!

Now on to what you came here for: to find out what my box had in it. First up, some parallels:

This ERA Leaders card is of the blue parallel variety and is numbered to 99. I'll be honest - I've never heard of any of these guys.

Next up, green parallels numbered to 99. I've never heard of Sanchez, but I've definitely heard of Daulton Jefferies. He was a first round pick for the A's in 2016 and played in Stockton (A ball) this season. I don't believe he made it to Double A, but if he gets there this year, I will most likely see him play - the Double A squad is based in Midland, about an hour and a half from me. I try to go once every couple of weeks, if possible. 

I also pulled a couple of white parallels:

Starting to sound like a broken record, but I have never heard of Dunning. Ortiz, on the other hand, I am very aware of. He was the Rangers first round pick in 2014. He worked his way up to Double A Frisco in 2016 before getting traded to Milwaukee in exchange for Jonathan Lucroy. Yet another trade that didn't really pan out for us (not Lucroy's fault, though). I was really looking forward to Ortiz as a solid number three in our rotation of the future; however, what hurt the most about that trade was sending Lewis Brinson away, also. 

After the parallels, I pulled two relics:

The first, a base plain white swatch from Brent Honeywell...

The second, a green parallel numbered to 99 with a red swatch from Rafael Devers. Not a bad hit - better than a plain white or gray swatch any day of the week.

Lastly, each box came with an on-card auto. My two auto's were:

P.J. Conlon and...

Andrew Stevenson. 

As I've mentioned before, never heard of either one.

Even though I have never heard of most of these guys, I still really enjoyed the break. Most everything is available for trade, though I think I am going to hold on to the Ortiz white parallel, the Devers relic, and maybe the autos (but that's not a solid "keep" yet). Lemme know if you're interested!

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**This entry has been sitting in my post folder, unfinished, for more than a month. The end of the semester really kicked my butt. Please watch for posts in the coming days covering some eBay purchases and, more importantly, packages from fellow bloggers! I hope everyone is well!

eBay Mailday(s)

I've fallen behind in posting my eBay purchases. There haven't been many, but I could certainly do a better job of posting. Let's clean out the ol' eBay scan folder and see what has come in recently.

First up: this hideous Easter purple/pink Cole Hamels parallel from 2017 Gypsy Queen. I really hate that color and think it looks terrible on a baseball card. But I wasn't consulted - and I'm sure there is someone out there who loves it. Either way, it's a new Hamels for my collection.

Next up:

I mentioned a few times that I really like the Meaningful Materials relic cards from this year's Museum collection. I previously purchased a version of this card (also numbered to 50) but I was able to upgrade to one with a better patch (see above). The best part? I won this card for .49 cents (plus $3 shipping). I'll happily pay $3.49 for this card!

I also grabbed another parallel of this card, this one numbered to 10. It cost me maybe $5 total. Again, I will happily pay that!

But I'm not done with Museum Collection yet:

I was also able to get my hands on this Rougned Odor Meaningful Material relic. This one was a bit more expensive, but still well less than half a blaster. This is the base parallel, numbered to 50.

That's it for this eBay Mailday - but fear not, there are more in the future!

An eBay Mailday

A few weeks ago, I posted about my luck in purchasing some 2017 Archives retail. I was fortunate enough to pull the one auto I wanted of Lenny Randle.

Naturally, I decided I wanted to try to get all of the parallels of this card. First up, the sky blue parallel numbered to 75:

You'll notice that this auto has a smiley face, as well! P-Town Tom wondered in my first post if all of his signatures have the smiley face - it appears that the overwhelming majority do. I searched and found that all listed autos except for one had it. I tried to grab the one without, but it sold for more than I wanted to pay. 

Stoked to have this in my hands! Now I just have the light pink (salmon) and red parallels to go!

I hope everyone is well!

Trade with Sports Cards and Memories

A week ago, I saw a post on Sports Cards and Memories that featured Chris breaking a box of Tier One. One of the cards in the box was a Ranger. I left a comment and asked Chris if he would be interested in moving it. Later that evening, Chris emailed me and we quickly worked out a deal!

Without further adieu, here's the card:

This relic auto numbered to 75 of Nomar Mazara! The Big Chill's signature has really gone down hill, but I think that is fairly common with players that sign for Topps, since they are required to sign a million different cards. Either way, I am stoked to have this card in my collection!

Chris also mentioned that he had a couple Pudge cards that I might be interested in, so I obliged and took them off his hands! Along with a few set needs, these were in the package as well:

This is the '59 Bazooka insert from 2017 Topps Archives! I have another copy of this card coming my way in the future from The Lost Collector, but I will never complain about a beautiful Pudge in my collection!

The second Pudge that Chris sent also came from the 2017 Archives set:

This is the blue parallel, numbered to 75! It's the first blue parallel from the set in my collection. 

Thanks a ton Chris! Think of me whenever you pull any Rangers in the future!

PS - I posted earlier today about my want of some 2017 Allen & Ginter inserts. Please take a look and let me know if you pull any of these and want to trade them!