Can We Talk About the Price of Bowman Draft?

In the 2019 MLB Draft, the Texas Rangers selected Josh Jung out of Texas Tech with the #8 overall pick. For me this was huuuuge. Not only was Jung (pronounced "Young") a Red Raider, but I also call him a friend. Let me say here that I am not trying to portray Josh as my best friend or someone I hang out with every weekend. In other words, I don't clam to be close friends.

I met Josh and his parents during the summer of 2016. I was at my LCS in Lubbock when they came in. Both he and his father are collectors, so they were looking to see what the shop had. I struck up a conversation. He was in town visiting one last time before moving.

During the next three seasons, Josh would become perhaps the most decorated baseball player ever to play at Tech. He was Big XII Freshman of the Year, a Freshman All-American, and Second Team All-Big XII his freshman year. His sophomore year saw him become a Big XII first-teamer, an All-American, and a member of the Team USA Collegiate National Team. His junior year, Josh continued to bring in the awards. He was again named All-American and followed that up with the Big XII Co-Player of the Year. He won the Bobby Bragan Collegiate Slugger Award, as well. To top it off, D1 Baseball named Jung the Big XII Player of the Decade.

So, it goes without saying that I planned to be a Jung super collector. Right away, I noticed competition for his cards. In early 2019 (well before the June MLB Draft, while Jung was still at Tech), Panini featured Jung in its Stars & Stripes, Donruss, and Contenders sets. Nothing went cheap. But nothing would compare to his Bowman Draft prices.

Needless to say, I don't have a single Bowman Draft card featuring Jung. I don't know when or if I will get any, either.

But let's not sulk. Instead, I appreciate what I do have. Let's take a look at a few.

I'm a big fan of the Stars & Stripes cards. And sorry for not going into a lot of detail...I just realized it's almost 7 am. I've got to get ready for work.

Thanks for reading, and I hope everyone is well!

I'm Still Here

It has been six months since I last posted.

Six. Months.

When I started this blog, I intended to post three or four times a week. Now it seems that I'm lucky if I get in three or four posts a year.

I have to do better.

I have to better because writing has always been my way to let off steam, bad juju, or whatever else you want to call it. And these last few months...well, years, if I'm being honest with myself...have been tough.

So I plan to be much more active. I have a ton of scans that I need to post and write about. I have an idea for a few columns on TTMs. And starting in March, my Texas Rangers have a new home that I need to explore!

So, here's to new beginnings! To those of you that stuck around and still support this blog and read my posts, I can't thank you enough. Except The Lost Collector. I don't thank him. He doesn't giveaway the cards he shows.

#LongLiveDarrell

(You can find the basis of that joke here.)

Blaster Madness #10: 2019 Bowman Mega Box (Target Exclusive)

Twitter sometimes fools me. I see so many great cards being pulled from certain products with such frequency, I tend to start believing that every box must have a huge hit inside. Then I start drooling and making plans to get my hands on the product.

Such was the case with 2019 Bowman Mega Boxes. Each box had two packs of exclusive mojo refractors, and it seemed like everyone on Twitter pulled a Wander Franco auto in it. So when I saw a shelf full of Mega Boxes in a recent trip to Target, I decided to grab four. I told myself this was simply like buying four blasters since they were the same price. In a cruel twist of fate, I received a call from my boss as I walked out of the store to let me know that the project I was working on was being squashed and I was being laid off.

These boxes better pay off. Things aren't starting so well.

The fist box offered up an auto! Could it be Wander???

Of course not. I don't have that kind of luck. Instead, I pull an auto of Blaze Alexander. Interesting name, terrible signature.

The second box had no autos, but did offer up a bit of color:

A purple refractor of Lyon Richardson. I don't know anything about the guy, but color is better than base.

The third box was similar: no auto, but color:

A gold refractor of Ryan McKenna.

The fourth box had nothing in it, other than a base Wander. I guess I should count that as a win.

So I went home, head hanging low, accepting the defeat thrown to me by the cardboard gods.

Once I got home, I decided to sort the cards and enter the keepers into the Trading Card Database. On second look, that Wander looked a bit different...

Holy goodness, it's a super-short print! As I mentioned, I just lost my job, so let's see how much this guy is going for (after all, I have a tuition payment due soon)...I look it up and nearly pee myself in excitement. This card is selling well. I put mine on eBay and it sells within minutes!

What about you? Did you have any luck with the Mega Boxes?

Blaster Madness #9: 2019 Stadium Club, Part II

As I mentioned in my last post, I went back to Walmart and grabbed another blaster of 2019 Stadium Club. I also decided to grab a fat pack, just to see how those are packed out.

In retrospect, I should have stuck with the fat pack. The blaster was absolute garbage, with nearly every card being a duplicate from one of my first two blasters. So this post is just looking at the fat pack.

With that being said, there were only three cards to really talk about in the fat pack. First up:

These sepia parallels feel cheaper in this year's set. Maybe it's because they have a much larger print run, or maybe it's because there is far too much red in the toning...or maybe it's both...but I'm not a big fan. Still, this was in the pack. It isn't nearly as impressive as the next card.

The photography for this set. This is card #1, and it is so very deserving. This one happens to be the black foil parallel. It's a keeper.

Lastly, the odds of an autograph were stacked against me...

...especially an autograph numbered to 25. This is the black foil parallel of the Chance Adams rookie auto. Still, that signature has to be entered into the "Worst Signature of the Year" race. But, it's a low-numbered auto. I'll take it.

So there you have it, the best three cards from my fatpack. Anybody else have any retail mojo lately?

Blaster Madness #8: 2019 Topps Stadium Club

When this yer's version of Stadium Club debuted, y Twitter timeline was flooded with images from the set. As usual, Stadium Club offers the best overall photography of any set Topps offers, and this year did not disappoint. I made my way to Walmart to grab a couple of blasters a couple of days ago. Let's see how I did.

As I mentioned, the photography is second-to-none.

When sorting through my cards, I initially thought this was Babe Ruth. The photo definitely makes on think of the Great Bambino. Such a beautiful card.

However, this is the card that I fell in love with. This might be my favorite card of all time, and I have zero ties to Bench. Everything about this card is perfect. I dare anyone to find a better photo used in this year's set.

The only Ranger I pulled in my two blasters was this red foil parallel of Adrian Beltre. I'm not complaining. I pulled a few other parallels, as well (black foil, sepia).

This chrome parallel of Rickey Henderson was in my first blaster. I think this is the second year of Stadium Club featuring chrome parallels, but I could be wrong.

I pulled plenty of inserts, also, with this red foil Ronald Acuna Beam Team being the best one. According to the odds on the box, these fall one in every 193 packs. Not too shabby.

However, the best card of the two blasters was this beauty:

This is the Ken Griffey Jr. photo variation short print! Outside of a photo of the Kid's backswingm is there a more iconic photo of Griffey than one with his hat backwards?!

So, there are my first two blasters of 2019 Stadium Club. Full disclosure: I went back to the store the next day and bought another blaster and a fat pack. I'll share the results of those tomorrow.

Have you bought any Stadium Club this year? If so, what did you find?

Box Break: 2018 Elite Extra Edition - The Hits

Last week, I shared the various parallels I found in my two boxes of Triple E. Today, let's take a look at the hits.

Justus Sheffield Triple Materials

Jon Duplantier Quad Materials

Corey Ray Purple USA Materials

Travis Swaggerty Red USA Materials

Nick Margevicius Future Threads Auto Relic

Kevin Sanchez Gold Future Threads Auto Relic

Charlie Saum Emerald 15U USA National Team Signatures

Brady House 15U USA National Team Signatures

Durbin Feltman Base Auto

Lency Delgado Base Auto

Josiah Gray Base Auto

Nick Schnell Base Auto

Jackson Goddard Emerald Stats Die-Cut Auto

Jose Cosma Blue Aspirations Auto

Jose Garcia Blue Aspirations Auto

Cadyn Grenier Red Status Die-Cut Auto

Luis de la Cruz Purple Aspirations Auto

Steven Jennings Emerald Auto

Tristan Pompey Emerald Auto

John Rooney Tie-Dye Aspirations Auto

That's a lot of ink. If I am being honest, I have never heard of many of these prospects, though a few ring a bell. Regardless, it was still a fun break and the cards are beautiful and colorful. I am happy to have all of these in my collection!

A brief post, but sometimes those are the best kind.