Murky Dismal: Juan Soto Run #US300, HMT55...
After seeing a game during one of our semi-annual MGM trips at National Harbor and subsequently pulling one of his Bowman Big League Breakthrough redemption cards, I’ve found myself dipping my toe into the modern pond.
It’s been a pretty eye-opening and knowledgeable trek and a refreshing break from the vintage side.
The “knowledgeable” schtick comes from learning about the cards titled in the thread. The 2018 Topps Update #US300 and its Chrome version, the HMT55.
As opposed to vintage and the “RC” standard definition, Ive learned about “1st Bowman” card, “The RC Logo”, “Pack Pulled” cards and, while still absorbing here, the parallels of all of these cards.
I must admit, it was extremely overwhelming at first. But, this middle-aged dog wanted to at least attempt to learn some of the new tricks. So, I just took it slow. Day by day. And researched heavily before doing any sort of impulse buying. Considering the price descrepancy between some of these parallels, I didnt want a stupid mistake to thwart any of the fun because thinking back, I had already been collecting vintage parallels since day Juan (one).
Think various versions of the ‘89 FF card, the ‘52 mantles a&b, the ‘64 bat knob card, ‘69 white lettered, Juan Gonzalez reverse negative, Topps, Tiffany & Desert Shields and the Veni’s to the Minis. All could basically be labeled under the original parallels if you wanted to.
With that long diatribe being over, I love the image and how it has been used in numerous different Topps product lines.
(Which was hard to wrap my head around at first)
How could the same card, with the same remarkable image, be found in at least 4 different distribution methods by Topps? The simple answer? It just is.
Again, I’m not into modern really so I’m not chasing each release, doing case breaks or ripping a bunch of wax or is it plastic/foil now-a-days, so just tracking down the singles is fun and challenging in itself.
With that being said, I’m just gonna post the different cards as they have or get picked up just to document the journey. Its all PC so if the kid doesnt make it, it’s been fun witnessing him play (and hit) in person, pulling that bowman card, learning about shiny and just having fun again with raw cards without any emphasis on “flips”.
The original base:
2018 Topps Update #US300; Base
Front:
Back:
Comments
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Doesn't look like it's fully updated for this set yet, but here's the best resource I've found: http://baseballcardpedia.nfshost.com/index.php/2018_Topps_Update#Insertion_Ratios
Nice post. I can add some images on some that I have sitting here on my desk...
Topps Gold US300
Topps 35th Anniversary Auto
Topps Chrome Xfractor Auto
Topps Chrome Gold Refractor
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Thanx for sharing.
I'm doing the update set from a few mega Target boxes.
The only insert is "An International Affair" sans any "RC" designations for 2018.
Very kind of you.
Will let you know - there's a point where I get tired of buying boxes @ 20 beans for a few cards.
I really like the look of the Topps Chrome cards this year. The number of parallels in this one set alone is crazy. Some might think they have gone overboard, but I kind of like it. All of these would have the same photo. There are a few other inserts and variations, but they would have different photos.
Base
Refractor
Prism Refractor
Sepia (retail blasters)
BW Negative
Pink (retail value packs)
X-Fractor
Purple (#/250)
Blue (#/150)
Blue Wave (#/75) hobby and hobby jumbo only
Green (#/99)
Green Wave (#/99) hobby and hobby jumbo only
Gold (#/50)
Gold Wave (#/50) hobby and hobby jumbo only
Orange (#/25) regular hobby only
Red (#/5)
Red Wave (#/5) hobby and hobby jumbo only
Superfractor (#/1)
Rookie Auto
Rookie Auto Refractor (#/499)
Purple Auto (#/250)
Blue Auto (#/150)
Blue Wave Auto (#/150)
Green Auto (#/99)
Gold Auto (#/50)
Gold Wave Auto (#/50) hobby and hobby jumbo only
Orange Auto (#/25) regular hobby only
Red Auto (#/5)
Red Wave Auto (#/5) hobby and hobby jumbo only
Superfractor Auto (#/1) hobby and hobby jumbo only
Printing Plate - Black (#/1)
Printing Plate - Cyan (#/1)
Printing Plate - Magenta (#/1)
Printing Plate - Yellow (#/1)
For some reason I decided I wanted to collect the complete set including all the parallels (not the #'d). I would like to have all the #'d cards as well, but it's a lot more difficult to collect all 200 cards when you start getting to gold (#/50), orange (#/25) and red (#/5). I'm well on my way to completing the initial goal. There is a long way to go for the #'d cards.
Kris
My 1971 Topps adventure - Davis Men in Black
Great cards and write ups! Big Soto fan here. Kid can flat out hit.
Always looking for tougher PSA 10's of Nolan Arenado, Alex Bregman, Mookie Betts, Francisco Lindor, and Mike Trout.
I love this thread. I'm not a collector of the brand new baseball issues either but I just recently fell in love with the 2018 Heritage High Numbers set. I've got all sorts of boxes headed my way and I'm looking forward to pulling Soto, Acuna, Torres, and Ohtani. Your Soto is a really nice looking card. I should probably diversify.
Thanks for taking the time to share these with us.
Arthur
I just did some searching on the bay. What's the difference between this Soto card and the horizontal Soto card? Is one considered his rookie card and the other isn't? I still don't completely grasp the inner workings of the post-2000 collecting world.
Arthur
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Ah okay. That makes sense, thanks.
That's a nice looking card. How close are you to completing the rainbow? Your collection is very impressive.
Arthur
What you're doing would be considered chasing the rainbow. It's a loose term and folks adjust it to suit their needs when it comes to the really low-count stuff (no one considers the 1/1 or probably even the /25 stuff as part of the rainbow simply because it would limit the number of collectors able to do it). Basically, it just means collecting all the variations of one particular card. It doesn't matter if the photo was used on another card, or if it's numbered differently elsewhere. If you're collecting HMT55, you don't need the US300 or any other cards that aren't HMT55.
As far as the term rainbow, if you're that insecure about it, just call it Chasing Skittles or something. Or make up your own term. I just used that for the purposes of posing the question.
Arthur
Ahh, now I understand. You're right, you're tackling a different animal altogether.
I just IMDBed Rainbow Brite and it turns out the antagonist in the cartoon was named Murky Dismal. I believe you now have a name for your endeavor.
Arthur
Nice Murky Dismal so far!
Kris
My 1971 Topps adventure - Davis Men in Black
Bahahaha! Love it!
Arthur
Great cards. Love seeing your new additions.
To answer one of your above questions, Topps recycled the exact same photo of Mike Trout for both their 2017 and 2018 Series 1 photo variation short prints. No idea why....seems beneath Topps especially considering Trout's popularity.
Always looking for tougher PSA 10's of Nolan Arenado, Alex Bregman, Mookie Betts, Francisco Lindor, and Mike Trout.
I have enjoyed watching your journey. thanks for sharing
George Brett, Roger Clemens and Tommy Brady.