The 30-Day Baseball Card Challenge - Day 20

"Your favorite parallel card based on the parallel, not the player."

2014 Topps Chrome Jason Grilli #208 X-fractor parallel - I don't collect parallels, where I to try and complete an entire set of them, but I like these 'checkerboard' finish refractors since the cards stand out more the basic refractors, while still being relatively easy pulls / finds.

Featured autographs - Greg Holland and Salvador Perez

I pulled a 2014 Topps Chrome Greg Holland from this break and I mused how it might be a project to get the card signed by both players pictured - while I'm bummed the Angels were swept over the weekend by the visiting Kansas City Royals, I did get Holland's autograph for the first time and also added a scribble of the other player.

Albert Pujols pick ups

Where was my man Pujols, who I hoped would have a big postseason - he hit one lousy home run and one other RBI base single in the American League Division Series, but nothing else.

As is, he played in 159 games in 2014 and posted decent offensive numbers - even though his on-base/slugging wasn't up to par with what he has done before.

The small lot of Pujols cards features his 2014 Topps Chrome Topps Shelf insert - his base 2014 Topps Chrome, a 2014 Topps Chrome 1989 Topps reprint refractor and also a 2014 Topps Red Hot foil parallel.

2014 Topps Chrome two pack break

I planned to pick up supplies at my local card ship and ended up with a 3,200 count monster box [$3] and six 900 count boxes [$0.75 each] - I also mixed some loose 2014 Topps Chrome packs [$3 each] and also more 2014 Topps Heritage Minors packs [$3 each].

Pack one
#77 Robbie Erlin
#129 Johnny Cueto - X-fractor
#213 Rougned Odor

#130 Albert Pujols

Pack two
#170 David Wright
#31 Clay Buchholz

#174 Chase Utley - refractor
#158 Aramis Ramirez

Miscellaneous adds to my collection

I went to my LCS to see if I could get some packs of 2014 Topps Heritage Minors - as usual, I started rummaging through the quarter boxes to see if I could take some cards home.

The Koji Uehara refractor caught my eye and while it may be rather common - I picked it back up after picking out other cards to fill out the small stash of loose cards I ended up with.

2014 Bowman Platinum Alen Hanson #BPCP 15 - Green refractor serial #'d 288/399
2014 Bowman Platinum Raul Mondesi #BPP 21
2014 Bowman Platinum Raul Mondesi #BPCP 21 - Green refractor serial #'d 073/399
2014 Bowman Platinum Roberto Osuna #BPP 26

2014 Bowman Platinum Colin Moran #BPCP 42 - XFractor parallel; Xfractors maybe my favorite 'basic' parallel in any Bowman brand.
2014 Bowman Platinum Eddie Butler #BPCP 45 - refractor

2014 Bowman Platinum Dustin Pedroia #46 - Gold parallel
2014 Bowman Platinum Tyler Glasnow #BPP 52
2014 Bowman Platinum Tyler Glasnow #BPCP 52 - refractor
2014 Bowman Platinum Brandon Nimmo #BPP 66
2014 Bowman Platinum Josh Bell #BPP 74
2014 Bowman Platinum Trevor Story #BPP 83
2014 Bowman Platinum Hunter Renfroe #BPP 86
2014 Bowman Platinum Robert Stephenson #BPCP 100 - refractor
2014 Topps Chrome Koji Uehara #121 - refractor

2014 Topps Chrome blaster recap

My lousy $3 off Topps coupon was my excuse to pick up a blaster, even though I believe the following:

1.) Retail is feast or famine for something like Topps Chrome - there are only 32 cards in a blaster and while I may pull some cheap refractors and/or inserts, I'm probably not going to find anything that makes me think I spent $20 wisely.

2.) I like shiny cards, but the chromes are condition sensitive and I worry about handling them too much - I like cards I can flip through without being scratched up.

Purple refractor pack
#140 Justin Verlander
#88 Michael Choice
#193 Josh Donaldson
#75 Billy Hamilton

Pack one
#133 Onelki Garcia
#74 Dexter Fowler - X-Fractor
#23 Stefen Romero
#131 Desmond Jennings

Pack two
#163 Greg Holland - with two guys on a card, it looks like a mini project to chase after.
#81 Kevin Siegrist
#148 Avisail Garcia - refractor/ I thought basic refractors were unmarked until I checked out the breaks at the Play at the Plate blog.
#213 Rougned Odor

Pack three
#48 Alex Cobb 
#77 Robbie Erlin 
#130 Albert Pujols 
#158 Aramis Ramirez

Pack four
#170 David Wright 

#EB Eddie Butler - certified autograph / Silver and Black serial #'d 22/25 / the silver marker seems dull on a whited out surface, but it's a might fine pull for a blaster.

Butler has pretty good credentials, though he wasn't as good this year as he was in previous seasons - not to mention, he is going to be making his home starts in Colorado.

#218 Max Scherzer 
#51 Matt Adams

Pack five
#31 Clay Buchholz 
#162 Zack Greinke - refractor
 #189 Madison Bumgarner 
#178 Danny Salazar

Pack six
#132 Chris Davis 
#83 Jon Lester 
#79 Mike Minor 
#29 Victor Martinez

Pack seven
#175 Yu Darvish 
#120 Jeff Samardzija 
#168 Manny Machado - X-Fractor
#125 Paul Goldschmidt

2014 Topps Chrome value pack recap

Orange Refractor pack
#190 Carlos Gonzalez
#114 Sonny Gray
#203 Jimmy Nelson

Pack one
#24 Yosmil Pinto
#149 Jose Reyes
#207 Anibal Sanchez - refractor
#204 Dustin Pedroia

Pack two
#22 Taijuan Walker
#97 Ian Desmond
#102 Matt Moore
#58 Anthony Rizzo

Pack three
#16 Yadier Molina
#CC-MT Mike Trout - Chrome Connection die-cut
#214 Jason Heyward
#204 Asdrubal Cabrera