2023 Bowman Platinum Baseball Blaster Box Break

For Christmas I received (2) 2023 Topps Holiday Baseball Mega Boxes, and (1) 2023 Bowman Platinum Baseball Blaster Box.

Today I decided to rip the 2023 Bowman Platinum Baseball Blaster Box.

A 2023 Bowman Platinum Baseball Blaster Box guarantees you (4) exclusive Ice Foil parallels within the (8) packs.

The first pack that I opened contained an autograph of Minnesota Twins prospect Brooks Lee. I was completely shocked to see that card. Autographs are not easy to pull from blasters.

I’m really liking the design of these cards this year. Very colorful liquid metal design.

With box prices at crazy levels, 2023 Bowman Platinum Baseball is actually one of the more affordable options. At least until one of the prospects or rookies turns into the next Ohtani.

Here is what I pulled from my blaster box:

Autograph:

• Brooks Lee Top Prospect

Parallels:

• Zach Neto RC Ice Foil
• Shea Langeliers RC Ice Foil
• Kevin Parada Top Prospect Ice Foil
• Justin Crawford Top Prospect Ice Foil

Inserts:

• Josh Jung Renowned Rookies
• Ezequiel Tovar New Money
• Elijah Green Precious Elements

Rookies:

• Adley Rutschman #4
• Livan Soto #22
• Hunter Brown #16
• Jonathan Aranda #80
• Nolan Gorman #77
• Logan O’Hoppe #60
• Matt Wallner #96
• Jordan Walker #44

Top Prospects:

• Chase DeLauter #90
• Jacob Berry #11
• Yasser Mercedes #95
• Hao-Yu Lee #48
• Dominic Keegan #63
• Noah Miller #34
• Ryan Cermak #74
• Gabriel Rincones #33

Base:

• Seiya Suzuki #54
• Luis Robert #12
• Jazz Chisholm Jr. #87
• Mookie Betts #86
• Miguel Cabrera #84
• Paul Goldschmidt #98
• Joey Votto #88
• Giancarlo Stanton #29
• Juan Soto #74
• Gerrit Cole #39
• Xander Bogaerts #59
• Jeremy Peña #23

2022 Topps Chrome Platinum Anniversary Blaster Box Break

While attending a sports card show at the Capital City Mall I picked up a 2022 Topps Chrome Platinum Anniversary blaster box.

This little 7-pack box was a blast to open. I found a lot of color.

Here is what I pulled:

Parallels:

• Duke Snider Platinum Toile White/Orange Refractor #’ed/25
• Mike Yastrzemski Blue Atomic Refractor #’ed/100
• Satchel Paige Blue Prism Refractor
• Elehuris Montero RC Prism Refractor
• Trey Amburgey RC Prism Refractor
• Aaron Ashby RC Refractor
• Riley Adams RC Refractor

Notable Rookie:

• Spencer Strider #186

Card of the Day: Eric Davis 2001 Fleer Platinum #388

Card of the Day: John Cena 2010 Topps Platinum WWE #1

Card of the Day: Ed Reed 2013 Topps Platinum #96

Card of the Day: Babe Ruth 2021 Topps Chrome Platinum Anniversary Edition X-Fractor #615

Card of the Day: David Cone 2001 Fleer Platinum #209

2021 Topps Chrome Platinum Anniversary Edition Baseball Hobby Box Break & Review

Collector Type: Set/Autograph/Nostalgia Fan

Collectors have been waiting a long time to get their hands on 2021 Topps Chrome Platinum Anniversary Edition. After numerous delays it has finally arrived.

Legendary hobby innovator Sy Berger designed the original 1952 Topps set at his kitchen table. I don’t believe anyone knew the historical significance of this moment. Those cards set the tone of the hobby for the next seven decades. Its difficult to comprehend that cases of the High Number series were disposed of in the ocean because they didn’t sell well.

The base set consists of a massive (700) cards. Subjects include rookies, current stars, and Hall of Famers. Parallels include Refractor, Prism (Mega Box exclusive), Black & White Mini-Diamonds (Lite Box exclusive), X-Fractor, Aqua Wave, Blue Mini-Diamonds #’ed/199, Red Atomic #’ed/100, Green/Yellow 70th #’ed/99, Rose Gold Mini-Diamonds #’ed/75, Platinum 70th Mini-Diamonds #’ed/70, Gold/Rose Gold 70th Wave #’ed/50, Orange/Yellow 70th #’ed/25, Black/Gold 70th #’ed/10, Black/Red 70th Mini-Diamonds #’ed/5, and SuperFractor #’ed 1/1. Even more parallels were planned, but due to supply chain issues Topps decided to cut back.

You are guaranteed (1) autograph per hobby box. Parallels include Refractor #’ed/199, Aqua #’ed/150, Blue Prism #’ed/99, 70th Platinum Wave #’ed/70, Gold #’ed/50, Orange #’ed/25, Pink #’ed/15, Black #’ed/10, Red #’ed/5, and SuperFractor #’ed 1/1.

Lucky box breakers will find the Mickey Mantle Topps 1952 Recreate insert. These fall 1:11,416 packs. Since Topps obtained the rights to use Mickey Mantle’s image again they haven’t shoved him down our throats. That might be part of the deal with his estate. Last year we saw the 2021 Topps X Mickey Mantle Collection. Perhaps 2022 Mickey Mantle will receive the Sapphire treatment.

One issue that I noticed is the centering. Some of the cards are drastically off center.

This is a fun product to open. Very simple. Iconic design with lots of colored parallels.

Checklist

Here is what I pulled:

Auto:

• Dean Kremer RC Blue Prism Auto #’ed/99

Parallels:

• Tom Seaver Red Atomic Refractor #’ed/100
• Sterling Sharp RC Rose Gold Mini-Diamonds #’ed/75
• Mike Clevinger X-Fractor
• Jose Canseco Aqua Wave Refractor
• Don Mattingly Refractor
• Willie Calhoun Refractor
• Alex Verdugo Refractor
• Edwin Diaz Refractor
• Shane Greene Refractor
• Roberto Clemente Refractor

Card of the Day: Kordell Stewart 2003 Fleer Platinum #29

2021 Bowman Platinum Baseball Mega Box Break & Review

Collector Type: Rookie/Prospect/Autograph

Shiny foil! Bowman Platinum is back as a Walmart exclusive. A Mega box contains (20) packs and guarantees (2) autographs. Blasters are the only place to find the Ice Foil parallels.

The base set consists of (200) cards. (100) veterans/rookies and (100) top prospects. Parallels include Ice Foil (Blaster), Foilboard #’ed/299, Aqua Ice Foilboard #’ed/250, Pink #’ed/199, Blue #’ed/150, Green #’ed/99, Green Icy Foil #’ed/99, Gold #’ed/50, Orange #’ed/25, Red #’ed/10, and Foilfractor #’ed 1/1.

Both veterans/rookies and top prospects have photo variations. CMP codes continue to be the easiest way to identify them. Base veterans/rookies have a CMP code that ends in #631. Base top prospects have a CMP code that ends in #644. Photo variations for both end in #678. So, if you pull a card that has a CMP code that ends in #678 you’ve got a photo variation.

Veterans/Rookies with Photo Variations:

• Jo Adell #5
• Ronald Acuña Jr. #9
• Joey Bart #14
• Fernando Tatis Jr. #55
• Mike Trout #61

Top prospects with Photo Variations:

• Heston Kjerstad #40
• Nick Gonzales #87
• Austin Martin #90
• Austin Hendrick #91
• Spencer Torkelson #92

Autographs include Top Prospect Autographs, Meteoric Autographs, Platinum Die-Cuts Autographs, Platinum Etchings Autographs, Precious Elements Autographs, and Renowned Rookies Autographs.

Autograph relics include Platinum Patches Autographs, Platinum Pedigree Autographs, and Platinum Pieces Autographs.

Relics include Platinum Patches and Platinum Pedigree.

Inserts include Meteoric, Platinum Die-Cuts, Platinum Etchings, Precious Elements, and Renowned Rookies.

Fun box to break. Be very careful when flipping through your cards. My two autographs were easily stuck to other cards. I almost missed one of them.

Checklist

Here is what I pulled:

Autos:

• Yolbert Sanchez Top Prospect Auto
• Jordan Diaz Top Prospect Auto

Parallels:

• Xander Bogaerts Foilboard #’ed/299
• Max Kepler Gold #’ed/50

Inserts:

• Max Meyer Meteoric
• Luis Patino RC Meteoric
• Garrett Mitchell Precious Elements
• Robert Hassell Precious Elements
• Marco Luciano Precious Elements
• Austin Hendrick Precious Elements
• Clarke Schmidt RC Renowned Rookies
• Nick Madrigal RC Renowned Rookies
• Luis Garcia RC Renowned Rookies
• Jarred Kelenic RC Renowned Rookies