Hit 'em with the Heiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii(m?)

I opened some packs of 2022 Topps Series 1 a while back, and I saw this:

Which made me laugh because it reminded me of this:

So, for some reason, I decided to do... this:

and if I do that... why not do this too?

Still looking for the /50 and /25 "1st Edition" parallels, but here's /75 and /10 . . .

You know what I think? Go big or go home.

Right?

This was made easier, I think, because the Rangers acquired a new catcher, Mitch Garver. This pushed Jonah pretty far down on the depth chart so I don't know how many other people are trying to get these. I was the only person bidding on most of these. 

Rosie Gets The Chrome-Plated Treament (Rosie Rainbow)

 

The ROSIE RAINBOW is now getting a nice Chrome finish! As a reminder, I am working on an Eddie Rosario 2020 Topps rainbow. He was in Opening Day, Series 2, Chrome, and several other smaller niche sets, one of which you'll see featured below.

Rosie is card #78 in the Chrome set, and here is the base, the refractor, the prism refractor, the X-Fractor, Negative, Sepia, Pink, Purple, and Blue Refactors. The Blue is the only serial numbered card on the page, limited to 250 copies.

Page two of Chrome gets a little spicier - these are all serial numbered. Green /99, Gold /50, and Orange /25. There's also a Green Wave, Gold Wave, Orange Wave, and Blue Wave, with the same print run as their non-wavy counterparts. I haven't seen them online yet, but in theory the /5 Red and Red Wave parallels could slide right in there. Still haven't seen a Chrome printing plate for Rosie, either.

And here's that "other" niche set I mentioned earlier - the Ben Baller Chrome set. I have found the Base, Blue, Green, and Gold. There should be an Orange, Red, and Superfractor out there somewhere, but I would not be surprised if I miss out on those.

Chrome "Sapphire" edition is out and sold out - there's a base Blue and at least two variations that I've seen so far (no Rosie's - yet.) And I suspect Topps will release a mini set again this year, which will again have a series of parallels to chase. 

How are your rainbows going out there? 

Stay safe and thanks for reading!

Rainbow Intensifies

Oh it's getting real now - The ROSIE RAINBOW is in full effect! For Opening Day, we've got base, Red Foil, Purple Foil, Blue Foil, and a printing plate! For Series 2, you can see the base card, the Minnesota Team Set parallel, then Gold, Rainbow Foil, and Gold Rainbow Foil.

The Gold is numbered to /2020 and here are the backs....

These all look pretty much the same, you can see the Team Set card stands out with the different number. 

Page 2 is a work in progress, but a lot of progress has been made! Here we get into the parallels.

Advanced Stats /300, Vintage Stock /99, Black /69.

Mother's Day /50 (missing!!), Photo Variation, Father's Day /50.

Independence Day /76, Camo (Memorial Day?) /25, and Walgreen's Yellow Parallel.

The Advanced stats parallel shows how Eddie has increased his barrels and his exit velocity every year, which explains in part how he had a career high in homers and RBI in 2019.

Last but not least there were these online exclusive 5X7s of the photo variation. The "base" is numbered to /49 and the "Gold" is numbered to /10.  I assume I missed out on a 1/1 in there too. 

So.... what's left? I have yet to see a listing (active or sold) for the Mother's Day Parallel, even though I've seen plenty for other players in Series 2. I know that Eddie was excluded from the "Clear" /10 acetate parallel, which is a mixed blessing. I would have loved to add that to the rainbow, but part of me is relieved I don't have to pay for one! So all it will take to complete the rainbow is to find the Mother's Day parallel (and maybe find another printing plate). 

Topps Chrome has to be coming out eventually, and I bet there will be another round of Topps mini this year and that will have a bunch of parallels, too. 

How are everyone else's rainbows doing? I know gcrl is working on Kiké Hernandez, and Tom is working on a Vogelmonster Rainbow - anyone else?

2018 Series 2 Kennyssssssssss

Well, it's mid-August now, and Kennys Vargas has yet to crack the 40-Man roster, let alone the 25-Man MLB roster. He's in his age 27 season, and has hit just .221/.308/.381 at AAA Rochester.

But there's always room to hope! Logan Morrison, the player that most closely mirrored the skill set Kennys provides, has been historically bad, and recently underwent season ending hip surgery. For now,  the Twins are rotating Catcher Mitch Garver and 1B/OF Tyler Austin in the DH spot. Kennys will have a tough time breaking up that duo.

I've yet to complete a Vargas rainbow, and I doubt I'll ever see the 2015 Topps Clear /10 that I've been looking for going on 3 years now... The 2018 rainbow seems almost possible. I have tried many of the strategies suggested by the blogging world's rainbow building/player collecting expert Kenny in this excellent post, and I am hopeful that it will happen.

I just need the following for 2018:

Topps Black /67
Mother's Day Pink /50
Father's Day Blue /50
Memorial Day Camo /25
Platinum /1
Printing plates (Black, Cyan, Magenta, Yellow)

For 2015 Topps, I just need the Factory exclusive sparkly variation and that darn Clear/Acetate parallel.