Let's Chrome It All

*takes a sip of early morning coffee. Coffee is good any time of day, but something about that first cup first thing in the morning is where it really hits the sweet spot. It's like watching Ken Griffey Jr hit a home run with that swing*

I haven't had the chance yet to update my health on here so thought I would tackle that first then lead into today's post.

Before I had my second kidney stone surgery, I had to have a "health call-in" with my PCP since he no longer is taking in-person visits currently and my internet is crud so I couldn't do an online virtual call. He wasn't too happy with my blood pressure still, I have had to test it at home the past month so he stuck me on a third blood pressure med that has so far been decreasing it though it's not where it needs to be quite yet. It's a working progress.

On the better health news front, I had my second kidney stone surgery which was a success. Both stent and stone were removed and I am currently recovering. I will be having a checkup with an ultrasound in a few weeks to make sure my kidneys are still properly working after having those surgeries but so far, so good.

*takes a sip of coffee feeling better about a clean slate to start off 2021*

For one of those kidney stone surgeries, my wife made a quick trip to Walmart-something we have avoided with the pandemic-and surprised me with a blaster box of 2020 Stadium Club Chrome baseball for a cheer-me-up.

I was more impressed by the fact she was able to find any cards but the fact it was Stadium Club Chrome was a bonus.

*takes a sip*

2020 Stadium Club Chrome is a new, but old product, as it was in the 90's for a very short period. It appears they are finally understanding collectors love of chromed items as they have now in 2020 put chrome on Stadium Club, Allen and Ginter (really wanted to open some of this) and even came out with a second round of Topps Chrome and called it Topps Chrome Black.

I guess if chroming things works, stick with it!

*takes a sip, begins to rip*

 

Every blaster box of 2020 Stadium Club Chrome baseball comes with 4 packs per box with 6 cards per pack. Each blaster comes with a bonus 1 pack of 4 bonus card X-Factor parallels. Boxes when not being flipped are $20.

 

The base card design is the same as Stadium Club except it has a nice layer of chrome on it. Up close, these look superb when you have that photography and open non border design as well. I actually liked it more than Topps Chrome which says a lot for me who is a die-hard "chromie". It's like a groupie but for Topps Chrome.

The base set is a pretty big sized one at 400 cards, which is really large for any chrome products and includes players like Baez above

and legends of the past

along with all of the rookies.

*takes another sip, feels the tummy grumbling for some breakfast. Will have to think on breakfast while I tackle the parallels*

When I saw another chrome product, I expected a year long list of parallels like all the other products. The good news is, there isn't a lot of parallels to seek out. You can find Base Refractor, X-Fractor, Wave, Gold /50, Orange /25, Red /5, and SuperFractor 1/1.

I pulled only one, yes one, refractor in this blaster and it looks outstanding. The image combined with the shine may have made this one of my favorite cards of 2020. That's coming from a Yankees fan about a Mets card.

The only other parallels I found were the four card bonus x-factors,

Cespedes

Rogers (seems like I pulled this guy often when I did open baseball)

Soto (solid!!)

And lookie here, one of my main NY Yankees pc players and my favorite Yankee player of all-time in Derek Jeter. Great PC add.

*decides on a bagel, puts it in the toaster and moves onto the inserts*

Inserts have the following parallels to search for in Gold /50, Orange /25, Red /5, and SuperFractor 1/1.

Emperors Of The Zone has 25 cards in the set and has all of the top pitchers in the game.

And the always exciting and included Beam Team. These fall 1:4 packs and have 25 players to collect.

*bagels ready, time to sum this up so I can eat*

I really enjoyed this box break, despite how short it was. I doubt I will find anymore blaster boxes around even if I did make the trip to Walmart but it left me wanting more.

Speaking of wanting more, there are a few cards I am specifically looking for in the product I may need help landing,

• 2020 Stadium Club Chrome Refractor Ken Griffey Jr
• 2020 Stadium Club Chrome X-Factor Ken Griffey Jr
• 2020 Stadium Club Chrome Inserts Ken Griffey Jr
• 2020 Stadium Club Chrome base Derek Jeter 
• 2020 Stadium Club Chrome Refractor Derek Jeter
• 2020 Stadium Club Chrome Kyle Schwarber
• 2020 Stadium Club Chrome Refractor Kyle Schwarber
• 2020 Stadium Club Chrome X-Factor Kyle Schwarber
• 2020 Stadium Club Chrome Orange Refractor Kyle Schwarber
• 2020 Stadium Club Chrome Wave Refractor Kyle Schwarber
• 2020 Stadium Club Chrome Gold Refractor Kyle Schwarber
• 2020 Stadium Club Chrome Red Refractor Kyle Schwarber

There are reasons for this list I will tackle at a later date.

I hope 2021 has kicked off positively for you so far and I hope you have had at least one cup of coffee while checking out this post. I will be on my third cup soon.