Since Absolute Baseball returned for the first time as a standalone product since 2005, I thought I’d sample a blaster box.
Sure, Absolute was part of the Chronicles product, including the 2019 set. But now it’s on its own.
Granted, you will only receive two packs containing five cards in each pack, but the good news is that Panini America is promising at least one autograph or memorabilia card in every blaster.
Of course, if you decide to buy a hobby box, the breakdown is nicer — still two packs, but there are 10 cards to a pack. A hobby box breakdown includes four autographs, two memorabilia cards, four inserts and two parallels.
The base set includes 100 cards. The design is not bad, although there are certainly plenty of elements to deal with on the card fronts.
The player’s photo dominates the card front and is framed by a white border. The top left part of the card has “Absolute Baseball” stamped in gold and set against a backdrop of that player’s primary team color. Five arrows (using the team’s primary color) point upward in the upper right-hand part of the card, while eight smaller white arrows point upward from the bottom left-hand corner. The player’s name is stamped in gold and presented last name first. The last name is in all capital letters, while his first name is printed in smaller capitals.
The team name is stamped in small silver type under the player’s name, and to the right are more arrows — seven small ones, based on the team’s primary colors, which point to the right. To the left of the team name are 12 lines stamped in gold.
The card backs are not as cluttered. The player’s name is at the top left-hand portion of the card, with a 10-line biography underneath. Statistics from the previous stretch beneath the biography and player photo.
And don’t forget those arrows. There are six of them on the right side of the card, pointing to the right. They are located beneath the statistics.
The blaster box I opened contained three base cards and two blue parallels.
The card backs are not as cluttered. The player’s name is at the top left-hand portion of the card, with a 10-line biography underneath. Statistics from the previous stretch beneath the biography and player photo.
And don’t forget those arrows. There are six of them on the right side of the card, pointing to the right. They are located beneath the statistics.
The blaster box I opened contained three base cards and two blue parallels.
I also received two insert cards and a parallel for each. Introductions is a 15-card set, and the card I pulled was of Shohei Ohtani. The parallel was a blue one of Eloy Jimenez.
Absolute Legends was the other insert I pulled. This 20-card subset pays tribute to some of baseball’s greatest players. I pulled a “regular” Jimmie Foxx card and a blue parallel of Roberto Clemente.
Retail blasters offer Rookie Threads memorabilia cards. There are 37 cards in the set, and I pulled a Jake Rogers card with a white uniform swatch.
The card is thick and employs the same photograph on the front and back. The difference is that the photo on the reverse is a fuller shot.
Absolute Legends was the other insert I pulled. This 20-card subset pays tribute to some of baseball’s greatest players. I pulled a “regular” Jimmie Foxx card and a blue parallel of Roberto Clemente.
Retail blasters offer Rookie Threads memorabilia cards. There are 37 cards in the set, and I pulled a Jake Rogers card with a white uniform swatch.
The card is thick and employs the same photograph on the front and back. The difference is that the photo on the reverse is a fuller shot.
For those who want to limit their collecting to retail products, these memorabilia cards also have parallels in red (numbered to 99), purple (25), gold (10), green (5) and black (1/1).
Overall, this is not a bad-looking set. The biggest drawback (other than all of the arrows) is that there are no team logos on uniforms or helmets.
That is due to the fact that Topps, and not Panini, own the MLB and MLBPA licenses. Unfortunate, but a business fact of life. fact of life.
Overall, this is not a bad-looking set. The biggest drawback (other than all of the arrows) is that there are no team logos on uniforms or helmets.
That is due to the fact that Topps, and not Panini, own the MLB and MLBPA licenses. Unfortunate, but a business fact of life. fact of life.
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