A Triangle of 2018 Panini Chronicles Blasters

Last year, Dave and Adam's had a sale on Panini Chronicles from the previous year, where you could get 3 blasters of Chronicles for a nice price. I did really well, getting some base cards, some awesome inserts, and relics of Miguel Sano AND Mike Piazza.

So, when the offer came around again, I jumped at the chance. Chronicles, while a little flawed, is still a very fun box to rip. The 2018 version may be my favorite so far, as it's got the best subsets, as well as the more impressive rookie class to pick from (Acuna, Albies, Torres, Ohtani). So, I figured I'd go with it.

15 packs per. For 12, we have 5 cards per pack, and for 3 packs we have only 3 special Revolutions inserts.

Let's dive right in:

 Box #1's Revolution cards, which TBH I did awesome with here, are of MVP Cody Bellinger, plus Yankee outfielder Clint Frazier and...LEGENDARY Yankee outfielder Mickey Mantle. Not bad at all.

 Pack 1- Already we see a Chronicles base card, of Jose Altuve. Thankfully this set isn't as base-reliant as the 2017 version, as these are only seen sparingly. Acuna's is a Prestige subset, and those are basic as well.

 This was an NL-West friendly pack at the end of the day, with Cody Bellinger as my Phoenix insert, and Corey Seager as my Prism card. Ryan McMahon's is a Status insert, which...looks awesome in this 2018 set, but not as cool in 2019.

 Pack 2- Aaron Judge's is a Limited subset, and I've pulled this in a previous break, as well as the Verdugo Crusade. Ozzie Albies' is a Studio subset, which means Studio pulled a Freaky Friday with Topps Gallery.

And here's some of the parallels that were...eerily absent from my 2019 blasters. Mookie Betts' Select card is a blue parallel, #'d to 149., Adrian Beltre's base card is a Press Proof parallel, numbered to 299. Not bad at all.

 Pack 3- Nick Williams' is a Prestige, pretty basic. Amed Rosario's is an Illusions, which I still love. We get the base version of Mookie's Select card, as well as a Contenders card of his teammate, Rafael Devers.

So, uh...you know how last time I got good hits?

...not the case this time.

Chris Flexen is the rare homegrown Mets pitcher that sucks donkey balls. The guy has had TWO STRAIGHT seasons of disastrous starting opportunities. And of course, he's my auto here. Terrific.

 Pack 4- Marte's is a base. Austin Hays comes in twice, first in a Classics card, very cute, and then in a Prism card.

Francisco Mejia's is my Optic insert, which is pretty shiny in person. And I got a Status of Rhys Hoskins, which sort of makes up for that shitty hit from the last pack.

 Box #2's Revolutions are relatively standard rookie fare for 2018- Victor Robles, Ronald Acuna and JP Crawford.

 Pack 5- Devers is the sleek, ultra-cool Limited for this pack, while Brian Anderson's is our...foily product passing itself off as Studio

 These ones are very similar in the 2018 version, but these are great star players to pull.

And we got another Chronicles parallel, with Corey Kluber, a guy I love pulling cards of, getting a Press Proof numbered to 299.

 Pack 6- Some pretty standard cards of heroes. Scherzer's is your standard Score, Rizzo's a Prestige.

 And the glossier stuff- Torres's Phoenix, Ohtani's Prism, and a much-needed Rhys Hoskins Illusions. Definitely speaks to me as a Yanks-Phils collector.

 Pack 7- Two basic Donruss/Prism rookies of Farmer, who finished 2019 in Cincinnati, and Scott Kingery, who finally has a role in Philly.

 AND HERE'S SOME BRYCE FOR YA! Rookies and Stars finally makes an appearance on the left, next to a Crusade insert as well.

And a Clint Frazier Status to close the pack out.

 Pack 8- Basic stuff here- Sisco, Verdugo, Sano. Nothing yells at you.

 Rizzo's is a Prism, and the now-ubiquitous Juan Soto gets the Optic.

Box #3's Revolutions: Jose Altuve joins two I've already pulled.

 Pack 9- Amed Rosario and Clint Frazier's are the boilerplate base-designs, and JP Crawford's is Studio. I know Crawford's Phils tenure is gonna be lost to his Mariners numbers, but I like that I'm still pulling cards of him from Philly.

And the guys who are all over this set, Ozzie Albies and Alex Verdugo, in Select and Prism sets respectively.

 Pack 10- A nice smattering of stars in here- Devers is a nice Illusions, we get a Clint classics, Trout looks awesome on Crusades, and Harper gets a lick in with Phoenix.

 And heck, let's throw in a Yankee parallel for good measure. Here's a Clint Frazier Score parallel, in teal and numbered to 199. Not bad.

 Pack 11- One more Verdugo for the road, a token Trout, and a Luiz Gohara card. The Braves dealt him to Seattle, I believe.

And seeing as the Yanks got in on the parallels last pack, the Sox jump back in, with a Rafael Devers blue Phoenix, #'d to 149. Not complaining here either.
And an Andujar Prism to balance it out.

 Pack 12- A few names we've been seeing a lot in this break- Andujar, Devers and Frazier.

And, seeing as it's a 2018 product, we end on two Ohtanis- a Chronicles base card, and a super-cool Status card. One as a batter, one as a pitcher. Cool stuff.

Not a bad break, despite the lack of a substantial hit. There's still enough cool subset and parallel action going on to make me feel satisfied here, which is nice. And lots of Yankees, which definitely helps.