Better Than A Blaster: The Bench Edition

My latest purchase was actually a little bit cheaper than a blaster.  The Bench member Brettfan runs sales a few times a year that are broken up into team lots.  You can buy all, or just what you want.  I spent $16 on 28 colorful and shiny Cardinals.
 

First up are a couple of 2012 Chrome refractors.  The Carpenter is #ed to 199.  The Adams is not numbered, but the orange really stands out.  It is great to see him having a solid year in Washington.

Neither of these are numbered, but both are cool in their own way.  The Induction insert was a clever way for Panini to get around the license issue.  It is pretty hard to make out the STL on the HOF plaque.  The Red Prizm card goes great with the Cardinals uniform, although it would look better with a home jersey.

Normally I am not a fan of non standard sized cards, but 2013 Panini Cooperstown Coglan's Chips are not easy to find for 25 cents each.

The lone card from 2014 was this Rosenthal Finest Blue refractor #ed to 125.  Maybe my eyes need tested, but it looks more purple to me.  The Martinez is #ed to 250, while the Wacha is #ed to 99.  For the second time in his career he took a no hitter into the 9th inning on Sunday, but lost it with no outs.  When he has a good change up going, he can dominate.

Panini is like Topps in that they reuse photos.  This 2016 Gold Press Proof #ed to 99 looks just like the above 2013 Red Prizm.  The Black Border #ed to 199 looks to be the same pose, but Molina is wearing the home white jersey in this one. 

Nothing flashy about these 2016 Chrome Refractors.  Once again for a quarter each I will take them. 

The Bowman paper parallels do not pop as much as the chrome cards, but this 2016 #ed to 99 is still pretty sharp.  The 2017 Bowman Chrome refractor Hudson is #ed to 499.  He is in the Triple A rotation right now, but could end the year in the St. Louis bullpen. 

Finest refractors are another type of card I do not see very often at shows.  These purple refractors #ed to 250 were 50 cents each.

 Carlson is one of my favorite under the radar prospects.  He will not turn 20 until October.  He is struggling a bit at High A Palm Beach, but that park is not a great one for hitters.  If he does not pan out as a hitter, I would not be surprised to see him converted to a pitcher.  He has a cannon of an arm.  The 2017 Draft blue paper is #ed to 150, the purple Chrome is #ed to 250.

Purple cards showed up a lot in this package.  The Martinez #ed to 150 is my first Topps Inception card.  I did not know the cards were a lot thicker than Topps flagship.  The Piscotty purple refractor is #ed to 299.

More Topps Chrome refractors for a quarter each, although the Carpenter is the prism variety. 

The second green card of the package is from 2017 Gypsy Queen.  Neither one of these Molina cards are numbered, but it is always nice to add more Yadi to the collection.  Last night was his first game back since taking a foul ball to his manhood.

The last 2 cards are both Donruss parallels.  The 2017 Stat Line card is #ed to 217, while the 2018 Gold Press Proof is #ed to 99.  Not the most attractive cards, but numbered parallels that only cost a quarter are hard to pass up.