2022 Diamond Kings Baseball with Autograph

2022 Diamond Kings:  This pack delivered well including an auto.  We'll start off with Juan Soto who is struggling a bit this year but he's still only 23 and has had some great seasons already as well as a championship on his resume.  He needs to stay healthy, but he is great to watch at the plate.

Again a nice pull in this pack to include the base cards.  Not a bad design but as always the lack of team logo is annoying.

The rookie cards have different designs which is okay but they aren't all hits like the Shane Baz take.

My auto was a nice surprise.  McCormick is getting some regular at bats with the Astros but he is struggling at the plate this year.  He's 27 so hopefully he can get things going.

Here we have an Artist Proof parallel which I never understand.  A parallel with the only difference being something stamped on it.  The Frame cards are kind of cool.  Gallery of Stars are alright but I'd rather have a true "Diamond Kings" card.

I'd like a little less color for an old-timer like Bob Feller.  Still I like this one.  Not looking for black and white but maybe some muted tones.

Nice to see some retired greats.  Good pack of cards and while I nit pick some these are good for what they are.  I doubt I'll pick up more but still fun.

BREAKDOWN:
20 – Total Cards
6 – RC
1 – SP
1 – Gray Frame
1 – Aficionado
1 – Artist’s Proof
1 – Gallery of Stars
1 – DK Signatures #/75

2019 Diamond Kings Baseball

While I'm not a fan of the no logo thing I do find I like the Diamond Kings cards year in and year out and finally found a pack of the 2019 Diamond Kings cards.  I enjoy the art/painting feel of these as highlighted by this Johnny Bench card.  They do a good job minimizing the lack of logo.  It isn't always possible of course but still I like the looks of this set.

    You really get a sense of these cards being from days gone by.  The design also gives plenty of room for the photos to shine.  As always Panini shies away from the fielding photos.    

The current players aren't out of place but they have a different vibe to me when looking at them in this format.  I still like them but just different is all.  Goldy and Perez will go directly to the personal collection.  Nice additions.  The backs are fine with decent write-ups  

I liked the Hall of Fame and Team Heroes inserts but the DK 205 falls a bit flat.  I'm not saying it's not a good card just not a design I'm hugely fond of.  

I like the Squires card design.  I'm not really sure if it is a nod to something or they just thought Squires was a cool name.

The DiMaggio red framed card is a nice touch. I don't normally like the frames per se but even though it doesn't jive with the Yankees' team colors I like it.  The price point on these will keep me from buying more packs but I'll definitely look for singles and and inserts.  I really enjoy seeing the retired greats in sets and there are some nice looking inserts here to be had that I didn't pull.

BREAKDOWN:

20 – Total Cards

6 – RC

6 – Retired Greats

2 – Team Heroes

1 – DK 205

1 – Squires

1 – Red Frame Parallel

1 – Hall of Fame Heroes