Blaster Break: 2005 Fleer Showcase

Yeah, I know. It's been a while since I've done one of these. I think I shall do these more often.

2014 NSCC Pick-Ups: 2002 Flair Hobby Blaster

ZOMG!!! I POSTED A VIDEO BREAK!!!

Ripping Off Both Chris AND Sooz.

It's two, two, two rip-offs in one video.

But do they have an EPIC Frank Zappa soundtrack?

Didn't think so.

Five Blasters of 2011 Bowman Baseball.

I paid $104.90 for five Bowman Blasters and all I got was....

Part One



Part Two

El-Cheapo Blaster Break: 2007 Turkey Red

Marie from A Cardboard Problem told me about the el-cheapo Blasters K-Mart just got in. I got three 2007 Turkey Red Blasters this afternoon and busted them live on UStream.

On-Location Blaster Break: 2011 Topps Heritage.

What the hell, it was only 100 miles away.

Dual Video Blaster Break: 2010 Topps 206

On-Location Blaster Break: 2010 Topps Heritage

They still don't have any Panini World Cup stickers. So, you have to make-do with what they have.

Video Blaster Break: 2010 Upper Deck

Damn my phone is LOUD!

2009 OPC Blaster Break

Yeah, it's been a week since I posted anything. Sue me.

Video Box Break: 2009 Goudey Blaster

Yesterday was my birthday and I gave myself a present. Unfortunately, I picked a blaster of 2009 Goudey.

Thoughts and Observations on 2009 Upper Deck Series Two.

Since I seem to be the only person on the planet who has opened Series Two UD Baseball, (Yeah, I know, you're jealous. Don't hate, folks.) I figure I'd give you all a heads-up on what to expect when the UPS guy gets around to your neck-of-the-woods. Consider this a collector's guide to UD2.

1) The master checklist to UD2 has still not been posted to the Upper Deck website. There is a link to Series Two, and it mentions a street date of next Tuesday. But if you're one of those collectors who, you know, actually wants to know what's in a product before you buy it, you'll be disappointed to learn that the UD2 link takes you to Upper Deck's generic "Collector's Zone" page instead.

2) As you may have noticed in my video break, the "Silver Common" StarQuests are back for Series Two. For some strange reason the Silver's in UD1 were exclusive to loose retail packs and Jumbos. Not so for UD2.

OBTW, other than the words "BLUE" and "UNCOMMON" on the back, there is no noticeable difference (at least none to my discerning eye) at all between the Silvers and the Blues. Seriously, they are EXACTLY the same.

3) It appears that UD tacked a few extra cards onto the base set. Series Two was originally set at 500 cards (#501-1000). But according to the Team Checklists I pulled, there are a minimum of three extra cards in the set. Those additional cards -- all of which (surprise, surprise) are "Rookies" -- are:

#1001 Brett Anderson
#1002 Trevor Cahill
#1003 Jordan Schafer

4) Selected players who had base cards in UD1, are also in UD2.

You may have noticed that I pulled the Phillies Team Checklist out of my UD2 Blaster. Comparing and contrasting it with the Series One Team Checklist, five members of your 2008 World F'n Champions (Rollins, Hamels, Lidge, Howard, and Chutley) have base cards in BOTH series. And while UD2 DOES include many of the role players and backups you come to expect from a set like this, J.A. Happ and J.C. Romero are not to be found in either series. That sucks!

So there you have it; a taste of what's to come. Anyway, I think I'll be heading to the Audubon Wal-Mart tomorrow, if you know what I mean.

Video Box Break and Review: 2009 Upper Deck Series Two Blaster

Bloggers Note: 2009 Upper Deck Series Two Baseball is not scheduled for release until May 19. However at the Wal-Mart in Audubon, NJ, Blasters are already on the shelf. Don't tell anyone though, it'll be our little secret.

One Blaster box of 2009 Upper Deck Series Two (paid $19.97 + tax)
Ten packs per box, eight cards per pack.



Base Set: 64 of 500

Parallels: NONE

Inserts

5 Silver "Common" StarQuest: B. Webb, B. McCann, E. Longoria, F. Liriano, J. Bruce
3 Blue "Uncommon" StarQuest: B. Phillips, C-M Wang, D. Pedroia
1 Gold "Rare" StarQuest: B.J. Upton
1 Emerald "Super Rare" StarQuest: B. Phillips
1 OPC Preview: Chipper
1 Upper Deck Allen & Ginter Goodwin Champions Preview: C. Ripken, Jr.
1 20th Anniversary: N. Ryan

Autogamers

1 UD Game Materials: Dice-K

And now a Public Service Announcement

If you've opened up as much 2009 Upper Deck Series One as I have, you've noticed that the collation sucks. How much so? Well...

About a month ago, I bought a Series One Blaster at the local Wal-Mart. You can find that video here. In that particular Blaster I pulled a "Historic Firsts" insert of Mariners manager Dan Wakamatsu and a "USA 18U National Team" insert of Jeff Malm.

The next week, I went to the same Wal-Mart and bought another Blaster. In that box I pulled a Gary Sheffield Gold parallel numbered to 99 and another Jeff Malm USA insert.

For the next few weeks, this Wal-Mart was out of UD Blasters. But today, I noticed that they had put a few more out, so I bought another. Take a guess as to what I pulled.

Another Dan Wakamatsu "Historic First," another Jeff Malm USA, and another Gary Sheffield Gold parallel numbered to 99.

Combine that with the Hobby box I ripped at Dr. Wax Battle's and I've pulled three Dan Wakamatsu's, four Jeff Malm's and two Gary Sheffield Gold parallels.

OBTW, I've yet to pull a David Price rookie card.

2009 Upper Deck Baseball Blasters: buyer beware!

The Final Word on the Topps/Wal-Mart Kerfuffle

So yeah, I was wrong. It turns out it was a gimmick after all. In addition to the stealth "Black" cards in Wal-Mart Blasters, there will also be a stealth "Throwback" version of 2009 Topps that's exclusive to Target Blasters. The plan was to release both versions in April, but Wal-Mart jumped the gun and released them a month early.

The Cardboard Junkie has, as usual, expressed the opinions of many Hobbyists. Most of what I wanted to write, he already covered, so I won't pile on.

I will leave you with this. If Topps, Wal-Mart, and Target got together to create a special-run exclusively for their stores, I wouldn't have a problem with it. The problem was the bait-and-switch.

If a collector purchases a Blaster of 2009 Topps Baseball, he/she has the expectation of receiving 2009 Topps Baseball and not a stealth parallel set that he/she was not aware of -- and probably doesn't want anyway. It really is like buying a can of tomato sauce and getting diced tomatoes instead.

And another thing. Is it really too difficult for the card companies, big box retailers, and distributors to, you know, actually tell us what's in the product before we buy it? Or am I asking too much?

Finally, an explaination of those Black Bordered Topps base cards.

Ripped-and-posted directly from Topps.

"Topps is confirming that it randomly inserted special “BLACK” cards (the entire front of the card is black except for player image) in 2009 Topps Baseball Series 1 $19.99 value boxes found at Wal-Mart.

"The exclusive limited edition set includes each of the 330 subjects found in the 2009 Topps Series 1 Base Set."

And now you know. And knowing is half the battle.

Video Box Break and Review: 2009 Upper Deck Series One Blaster

Video Box Break and Review: 2008 Topps Baseball Updates & Highlights Presents 2008 Topps Allen & Ginter Blaster

Base Set: 39 of 350

Short Set: 39 of 300
Short-Prints (1:2): 0 of 50

Parallels
4 Minis: M. Kobayashi, R. Durham, E. Dukes, M. Scherzer
3 Black Bordered Minis (1:10): B. Jenks, A. Wainwright, A. Miller

Inserts
4 U.S. States: S. Victorino, J. Maurer, T. Tankersley, S. McClung
1 World Leader (1:12): O. Arias Sanchez (Costa Rica)

Blaster Break: 2008 Topps Updates & Highlights

Found a Blaster of TU&H at Target this evening. Why not?

One Blaster Box of 2008 Topps Updates & Highlights (Paid $19.99 + tax)
10 packs per box, eight cards per pack.

Base Set: 74 of 330 (22.42%)

Parallels
1 Gold (1:7, numbered to 2008) J. Cabrera

Inserts
1 2009 WBC Preview (1:9) Ichiro
1 Year in Review (1:6) D. Price
1 '86 Mets Ring of (Dis)Honor (1:18) H. Johnson
2 First Couples (1:6) Pierce, Ford

Autogamers
1 (one-per-box) M. Mulder

Video Box Break and Review: 2008 UD Masterpieces Blaster

One Blaster Box of 2008 UD Masterpieces (paid $19.97)
Eight packs per box, five cards per pack

The Video



The Pulls

Base Set: 36 of 120 (30.00%)

short set: 35 of 90 (38.89%)
1 Short-Print: Y. Berra

Parallels: NONE

Inserts: NONE

Mirrors
2 Yankee Tedium Lunacy: #3395 (R. Maris) & 3420 (B. Richardson)

Autogamers: NONE

The Review

Last year's retail version of UD Masterpieces was one of the best value breaks 2007. While the Hobby edition yielded an on-card autograph, three gamers, and a multi-colored galaxy of parallels in each 18-count waxbox, the $7/pack MSRP priced out most collector's who only wanted the base set. But no fear, as UD released a stripped-down version of Masterpieces for retail at only $2.99/pack. And there was much rejoicing. (Yay!)

This year's UD Masterpieces appears to follow the same formula, with a $7/pack Hobby version for J C, and a $2.99/pack retail version for A C. But there's one huge difference between Hobby and retail this year, and this is 2008 UD Masterpieces' fatal flaw.

Upper Deck expanded the base set from 90 to 120 cards, which is good because last year's set was a bit on the small-side. But those extra thirty cards in this year's set are short-printed. While this may appear to be a bad thing, it appeared that '08UDM would still be somewhat collectible. The sell-sheets for this product stated that each 12-pack Hobby box would yield six of the 30 SPs, for an insertion ratio of 1:2/packs -- a ratio that is easily manageable a collector to build his/her base set. But in this eight-pack Blaster box I just ripped (which actually had nine packs in it), I got only one SP.

So Upper Deck changed the insertion ratios from Hobby to retail from 1:2 to 1:8. Big deal, right? The problem is, there is nothing on the Blaster box mentioning this change; which would lead a collector to assume that the SPs are inserted into retail packs at the same 1:2 ratio as Hobby. That ain't good.

The Bottom Line

I pulled just under 40% of the short-set, and got two more of those annoying Yankee Tedium Lunacies. The Yankee Tedium Lunacy cards are about as out of place in this product (and in Goudey, for that matter) as those A-Rod 500 Homerun Bullshit Waste-of-Space cards were in last year's Allen & Ginter and Heritage. On the bright side, each pack that contained a YTL had five cards in it, so I guess works out in the end. Also, as I mentioned above, this Blaster had nine packs. So if you bought the one that has only seven, my apologies.

Don't get me wrong, UD Masterpieces is still a great set to try and build -- and this collector will. But getting only one SP in a Blaster when you were led to believe that you were getting four is really, really, bothersome.

Product Rating: 2 Gumsticks (out of five)

This would easily be a 3 Gumstick product if the SPs were seeded 1:2. It would be a 4 Gumstick product if it didn't have SPs at all.

... and another thing.

In addition to the SPs, there are no mention of insertion ratios for any of the other inserts, parallels, autogamers, or Yankee Tedium Lunacies anywhere. At last year's Hawaii Trade Conference, Richard McWilliam himself said that such insertion ratios would be returning to pack wrappers. We're still waiting on that Dick.