Blaster Break - 2013 Topps Series One

This is the second of the two blasters I won in the Fantasy Baseball League.

Remember 2013 Topps Series One? It was kind of fun going back and opening the first 2013 Topps cards. Nothing too exciting but the manufactured patch was pretty cool. Yu Darvish!

If anyone needs any of these inserts everything but the Darvish is available. Just let me know.

Blaster Break - 2013 Allen & Ginter

This is the first of two blasters I won in the Fantasy Baseball League. I didn't buy any Allen & Ginter this year so pretty much everything in here was new to me.

I only got one Diamondbacks player (Trevor Cahill) but I did get a bunch of cool non-baseball cards. My favorite is the Matthew Berry. A Matthew Berry card as part of a Fantasy Baseball prize package? Ridiculous!

I also got a bunch of minis. I don't really like minis so they're available for trade if anyone wants them. Same with the other cards below. Anyone need the Alamo or Venus? If you still need any of the base cards, let me know and I can check to see if I have them too.

Blaster Break - 2013 Topps

I stopped at Wal-Mart on my way home from work today to hunt for 2013 Topps. I found my pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

I limited myself to a single blaster but I like what I got. The base cards are nice. Tons of cool photos. I like the 1972 mini's a lot more than I thought I would but the rest of the inserts are a little boring. I'm not sure how I feel about the emerald parallels yet.

I did okay on the commemorative patch. Hello, Mike Trout! 

            

2012 Topps Update is Here!

On the way home from work I stopped by Wal-Mart and picked up two blasters and a few packs of 2012 Topps Update.

This one kind of made up for only getting one card of a guy on the Diamondbacks...

Blaster Break - 2012 Topps Archives

I haven't been very active in the blogosphere or on Twitter lately so I didn't even realize that 2012 Topps Archives started appearing at retail establishments over the weekend.

When I did find out this afternoon, I ran straight over to Target. They didn't have any.

My next stop was Wal-Mart. This is the same Wal-Mart that had come through for me when Topps Series One was released earlier this year so I was hopeful. They didn't let me down. I picked up two blasters.

After opening them, I kind of have mixed feelings about this set. I remember when the "Archives" brand was meant solely for retired players so that's strike one in my book. We've seen a lot of these designs recently in the various Heritage sets. Strike two.

Instead of striking out, this set hits a bloop single in my book. It's just okay. I had fun opening it and getting the various inserts like the stickers and rainbow foils but nothing knocked my socks off. Sorry I can't come up with a better term than that right now.

Below is some of what I got. A few D-Backs, a few of my favorite legends like Cal Ripken and Tony Gwynn, and a few of my favorite current guys like Josh Hamilton and Mark Reynolds.
 
  

Pack Break - 2012 Topps Gypsy Queen

I stopped at Target this afternoon and picked up a rack pack of 2012 Gypsy Queen and a few loose packs. Nothing too exciting but I did get a Daniel Hudson. Score!

Everything's available if anyone needs it. The Gooden and Tabata minis are Straight Cut backs and Arencibia is Gypsy Queen back. I need any of the Luis Aparicio minis if you have them. If not that's okay, still let me know what you need.

  

Blaster Break - 2012 Topps

I spent the weekend constantly checking Twitter and eBay to see if 2012 Topps hit retail stores a little early. There wasn't much on Saturday or Sunday but today it became obvious that many Walmart's already had the cards in stock.

After work, I set out to buy some cards. There are a few Walmarts between my job and my house. The first one I went to had nothing but the second one was fully stocked.


Here's some of what I got in the first blaster. I really like the Gold Futures and 1987 minis. The sparkly, gold parallels aren't bad either.

Pack Break - 2011 Topps Value Box

While reading various blogs the past few days, I've seen a bunch of breaks on the 2011 Topps Value Boxes. You guys motivated me to go out and get one for myself. I mean it's hard to turn down a sale on baseball cards, right?

If you haven't heard, Wal-Mart is closing these out. For just over ten bucks you get five packs of 2011 Topps Update, one pack of 2011 Bowman Chrome, an exclusive Bryce Harper rookie card, and a Diamond Giveaway code.


This is our first Bryce Harper card. Too bad it's probably his least desirable one to date. Nothing too exciting in the packs either. We did get a refractor out of of the Bowman Chrome. It's of Phillies prospect, Brody Colvin. This dude's on the top 100 prospect list so we might have something hear in a few years.

Everything except the Harper, Colvin, Eppley, and Venters are available if you need them.

Blaster Break - 2011 Topps Update

My wife got me a blaster from 2011 Topps Update for Christmas. She got it at Wal-Mart so it came with two packs of blue parallel cards. Nothing too exciting. I did get a few D-Backs and a Pat Neshek in the blues and a nice Gaylord Perry throwback manufactured patch card. Everything else is available if you need it.

Pack Break - 2011 Topps Lineage Hot Pack

I'm sure I'm not the only one who occasionally throws in a low bid on one of those "Hot Pack" eBay auctions. This time I won. For $4 and free shipping I scored a 2011 Topps Lineage value pack.

My hit was an Ike Davis mini-jersey card. Not bad.

Everything except the Ryne Sandberg and Daniel Hudson would be available for trade if you're interested.

Pack Break - 2011 Gypsy Queen

This is only the second pack of Gypsy Queen I've bought and it was a good one. I'm now the proud owner of a Derek Jeter jersey card. Even though I'm not really a Yankees fan, this card is still pretty cool.

The pack also included a nice Duke Snider card, a Dustin Pedroia mini, and an Andruw Jones Home Run Heroes insert.

Pack Break - 2011 Topps Attax

On Tuesday, A Cardboard Problem did a pack break for 2011 Topps Attax. One of the cards they got was of the Diamondbacks mascot, Baxter. Being a DBacks fan, I thought it was pretty cool.

I was at my local Target today and decided to buy a pack for myself. Lucky for me, I got the one card I wanted plus a nice Starlin Castro and a foil Heath Bell. Sweet!

Box Break: 2007 Tristar Prospects Plus # 2

Last week I won a contest over at 30-Year Old Cardboard. The prize was two 2007 Tristar Prospect Plus blasters. Here's what I got in the second box:

Pack One:
Nick Schmidt
Adrian Cardenas
Brad Suttle - Green 33/50
Brandon Hamilton
Jarrod Parker
Brian Rike

Pack Two:
Corey Brown
Neil Ramirez
Clayton Kershaw - Protential
Bubba Bell
David Kopp
Jonathan Bachanov

Pack Three:
Corey Luebke
David Mailman
Anthony Rizzo
Josh Vitters
Andrew Cumberland
Duke Welker

Pack Four:
Ben Revere
Todd Frazier
Joe Mather
Eddie Kunz - Auto
Kyle Lotzkar
Josh Smoker

Pack Five:
Jonathan Arencibia
Rick Porcello
Michael Main
Kyle Lotzkar - Auto
Ching Lung Ho
Jake Smolinski

Pack Six:
John Mayberry
Aaron Poreda
Justin Jackson
Carlos Gonzalez - Protential
Charlie Culberson
Ryan Pope

Pack Seven:
Brock Huntzinger
Clayton Mortensen
Travis Snider
Jose Tabata
Fernando Martinez - Protential
James Adkins

Box Break: 2007 Tristar Prospects Plus # 1

Last week I won a contest over at 30-Year Old Cardboard. The prize was two 2007 Tristar Prospect Plus blasters. Here's what I got in the first box:

Pack One:
Wes Roemer
Peter Koema
Eddie Kunz
Austin Romine
Carmen Angelini
Daniel Duffy

Pack Two:
Jake Arrieta
Casey Crosby
Billy Rowell - Protential
Blake Bleavan
Phillipe Aumont
Ross Detwiler

Pack Three:
Pedro Beato
Tommy Hunter
Yung Chi Chen - Protential
Beau Mills
Ed Easley
Jeff Larish

Pack Four:
Josh Donaldson
William Middlebrooks
Matt Mangini
Travis D'Arnaud
Josh Vitters
Andrew Cumberland

Pack Five:
Brett Cecil
Mike Moustakas
Kellen Kulbacki - Auto
Chris Withrow
Madison Bumgarner
Sam Runion

Pack Six:
Ching Lung Lo
Greg Reynolds
Carlos Carrasco - Protential
Grant Desme
Jason Heyward
Trystan Magnuson

Pack Seven:
Charlie Culberson
Jake Smolinski
Todd Frazier - Auto
Andrew Brackman
Daniel Moskos
Max Scherzer

Pack Break - 2010 Topps Opening Day

Since it's Opening Night for the 2010 season I thought it seemed appropriate to do a quick pack break. Earlier this afternoon, I handed over my dollar to the nice lady at the Wal-Mart register in exchange for this pack of 2010 Topps Opening Day.

So far I am two for two on pulling a blue bordered parallel card from these packs. At first I thought they were one per pack but according to the odds on the wrapper they are 1:6. Also got another Topps Town Stars card ( feel free to steal the code ).

Enjoy the Sox / Yankees game tonight and be sure to check back here tomorrow and the rest of this week for more Opening Day-related posts and autographs!

2010 Topps Opening Day:

Dan Haren
Freddy Sanchez
Jayson Werth
Matt Kemp
Will Venable
Lyle Overbay #'d /2010
TTS - Ryan Howard

Pack Break - 2010 Topps Opening Day

Picked up a pack of 2010 Topps Opening Day this morning at Target. If you haven't seen these yet, they are exactly like the regular issue Topps cards but with an Opening Day logo in one of the corners.

I did pull a parallel card of Braves pitcher, Tommy Hanson and a Chipper Jones Topps Town Stars insert. Feel free to steal the code, I'm not a Topps Town guy.

2010 Topps Opening Day:

1 - Prince Fielder
11 - Tommy Hanson #'d 1881/2010
44 - Ivan Rodriguez
99 - David Price
161 - Chad Billingsley
196 - Raul Ibanez
TTS3 - Chipper Jones

08 Topps Series 1 Blaster Break: Bonus Pack

The final pack from our box break is the "BONUS PACK!" I didn't realize what the bonus pack was until I opened it. It consists of three cards from a ten card set featuring Dick Perez artwork. These are just okay. I've never been a huge fan of the Dick Perez cards.

Bonus Pack

Prince Fielder
Micky Mantle
Cameron Maybin

Favorite card from bonus pack: Mickey Mantle

08 Topps Series 1 Blaster Break: Pack Five

Here is what we got in our fifth and final regular pack...

Pack # 5

Ivan Rodriguez - Tigers
Jarrod Washburn - Mariners
Clint Sammons - Braves
Bob Geren - Athletics
Scott Olsen - Marlins
Bretty Myers - Phillies
Cesar Izturis - Pirates
Ross Ohlendorf - Yankees
Ramon Vazquez - Rangers
Ichiro - Mariners

Favorite card from Pack # 3: Ichiro

08 Topps Series 1 Blaster Break: Pack Three

Without further delay... here is pack # 3...

Pack # 3

Gavin Floyd - White Sox
Eric Wedge - Indians
Dustin Pedroia - 2007 AL ROY
CC Sabathia - 2007 AL Cy Young
Andy Sonnanstine - Rays
Prince Fielder - 50th Anniversary
National League Leaders
Jose Lopez - Mariners
Emilio Bonifacio - Diamondbacks
Nyjer Morgran - Gold parralel

Favorite card from Pack # 3: Nyjer Morgan

08 Topps Series 1 Blaster Break: Pack Two

Ready for Pack # 2?

Pack # 2

Garrett Atkins - Rockies
Michael Barrett - Padres
Johnny Estrada - Brewers
Jake Peavy - Padres
Adam Wainwright - Cardinals
Jerry Owens - White Sox
Tim Hudson - Braves
J.D. Durbin - Phillies
Billy Buckner - Royals
Casey Blake - Indians

Favorite card from pack 2: Tim Hudson

Check back tomorrow for Pack # 3!