2 2008 Topps Stadium Club blasters

Picked these up recently at the Mart (K)

Between the 2 blasters, I received no doubles and plenty of the first day issues and lots of rookies. I have decided to finish this set 1-150 with both versions of each card 101-150. I will be getting a want list up shortly.

Now, its a shame that Topps had to bring back a brand in order to finally commit to some nice photography. In the 2 blasters I got, I found 5 cards depicting nice action shots of plays at the plate. If they could start using photography like this consistently in their sets, I think combined with the history of Topps, they would easily be back on top of the card world.

Now, while hits are not guarenteed in these boxes, I have been very lucky. Last time I pulled a Beam Team insert of Jeff Salazar - this time getting a redemption card for Mariner Prospect Jeff Clement - Now lets see if they can get me the card by March 09 as they are predicting

2 Blasters of 08 UD Timeline

Uh oh... I like it...

I might want to collect this set. This is quite foolish of me, but I feel like I just made a big mistake.

Here is what I got in 2 blasters worth of this stuff from the local K Mart.

First up we have a trio of the regular base cards. Nothing too fancy here - just a nice trio of All Stars and perennial MVP contenders. I was able to get doubles of all of these seen here so 1 for the set and 1 for the team sets. Very happy.

Next up is from the 92 Minors set - This is one of 3 Longoria rookie cards pulled in 2 blasters - not too bad - I like that these cards hold true to their originals in that they are not glossy.

These 2 cards come from my favorite set within a set. I think that these have such a classic look to them even though they come from a contemporary UD set. If I dont decided to collect the set as a whole, I would at minimum like to get all of this edition.
Cheeseburger. Thats all.

Here we have a couple of die cut rookies whos cards I am sick of getting.

Next up is a card of a rookie I am not sick of - In fact I have a bit of a man crush on Mr. Max Sherzer - if his arm doesn't fall off, lets just say his first name ain't baby - it's Max, Mr. Scherzer if you're nasty

Finally we have the 2 "Hits". A Game used Jim Edmonds bat (any cubbies fans out there?) and a Andrew Miller Jersey (already sent an email to Mario to see if he needs it)

So - I guess I know I will be picking up a few more blasters of this before I make my final decision - I have a strong feeling I am going to need to get most of this set on E-Bay and trades - not so much by packs unless I want 10 copies of each base card. But at least the look nice enough to send out for a signature or 2. Time will tell.

Topps Series 2 Blaster Pack Battle part III

And here is the third and final entry in the Target blaster battle - again, the points are as follows

Rookie - 5 Points
Met - 5 Points
All-Star - 2 points (each appearance)
Guy on my fantasy team - 5 points
Insert - 5 points
anything with a president - minus 5 points
Manager - minus 3 points
dispshit no one should really care about - 0 points
Checklist - minus 10

So far pack five is winning with 41 Points

Pack 7 -

Josh Hamilton - 2
Rocco Baldelli - 0
Chris Snyder - 0
Nate Robertson - 0
Chone Figgins YIR - 5
Homer Bailey - 0
James Shields - 0
Brian Wilson - 2 P

ack Total - 9 points

Pack 8

Checklist - -10
Jose Castillo - 0
Cla Meredith - 0
Jesse Litsch - 0
Jair Jurrjens - 0
Manny Parra - 0
Casey kotchman - 0
Kenny Rogers - 8
Jonny Gomes - 0

Pack total - Minus 2 points - so far the worst of the bunch by far

Pack 9

Adam Kennedy - 0
Matt Murton - 0
Gary Sheffield - 18 + 5 = 23
Todd Jones - 2
Campaign 44 - -5
Topps Stars Jimmy Rollins - 5 + 6 = 11
Daniel Cabrera - 0
Jorge De La Rosa - 0

Total - 36 points - 2nd place pack so far

Final Pack 10

Chase utley - 6
Marlon Byrd - 0
Mike Lamb AS Rookie - 5
Delwyn Young - 0
Mike Morse - 0
Mike Rabelo - 0
JonGarland - 2
Gary Matthews - 2

Pack total - 15 points

So we have our winner! Pack 5 on the strength of 3 big time starters, Schilling, Johnson, and Verlander - is the Winner

Ah, and the game used card is Adam Dunn - who wants it? Until Next Time

2008 Topps Series 2 Blaster Battle part II

Okay, here are the next 3 packs in my Targer blaster pack battle - for those of you who enjoy continuity, here are the rules

Rookie - 5 Points
Met - 5 Points
All-Star - 2 points (each appearance)
Guy on my fantasy team - 5 points
Insert - 5 points
anything with a president - minus 5 point
sManager - minus 3 points
dispshit no one should really care about - 0 points
Checklist - minus 10

Pack 4

Nate McLouth - 2
Edwin Jackson - 0
Reggie Willits - 0
Year In Review Dan Haren - 5+4 = 9
Juan Pierre - 0
Trey Hillman - -3
Joe Crede - 2
bobby Abreu - 4

pack Total - 14 points

Pack 5

Matt Cain - 0
Curt Schilling - 12
Randy Johnson - 20 points
Justin Verlander - 2
Mark Ellis - 0
Adam dunn All-star Rookie - 5 +2 = 7
alex Gordon - 0
Yuniesky Betancourt - 0

Pack Total - 41 points - so far our leader by a large sum!

Pack 6

Garrett Olson - 0
Troy Glaus - 8 points
Ryan Braun - 2
Adam Eaton - 0
Melvin Mora - 4
Mike Scioscia - 1
Mike Redmond - 0
Jason Giambi - 10 points -

Pack total - 25 points

We will finish up tomorrow with the last 4 packs

2008 Topps Series 2 Blaster Part 1

This weekend while at Target buying some candles and tooth paste on a Friday night (try to tell me I dont know how to party) I got the nod from the wife when walking past the card section and of all the sets I am trying to build, this was the only blaster available, so it was.

Now, since I am sure we have all seen enough of these cards and really, none of them are all that great looking since Topps is to photography as I am to succesful dieting, there shan't (I know its not a word) but I will apply an arbitrary grading system to the cards as we go, thus making a poorly organized on the fly pack battle!

I guess I should make up some kind of score card... here we go

Rookie - 5 Points
Met - 5 Points
All-Star - 2 points (each appearance)
Guy on my fantasy team - 5 points
Insert - 5 points
anything with a president - minus 5 points
Manager - minus 3 points
dispshit no one should really care about - 0 points
Checklist - minus 10

Pack 1

Conor Jackson - 5 points (roto league)
Michael Cuddyer - 0 points
Fausto Carmona - 0 points
John Russel - -3 points
James Loney All-Star Rookie - 5pts insert, 5pts roto league = 10 points
Campaign 76 - who cares - -3 points
Kason Gabbard - 0 points
Al Reyes - 0 points

pack total = 9 points

Pack 2

Franklin gutierrez - 0
Tom Gorzelanny - 0
Brendan Ryan Gold 1581/2008 - 5
Greg Dobbs - 0
Randy Wells RC - 5
Tony Pena - 0
Franciso Cordero - 4 (2x AS)
Ronnie belliard - 2 (1x AS)

Pack Total - 16 points

Pack 3

Bruce Bochy - -3 points
Ty Wiggington - 0
Prince Fielder - 2pts
Denard Span RC - 5 points
Joakim Soria - 2
Jo-Jo Reyes - 0
Aj Burnett - 0
John Smoltz - 16 pts
Checklist - min 10

Pack total - 10 points

Stay Tuned for part II tomorrow!