2009 Upper Deck Blaster - A Much Delayed Review

I purchased the 2009 Upper Deck blaster below about a month ago, when they were first released. I scanned the cards, and had everything ready, but just never found time to write the post. So, since I did most of the work already, I figured I might as well finish it off.

I was very pleased with this blaster, and thoroughly enjoyed the variation in the cards that I received. Along with some great looking base cards, I also received at least one insert in every pack, which was a nice surprise. While opening the cards I was reminded of the early Score releases, where every pack contained a Dream Team, Franchise, or other insert or parallel set to keep things interesting.



We'll start with the most important part of the break, the Oakland A's cards. I ended up with two A's in total, which considering my usual luck, is pretty good!


Every blaster contains a separate pack with a game-used jersey cards, and I pulled the above Dan Uggla, with a small pinstripe jersey swatch in the J. It's already been set aside for Mario, who I know will enjoy it.



I pulled on Starquest in the pack, this Blue Uncommon parallel of Alfonso Soriano.



I also managed to pull three different O-Pee-Chee inserts, which I think was beating the odds. I still find it weird that Upper Deck owns the rights to O-Pee-Chee, since they're essentially just Topps cards with a different logo.



These historical first inserts are a little weird, but this one is at least practical, unlike the Alien version that also exist. I got one of the 20th Anniversary Retrospective cards, of which I've still yet to see a checklist. I'm really holding out hope for a Rickey in there somewhere!



Continuing on my run of inserts, are these two USA Retrospectives. I'm not too into the Team USA cards, but they do have a decent design.




I added three more Yankee Stadium Legacy cards to my stack, in the hopes of eventually trading them for ones that I need. If anyone has any of these cards for trade, on games when Rickey hit a home run, I'd definitely be interested in working out a trade.



I received a few Team Leaders cards in the packs, with the one above featuring current Athletic Matt Holliday.


One of the interesting things about the break, however, is with the influx of inserts, there was actually a lack of "star" base cards. The Dan Haren above was actually the biggest star in the lot. Although I enjoyed the break, it's probably going to be the only UD blaster for me this year. I'm going to focus on collecting the A's cards, and I now have a nice lot to use for trading with others.

My Second Online Box Break

About two weeks ago I posted my first ever online box break, featuring one of three blasters that I got as an anniversary present from my wife.



I've finally put together the second blaster break, which was 2008 Topps Heritage. As with the first break, most of the cards are for trade, and if you see any that you need, just send me an e-mail! Links to all of my current want lists (although some are still in progress) can be found here.



The first "pack" that I opened was the little silver foil Target-exclusive pack, containing the T-405 mini cards, which are really great looking cards. I think I did pretty well, with the Pujols (slight damage to upper left corner), Buchholz, and A-Rod being some of the better cards in the set. I also pulled a Steve Pearce, who I'd never actually heard of before.



The first real pack I opened was one of the best, as far as base cards are concerned. Halladay and Pedro are both pretty solid, and the I-Rod and Austin Kearns are black-backed parallels. The best card of the pack, however, is the Cole Hamels all-star, which just looks cool, and is also a short-print.



This next pack was definitely a let down after the first. I got the regular Kearns this time, as well as a Bill Hall black-back.



I got my first (and only) Athletic in this pack (a Kotsay I already had), as well as another I-Rod. The Mauer card was a nice pull, as was the Pirates threesome. I really like the way they mimicked the original set with the production of these group cards. Finally, the Micah Owings is a short-print, and the Dan Giese is a black-back.



The next pack was fairly uneventful, with the Wheeler being a black-back. But, I really like the A-Rod Baseball Thrills card. The horizontal triptych is really appealing to me, even if it does feature a Yankee.



I like the look of the Cardinals team card, but find the addition of the brick wall a little odd. I think I read somewhere that this was to cover the batboys and other non-players, which would make sense, but still adds an interesting element to the card. The Ryan Howard is the second Baseball Thrills I've pulled (it's actually the black-back version), and I think I might like to collect them all, since I've already pulled two of the best. If anyone has any of the others to trade, please let me know. In case anyone cares, the Stetter rookie is also black-backed.



The second to last pack contained only six base cards, none of which were very memorable. But, why only six, instead of the usual eight...



This pack also contained a Travis Hafner Clubhouse Collection relic. This is only the second game-used card I've ever pulled (I told you I don't bust many packs), so it was rather exciting!



The final pack of the break was not very noteworthy, but it did contain a Randy Johnson base card, as well as a Manny, so it wasn't a total bust.

Overall, I had a blast opening the second blaster, and only the Goudey break remains, which will probably show up online in another week or two. Once again, if any of the cards piqued anyones interest, please let me know, and I'm sure we can work out a trade!

My First Online Box Break!

Being mainly a player collector, I don't tend to bust open many boxes of cards, other than the random pack I'd pick up at Target here and there. I came home from work on Monday, and found a nicely wrapped package, about the size of a shoebox, waiting for me on the counter. My wife and I were celebrating our 10-year dating anniversary (we've been married for almost 5 years, but dated for over 5 years before that), and she'd gotten me a present!



The shoebox was actually the three blasters above, cleverly taped together to form one large box. I know there's been plenty of blaster breaks posted already, but I since I was now the proud owner of more unopened packs than I'd had in at least 10 years, I thought I'd share my breaks with everyone else.

I decided to open the Heritage first, followed by the Goudey, and finally the Allen & Ginter. The Allen & Ginter cards are my favorite of the three, which is why I waited until the end to open the packs, but also why they will be the first to be posted on the blog.



The first pack that I opened seemed pretty thick, as it contained a total of 8 cards (instead of the expected 6). It was an unexpected surprise to get two minis in one pack, along with a state card and the Dmitri Young short print.

But, my favorite card by far was the Gateway Arch. My grandfather was actually a head electrician during the construction of the Arch, and my parents have a picture of him standing on the top, on the outside! I'd actually like to try and acquire all the different mini-parallel versions if possible, so if anyone has any to trade, let me know and I'm sure we can work something out.



Another good pack, this time featuring Carlos Pena (an ex-Athletic), an Eric Chavez mini, a Coco Crisp SP, and my first World's Greatest Victories card.



The next pack isn't as exciting as the first, but it did have a Frank Thomas mini (with an Allen & Ginter back), my second A's mini in a row.



Another fairly uneventful pack (with only a DeJesus SP), until the Babe Ruth mini that is! This is the first Babe Ruth card I've ever pulled out of a pack, so it was pretty exciting. It definitely looks better as a mini that if it had been a full sized card.



Unlike previous packs, I actually got shorted a card in this one, with no mini to be found. But, the Empire State Building is a pretty cool card, and Mary Shelley just looks creepy.



I really like the angle of the Scott Kazmir card, and the Chase Utley mini is possibly the first Utley card I've ever pulled (I told you I haven't opened many packs lately). This pack ends on an interesting note, with physicist Marie Curie (of radium fame), and Bram Stoker, author of Dracula.



Both the Russ Martin and horizontal Dan Uggla are great looking cards. The Ben Franklin is nice, but is one of the few historic cards that I already had.



The final pack of the blaster was another good one. The Troy Glaus black-border mini is the first one that I've received, and I also got a Mark Ellis state card, which I already had. Although I'm usually a fan of the horizontal cards, the picture on the Luke Scott card seems a little small, with way too much white space around the border.

Most of the above cards are for trade for anyone that is interested. Some cards, such as the Astros and Marlins (Mario, do you already have the Uggla?) are already spoken for, but I'm sure we can work something out. I'm always looking for Rickey cards that I need (of course), but I'd also be interested in trading for Oakland A's cards as well.