Battle of the Blasters

2014 Topps Heritage has finally arrived in my neck of the woods and I wasted little time in picking up two blaster boxes... one from Target and the other from Walmart.

To make things interesting, I decided to have them battle it out and see which retail superstore provided the best bang for the buck in terms of blaster boxes.

Let's start with base cards from three of my personal collections:

Oakland A's Base Cards

Advantage: Walmart

Jaso and Norris cancel each other out... which leaves Milone and Balfour uncontested.  Right about now... I kinda miss a little Balfour Rage.

San Diego Padres Base Cards

Advantage: Target

Target bounces back with dos Padres.  Gyorko has struggled at the plate and Blanks is in the minors... but I'll take these two cards over nothing.

Japanese Players Base Cards

Advantage: Walmart

Another obvious choice.  I've been wanting a Kawasaki card for a long time.  This guy has a lot of positive energy and some of the best dance moves in MLB history.

We'll wrap up the base cards with the six short prints I pulled from these two blasters...

High Numbers SP's

Advantage: Walmart

Out of these six players, Darvish is in a league of his own.  I've got to admit... I don't like the Rangers, but I cheer for Yu whenever he takes the mound (except when he plays the A's and Padres).

So far... Walmart has jumped out of the gates and taken a commanding 3 to 1 lead.

Next up... let's look at the parallels.

Exclusive Red and Blue Parallels

Advantage: Walmart

I really want to go with Rizzo, since he played for the Padres a few seasons ago... but Tulowitzki's amazing career numbers truly separate the two.

More Parallels

Advantage: Target

Eight purple refractors absolutely destroys the two numbered Heritage Chrome parallels.  Unfortunately most of them are a little defective... but so is the Scherzer refractor.

It might be a little too late, but at least Target hasn't thrown in the towel.  Let's see if they can make a comeback with the inserts...

New Age Performers

Advantage:  Neither

Well... at least Target supporters can exhale a sigh of relief.  At this point, I'm sure they're happy to keep things square.

1st Draft

Advantage: Target

Nolan Ryan might command a higher "book value", but I'm more of a "Bench" kind of guy.

Then and Now

Advantage: Target

This was a toughie.  I almost called it a tie.  Marichal and Colon represent the Bay Area... but how can I vote against two of the most dominating pitchers of their eras?  Answer:  I can't.  Plus... by giving Target the slight edge... we're officially tied up at 4 to 4.

At least for the moment.  There's still one more insert set.

Flashbacks

Advantage: Walmart

I loved watching The Bad News Bears play in the Astrodome, but I just couldn't put it above Mr. Cub.

It was a pretty close battle, but it looks like Walmart walks away with a win.  But for those of you who think I didn't give Target enough credit for all of those purple refractors, let me introduce you to Walmart's secret weapon:

I can't believe I pulled a Red Ink Autograph from a blaster.  I think I'm done busting blasters for awhile now.  No sense pushing my luck.

And even though Walmart won The Battle of the Blasters... I'm still a Target kind of guy.  What about you?

Where do you prefer to shop?  Target or Walmart?

Happy Saturday and sayonara!