30 Day Baseball Card Challenge

Saturday, April 5, 2014

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!

32 comments:

  1. Awesome break man. I think this just might be the first blaster war I've ever seen lol. Congrats on the sweet auto!

    As for where I prefer to shop for retail packs, I've gotta go with my local Target. My local Walmart (which, I kid you not, is only 3 minutes away from the local Target) is a mess and pales by comparison.

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    1. My local Target and Walmart are only 3 minutes away from each other too. The Walmart near my house looks like a super sized Thrifty's. Things are just thrown around and it just feels dirty. Whereas Target is super clean and has amazing customer service.

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  2. Nabbing a purple refractor hot box would pretty much always win except when you score an awesome low numbered auto like that. Congrats!

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  3. Nice boxes! That is a cool auto. I actually busted a Heritage blaster today too. I'll be sharing soon.

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  4. Nice red auto hit in a blaster. I picked up a blaster from Walmart and pulled one of the stamp relic cards # to 50. Not too shabby for a blaster.

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    1. Congratulations! I really like those stamp cards.

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  5. You got a hot boxer, too, eh?

    I had a chance to buy a blaster today and thought, "nah, it won't be nearly as good as the first one." May I should have.

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    1. Yeah. I'm pretty much done busting blasters... although I might buy a hobby box if the price is right.

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  6. Wow, your two blasters may have been better than my 3 hobby boxes, congrats!

    If the Zimmerman and Pedroia SPs are available for trade drop me a note and let's work something out.

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    1. Sounds good. Don't think I'll be building the SP set.

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  7. Yowza! I think either way you win. A purple refractor hot box and then pull a red auto. Heritage is one of those sets I love to hate. I love the look and feel of cards are real cardboard, I hate that hobby boxes are so expensive for one hit and that SP's make the set so hard to complete.

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    1. Yeah. I agree. I want a hobby box, but I won't pay the current prices. If they come down in price, I'll probably grab one though for entertainment purposes and to help with my set.

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  8. i prefer target, although the heritage blaster i bought there was a bust. maybe i should hit up walmart.

    oh, and i see a couple of dodgers up there in the purple part of the post. any chance they are available?

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    1. The Greinke is... although it isn't in perfect condition. The cards have a weird "roll" to them... like something went wrong in the printing process. As for the Puig... I might keep it, since I only have two other cards of his.

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    2. cool. i'll find something to send for the greinke.

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  9. Target. It's a twenty minute drive and costs me $2 in tolls each way but it beats the hell out of WalMart which is two miles from me.

    Love the Barney Schultz! Cool card, cool name.

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    1. You're like me. Before Target moved in to my neighborhood, I'd drive 5 miles out of my way to go there.

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  10. I love the approach you took on the comparison between the two blasters I will have to borrow it. I pulled this week a Bowman 2004 Chrome Kevin Kouzmanoff RC #347 Autograph, trade ya for the Barney? I have some other cards I am going to send to ya. Let me know and I will put it in the package.

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    1. Sorry Brady... If I didn't already have a Kouzmanoff for my Padres PC I'd consider it. But unfortunately I do... and honestly I've grown attached to Mr. Schultz. When it comes to old school vs. new school, I'll take old school all day long.

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  11. There's something about the layout of Wal-Mart stores that just makes my blood pressure go up. It starts with the crowded aisles - and I mean crowded with displays and objects, not necessarily people - and goes downhill from there.

    I also don't care for their business practices. To me they're the "pack feelers" of the retail world. Target may be guilty of many of the same practices, but Wal-Mart just seems egregious about it.

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    1. I totally agree with everything you stated.

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  12. Excellent autograph! That's quite a pull out of a Blaster box.

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  13. Well..eBay will do it. lol
    I got some repack boxes on eBay that were from WalmartI think. From Target I don't think I ever got a box..

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  14. I gotta go with that Astrodome card, I have a soft spot for stadiums on baseball cards.

    Since I have haven't bought anything at a Walmart since 1991 (and that was baseball cards), I will let you figure out the answer to your question yourself.

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    1. I get it. If it was a set or subset of stadiums, I'd be all over it too.

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  15. Excellent boxes, both of them. Nice auto as well!

    The Wal Mart closest to me where I used to live had an OK assortment of cards, with many of those clearance hanger packs. The one closest to me now has a very small section of cards. I prefer Target...many of my APTBNL posts come from the Target clearance bin...and I also work part time there (for the last 11+ years...yikes).

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    1. So do you get a discount on those clearance packs and blasters?

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    2. Yes sir! Definitely a plus for me.

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