Battle of the Blasters

How addicted am I to cardboard?  I'm so addicted that sometimes I'll throw my very own cardboard rules out the window and purchase not one, but two blaster boxes.  However... for the sake of blog tradition, I bring you the 2nd Annual Battle of the Blasters featuring 2015 Heritage purchased at Target and Walmart.

Last year, Walmart walked away the victor in a very close battle.  If you're interested you can see it here.  But that was 359 days ago and it's time to see if Target can even up the series.

The battle will be broken down into the following categories:  Oakland A's base cards, San Diego Padres base cards, Japanese players base cards, high number SP's, parallels, New Age Performers, Baseball and News Flashbacks, and Ryan/Koufax exclusive inserts.

If I happen to pull any relic or autographed cards, they'll be factored into the final scoring.  So let's get ready to rumble...

Oakland A's Base Cards

Advantage: Walmart

It's a little hard to call this a battle when Target doesn't even bother to show up.  Things would be different if I had scored it based on players who are currently active on their rosters.  Doolittle and Reddick are out with injuries and Norris is down in San Diego.

San Diego Padres Base Cards

Advantage: Target

Another "no contest".  I'm excited to see how things pan out for the Padres this year.  Benoit is having a decent spring, while Padres fans are hoping Gyorko can bounce back from his sophomore slump.

Japanese Players Base Cards

Advantage: Target

Wow.  One new addition to my Japanese PC and he's playing across the Pacific this season.

High Numbered SP's

Advantage: Walmart

I have zero allegiance to any of these players, so it boils down to numbers.  Three beats two.  Walmart ties things up.

Parallels

Advantage: Target

I was disappointed that there aren't exclusive parallels this year.  In fact that's the main reason I decided to purchase both of these blasters.  Each box had a Chrome refractor, but the Target blaster tipped the scales with the Scherzer Chrome parallel.

New Age Performers

Advantage: Trout... I mean Target

Let's see... Trout is the reigning American League MVP and Harper is a jerk.  No contest.

Baseball and News Flashbacks

Advantage: Target

Okay... so I screwed up.  Didn't realize these were two different insert sets until after the scans.  No matter, I would have picked Koufax over Marichal and the NYC Opera House didn't have any competition.  Sorry Target fans... due to my error you only get one point, instead of two.

A Legend Begins/A Legend Retires

Advantage: Walmart

This probably should have been a draw since both of these guys are legends.  But I actually like the Koufax insert design better than the Ryan... and Walmart needed a little help.

Manager Base Cards

Advantage: Target

Since there were two less categories this year due to the lack of exclusive parallels and my "Flashbacks" mixup, I decided to add this category to see if I could help Walmart save face.  Unfortunately even though I'd never cheer for the Dodgers over the Mariners, it's hard to pick Legendary Lloyd over Donnie Baseball.  Speaking of Mattingly... is it just me or does he look really old?  I think it's time for him to grow his mustache back.

Okay, it's time to tally things up.

Final score:

Target 6

Walmart 3

And it looks like we have a new blaster box champion.  Although I must say that neither box was worth the price I paid.  If anything this is just another reminder for me to never buy blaster boxes unless they're on sale.  Then again... I'm sure next March, you'll see me battling a pair of 2016 Topps Heritage blasters.

Happy Monday and sayonara!