30 Day Baseball Card Challenge

Sunday, December 9, 2018

Old School Set Building

Another day.  Another twelve-plus hours of sleep.  I don't think I've slept this much since college.  


Anyways this afternoon I made myself do something productive and decided it was time to finally crack open the two Stranger Things blaster boxes I purchase a few weeks ago from Target.

Normally I wouldn't spend my money on products like this... but Stranger Things does a great job of connecting me to my childhood, so I decided to pick up these boxes and do some old school set building.

After thirty minutes of busting open packs and sorting the cards as I went along here's a look at how my office floor looked:


Actually this is actually more than two blasters worth of cardboardRyan over at Japanese Sumo Wrestling Cards and Menko hooked me up with two extra packs and some singles to get the ball rolling.

There are 100 cards in the base set.  I pulled 75 different cards from my two blasters and found two more from the cards Ryan sent me.  That leaves me needing 23 cards left:


Collation wasn't exactly this product's strong point.  I probably have 40 to 50 doubles laying around.  On the other hand, I had really good luck in regards to the three insert sets.


I pulled 16 out of the 20 character stickers with zero doubles.  Can't complain about that.  The other sticker set features scenes from the television show:


I pulled 4 out of the 10 stickers from the two blasters, plus I pulled another one from one of Ryan's packs.

The third and final insert set are these character cards:


I managed to pull 6 out of the 20 character cards.  At this rate, I'd need to buy 5 more blaster boxes with perfect collation to complete this set.  It's probably just cheaper for me to find singles online or pick up a complete set on eBay.

I'm not sure how I'll proceed from here on out.  I don't see myself buying anymore blasters unless they're highly discounted.  There's at least one non-sport vendor at the Serramonte Mall Card Show.  Maybe he'll have singles for sale.

Until then, I'm gonna throw these into a binder and put it on a shelf.  If anyone needs singles hit me up in the next week or so.  After that... I'm taking them to work and handing them out to my students.

Happy Sunday and sayonara!

P.S.  Thank you Ryan for helping me out with the stack of singles and the two packs!  The extra sticker I pulled was #19 Benny Hammond.  Let me know if you need it for your set.

13 comments:

Commishbob said...

If someone had read me a synopsis of Stranger Things I'd have looked at them, shook my head, and walked away. Luckily my daughter told me just watch the first episode. My wife and I were hooked and we watched the rest of the season in one day and did the same with the second. I saw these cards mentioned someplace and quickly forgot about them with all the other stuff on my plate. If I can find the base and the stickers on eBay I'll do that.

Adam said...

I tried to get into Stranger Things, I really did, but something just didn't click for me. Not sure what it was. Not saying it's not a good show, it is, just not my thing.

gcrl said...

Looks like a well done set. One thing missing from your post: where's barb?!

Ana Lu said...

I still have yet to watch an episode =\

The Lost Collector said...

At some point I hope to pick some of these up. I saw a few boxes at Target but didn't splurge.

Fuji said...

commishbob - you can purchase a complete base set with all 3 insert sets for $25 (or less) on eBay. you'll miss out on the pack busting and card sorting, but will end up saving money and you'll walk away with all of the cards.

adam sanders - i totally understand. like i said... it's a direct link to my childhood. the music. the clothes. even the way it was directed gives off this 80's feel. i've watched it a few times and i'm sure i'm going to watch it a few more times before i'm done.

gcrl - i pulled a few barb cards. if i have any doubles, i'll send them your way.

ana lu - if you have some free time, i'd say give it a shot. i was shocked to see how popular it is with my students (12/13 years old). they love it.

the lost collector - if you decide in the next few days to try and build it, let me know... i'll help you out. but by next week, i'm taking them into the classroom where i know of several students who will give them a good home.

Big Tone said...

That card design is so awesomely vintage!I think season 3 is coming out soon.

SumoMenkoMan said...

Fuji, I have all your base sets wants covered along with #10 and #16 Character Stickers. Cards/Stickers are in the mail!

The Snorting Bull said...

I don't do entertainment sets either, but I watched this show on Netflix and saw these last week at Target. Tempted, but I passed. Love these designs though. Might have to breakdown and get a few the next time I am out shopping.

sg488 said...

Great show/set ,I am headed to e-bay to find a master set.

Paul Hadsall said...

That looks like a really cool set - they seem like they really tried to capture the vintage feel for Stranger Things and it worked out pretty well. Good luck completing your set.

Bulldog said...

Good luck. I'm so tempted to pick up a blaster. If I do I'll hook you up with whatever you may need. Great show and I'm so glad my wife got me hooked!

Fuji said...

big tone - yeah. these cards scream 80's. plus i love how they used the 1977 topps star wars series 4 sticker designs for their sticker set. from what i hear, it's coming out sometime in 2019. hopefully towards the start of the year

sumomenkoman - thanks ryan! let me know if you need sticker #19 benny hammond and i'll send it with your care package.

snorting bull - it's a fun break... especially if you enjoy building sets.

sg488 - good luck. looks like you can find a few in the $25 range (but that includes all three insert sets).

paul hadsall - yeah. i wouldn't try to build it if they went for a modern look. the entire allure is that this set brings me back to my childhood.

bulldog - thanks. any help is appreciated. the show is awesome. sometimes i'll just put it on and let it run in the background as i do things around the house.