Blaster Break - World's Greatest Card Chase: Pack Edition

Today while rummaging through the card section @ Walmart I ran across this blaster box of cards that had a prominent picture of a 1952 pack of Topps on the box. It was labeled as 'Chase the '52 High Series Pack'. If you haven't seen these your self the premise of the box is that you get 16 sealed packs of cards. The majority of the blasters contain packs from the 80's, 90's and 2000's. You have the chance to receive packs from the 70's as well. The side of the box showcases Topps packs from '70 to '79. Upon closer look of the fine print on the bottom of the box says the approximate odds of finding one of these 70's Throwback packs is 1:2,667. The real kicker is you don't even get an actual pack in the box...it's a redemption program.

So what 16 packs did I receive in my box?

1987 Topps, 1988 Topps Big Baseball, 1988 Topps, 1989 Topps
1986 Donruss Pop-Up, 1988 Donruss All-Stars Pop-Up, 1988 Donruss x2, 1989 Donruss

1987 Sportflics, 1988 Sportflics, 2007 Hidden Treasures World's Greatest Card Chase, 2008 Tristar Projections, 2008 Tristar Projections High # Series x2, 2009 Tristar Projections

And now you may be wondering what cards were in those packs and if I had any hits. Here's the pack by pack break down:

1988 Topps Big Baseball
#11 Dwight Gooden (Mets)

#17 Brook Jacoby (Indians)
#23 Steve Bedrosian (Phillies)
#41 Tom Henke (Blue Jays)
#68 Andres Thomas (Braves)
#70 Jerry Mumphrey (Cubs)
#78 Brian Downing (Angels)

1987 Topps
#010 Cecil Cooper (Brewers)
#015 Claudell Washington (Yankees)
#047 Dennis Powell (Dodgers)
#072 Walt Terell (Tigers)
#115 Donnie Moore (Angels)
#195 Mike Pagliarulo (Yankees)
Back of the card was completely ruined by the gum - it was stuck to the card that when I was able to remove the gum it also removed the top layer of the cardboard!
#221 Vern Ruhle (Angels)
#297 Don Schulze (Indians)
#396 Tim Lollar (Red Sox)
#438 Kelly Downs (Giants)
#514 Orlando Mercado (Rangers)
#527 Jim Wohlford (Expos)
#550 Pete Incaviglia (Rangers)
#664 Mike Marshall (Dodgers)
#727 Mike Moore (Mariners)
#735 Rickey Henderson (Yankees)

#787 Alejandro Pena (Dodgers)

1988 Topps
#005 Phil Niekro / Joe Niekro
#121 Checklist
#131 Don Schulze (Mets)
#165 Robin Yount (Brewers)
#170 Rich Gossage (Padres)
#191 John Cerutti (Blue Jays)
#326 Al Nipper (Red Sox)
#403 Tim Raines - All-Star (Expos)
#521 Jim Dwyer (Orioles)
#539 Mike LaValliere (Pirates)
#564 Frank Lucchesi - Manager (Cubs)
#649 DeWayne Buice (Angels)
#650 Cal Ripken, Jr. (Orioles)

#676 Ken Dixon (Orioles)
#733 Spike Owen (Red Sox)

1989 Topps
#099 Sherman Corbett (Angels)
#127 Walt Terrell (Tigers)
#261 St. Louis Cardinals
#285 John Candelaria (Yankees)
#419 Tom Filer (Brewers)
#425 Jay Howell (Dodgers)
#432 Chad Kreuter (Rangers)
#498 Dwayne Henry (Rangers)
#535 Todd Worrell (Cardinals)
#579 Houston Astros
#596 Kurt Stillwell (Royals)
#691 Roberto Kelly (Yankees)
#712 Bill Swift (Mariners)
#741 Ken Phelps (Yankees)

1986 Donruss Major League All-Stars Pop-Up#16 Jim Rice (Red Sox)
#34 Pete Rose (Reds)

#38 Dick Williams - Manager (Padres)Ozzie Smith - Pop-Up (Cardinals)
Hank Aaron puzzle pieces #43-45
1988 Donruss - Pack #1
#011 Scott Fletcher - Diamond Kings (Rangers)
#047 Jack McDowell - Rated Rookies (White Sox)
#608 John Candelaria (Mets)
#609 Mike Brumley (Cubs)
#610 Mickey Brantley (Mariners)
#611 Jose Nunez (Blue Jays)
#612 Tom Nieto (Twins)
#613 Rick Reuschel (Giants)
#614 Lee Mazzilli (Mets)
#615 Scott Lusader (Tigers)
#616 Bobby Meacham (Yankees)
#BC-2 Eric Davis - MVP (Reds)
#BC-3 Paul Molitor - MVP (Brewers)
#BC-5 Ivan Calderon - MVP (White Sox)
#BC-7 Wade Boggs - MVP (Red Sox)
Stan Musial puzzle pieces #22-24

1988 Donruss - Pack #2
#012 Tony Fernandez - Diamond Kings (Blue Jays)
#021 Will Clark - Diamond Kings (Giants)
#593 Steve Howe (Rangers)
#595 Storm Davis (A's)
#596 Sammy Stewart (Indians)
#597 Neil Allen (Yankees)
#598 Alejandro Pena (Dodgers)
#599 Mark Thurmond (Tigers)
#601 Jose Mesa (Orioles)
#602 Don August (Brewers)
#603 Terry Leach (Mets)
#604 Tom Newell (Phillies)
#605 Randall Byers (Padres)
#606 Jim Gott (Pirates)
#607 Harry Spilman (Giants)
#BC-1 Cal Ripken, Jr. - MVP (Orioles)

Stan Musial puzzle pieces #31-33

1988 Donruss Major League All-Stars Pop-Up
#17 Pat Tabler (Indians)
#28 Tom Henke (Blue Jays)
#42 Davey Johnson (Mets)
#51 Tony Gwynn (Padres)
#64 Checklist
Andre Dawson - Pop-Up (Cubs)
Cal Ripken, Jr. - Pop-Up (Orioles)

Stan Musial puzzle pieces #1-3

1989 Donruss
#014 Andres Galarraga - Diamond Kings (Expos)
#031 Gary Sheffield - Rated Rookies (Brewers)

#103 Glenn Braggs (Brewers)
#108 Dick Schofield (Angels)
#109 Henry Cotto (Mariners)
#112 Tom Brunansky (Cardinals)
#113 Kelly Gruber (Blue Jays)
#118 Bob Forsch (Astros)
#129 Lance McCullers (Padres)
#134 R.J. Reynolds (Pirates)
#140 Mike Aldrete (Giants)
#146 Dale Sveum (Brewers)
#152 Mookie Wilson (Mets)
#158 Rich Gossage (Cubs)
#BC-5 Jose Canseco - MVP (A's)
Warren Spahn puzzle piece #46-48

1987 Sportflics
#022 Eric Davis (Reds)
#073 Bob Horner (Braves)

#117 Mitch Webster (Expos)
#78 Angels Logo
#93 White Sox Logo

1988 Sportflics
#002 Tim Raines (Expos)
#128 Joe Magrane (Cardinals)
#207 Roger Clemens (Red Sox)

#117 White Sox Logo
#149 Dodgers Logo

2007 Hidden Treasures
The odds of pulling a "hit" - Diamond Ticket 1:1,000,000, Autographed memorabilia 1:10,000, Specialty Insert 1:500, Star Player 1:1, Other 4:1
84 Topps Dave Stegman #664 (White Sox)
89 Score Jim Abbott #88T (Angels)
90 Topps Kevin Brown #22 (Mets)
94 Leaf Limited Gary Gaetti #37 (Royals)
95 Donruss Chan Ho Park #175 (Dodgers)

2008 Tristar Projections
#023 Travis d'Arnaud (Phillies)
#055 Zack Daeges (Red Sox)
#072 Corey Brown (A's)
#074 Casey Crosby (Tigers)
#092 Nevin Griffith (White Sox)
#149 Brett Cecil (Blue Jays)
#020 Austin Romine - Reflective parallel (Yankees)
#136 Brett Smith - Autograph (Yankees)

#140 Billy Rowell - Autograph (Orioles)


2008 Tristar Projections High # Series - Pack #1
#219 Carlos Urena (Yankees)
#237 Hector Gomez (Rockies)
#354 Reynaldo Navarro (Diamondbacks)
#383 Chris Perez (Cardinals)
#384 Shane Keough (A's)

2008 Tristar Projections High # Series - Pack #2
#228 Darwin Barney (Cubs)
#236 Christopher Nelson (Rockies)
#308 Francisco Castillo (Yankees)
#336 Christian Garcia (Yankees)
#382 Joe Mather (Cardinals)

2009 Tristar Projections
#091 Chris Nowak (Rays)
#105 Brian Conley (Orioles)
#183 Ryan Mantle (Giants)
#212 Nathan Nery (Orioles)
#269 Matt Richardson (Yankees)

So there you have it. Was this blaster box worth the $19.95 price tag? Probably not, but it was fun none the less opening the old packs. It is a nice reminder of how far the trading card hobby has come since I first started collecting in 1990. Pulling the autographed cards from the Minor League Tristar packs was a rush...even if I have no idea of who the players are! Outside the Ripkens, Braves & Red Sox cards pretty much everything else is up for grabs. If you saw something you want please let me know. Until next time...