Blaster Break - 2008 Upper Deck Timeline

Much to my chagrin my wife sent me with daughter in tow to Walmart yesterday afternoon in the middle of my Halo: Reach marathon to pick up some groceries.  I reluctantly put down the controller long enough to run the errand to keep the wife happy because remember guys, happy wife = happy life!

On the way out I went by the card aisle and took a look at the endcap housing the discounted blasters.  I had let my daughter choose a few packs of cheap football cards and she threw the pack of Score onto the ground.  When I bent over to pick it up I saw 4 of 2008 Upper Deck Timeline on the bottom shelf.  I had never purchased any of these cards.  I really didn't know anything about them, but the $11.98 price tag and the lure of one guaranteed relic card was enough to peak my curiosity so in the cart it went.

Like a lot of us I rushed to open the box once I got back to the "mommy mobile" and fastened my daughter into her car seat.  It was getting closer to dinner time and she was beginning to get a little fussy so I only managed to open 2 packs before pulling out of the parking lot.  I started to thumb through these and was immediately impressed.  I guess I shouldn't be surprised as I liked just about every baseball set Upper Deck put out.  I love the throw back designs.  That feels weird saying throw back since the designs hail from the early to mid 90's.  It's OK though since I got my start in 1990 and the 1992 UD design was one of my favorites.  I forgot all about the good rookie crop in 1998 until I pulled a nice '92 design Evan Longoria RC.

Now I'm on the fence of whether or not to go back and get the other blasters and try to build this set.  I normally stay away buying much product with short prints let alone try to build a whole set.  There is just something about these cards that now has me fascinated and wanting more.  So thank you to the wife for sending me out.  Thank you to my daughter for throwing that pack out of the cart.  Thank you to Walmart for the cheap blaster and thank you for UD for getting me hooked on yet another set!

I hope to formulate a want list to add to the side bar soon.  I don't expect many people to trade me the SPs without having to give up a lot in return, but I'll give building this set a shot.  The relic card was of Andrew Miller (Marlins) and it will be up for trade if anyone is interested.

Blaster contents:

#002 David Wright
#003 Carlos Beltran
#004 Pedro Martinez
#005 Johan Santana
#006 Hanley Ramirez
#009 Mark Teixeira
#010 Chase Utley
#011 Ryan Howard
#012 Jimmy Rollins
#013 Alfonso Soriano
#014 Derrek Lee
#015 Jason Bay
#018 Ryan Braun
#019 Prince Fielder
#020 Albert Pujols
#021 Tim Lincecum
#023 Matt Kemp
#024 Matt Holliday
#027 Alex Rodriguez
#029 Chien-Ming Wang
#031 Manny Ramirez
#032 Daisuke Matsuzaka
#036 Jim Thome
#033 B.J. Upton
#039 C.C. Sabathia
#041 Justin Verlander
#042 Joe Maurer
#045 Vladimir Guerrero
#047 Josh Hamilton
#048 Ichiro
#049 Felix Hernandez
#050 Erik Bedard
#054 Jeff Clement RC
#058 Kosuke Fukudome RC
#062 Ian Kennedy RC
#080 Clay Timpner RC
#090 Brian Bocock RC

#102 Brandon Phillips
#108 Craig Breslow

#113 Evan Longoria RC
#115 Felix Pie
#129 Scott Kazmir
#141 Prince Fielder

#144 Josh Beckett
#150 Grady Sizemore
#171 J.R. Towles RC
#172 Max Scherzer RC

#187 Clayton Kershaw RC
#188 Felipe Paulino RC
#198 Josh Hamilton
#207 Ryan Garko
#224 Manny Ramirez
#244 Troy Tulowitzki
#294 Brian Bocock RC
#307 Brandon Boggs RC

#308 Josh Hamilton
#356 Felipe Paulino RC

#TM-AM Andrew Miller - jersey relic (Marlins)