Thursday, March 24, 2011

Blaster Break - 2010 Upper Deck

We all know that most Wal-Mart stores have been carrying discounted blasters for sometime now while Target gets some of them from time to time.  I'm not sure when I found this, but Target had a blaster of 2010 Upper Deck for $9.99.  I remember standing there in the store thinking "do I really want to buy this"?  I've already got a big chunk of the set so I thought why not.  I guess in process of hosting monthly group breaks and such this blaster got pushed to the wayside until I recently found it while picking up a little.  I really wasn't expecting much out of the box, but I can say it was a fun break.  Here are a few of the cards the box served up.

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#60 Matt Diaz

I'm really going to miss him this year.  The Pittsburgh Pirates have been horrible for last 15 or so years so I hope that translates into some playing time and opportunity for him to shine.

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#UDGJ-MC Michael Cuddyer

My guaranteed hit of the box.  I know I've seen this design before.  What year did UD recycle this from?  Card is up for trade if any Twins want it.

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#AW-11 Justin Morneau All World

Another Twins player?  First off I love die-cut cards.  The glowing planet in the back ground looks good on this design.  I'm toying with the idea of putting this set together since I think I can get most of the cards on the cheap side.

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#SE-73 Heath Bell Portraits

I don't like these cards.  These look like a poor man's Obak.  Plus look at how the card is centered...or not centered.

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#SB-103 Tommy Hanson Biography

I got several of these Biography cards, but this is the only one I deemed worthy enough of sharing.

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#CP-3 & CP-4 Celebrity Predictors

I've seen these before online, but this is my first hands on exposure to these Celebrity Predictors.  Now I'm one to watch TMZ religiously or read the tabloids, but I don't hate these cards.  Granted I'm not in love with them nor do I care to track down the others in the set.  I know the guy is Justin Timberlake and my guess is the blonde is Cameron Diaz.  I can see however why baseball purist got upset when they first discovered these cards in their packs last year.  Next.

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#BHA-4 Hanley Ramirez Baseball Heroes 20th Anniversary

Now these I like.  I believe Hank Aaron was the subject to UD's Baseball Heroes in 1991 - the first year I was exposed to the UD brand.  I really like the Masterpiece like quality of the painting used on the card.  I may have to look more into this set too.

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#SE-1 Justin Upton Portraits

Another one of these cards.  This one is off centered too.  I'm starting to guess this is a problem with these.

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#488 Jeff Niemann #d 40/99

Since there are no odds for inserts on the box or the wrapper I don't know what this parallel set is called or how hard they are to pull from packs.  Any Rays collector's out there interested?

This box exceeded all of my expectations, especially since I've paid far more than $10 on a blaster to not get anything of note.  I could see myself picking up another blaster or two of this assuming I can find one again.  For a set that lacked the MLB license I thought UD did a good job.  Most of the photos on the base cards are of typical UD fashion - beautiful.  Is anyone still working on this set?  Any traders out there?

4 comments:

  1. I think the Niemann is a gold card. Did you, by any chance, pull the Wrigley Field card? (#545, I think).

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  2. I think that jersey card design is from the 2002 set.

    I'd love to get that Niemann off your hands.

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  3. Hey, a couple Twins cards there that I'd love to trade for...I've got a small pile of Braves already started here, including the Chipper from this Topps set:
    http://ep.yimg.com/ca/I/sportscards4u_2141_114058621

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  4. Wouldn't mind getting the Upton from you. Rhubarb beat me to the Cuddyer, which is probably good since I think I already have it.

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